Emily:
The Lord Jesus refers to those that are His as being a certain type of animal. The wise old owl? No. The soaring eagle?. No. The powerful bear? No.
He refers to them that are His as sheep. Dumb ole' sheep. Sheep are TOTALLY dependant upon their Shepherd. Sheep have a way of wandering off, and they do so at great peril to themselves. What is the solution? The solution is to stay close to the Shepherd! You can get too far from the Shepherd, but never too close! That rod that is in His hand is not to shew you away when you get too close, but to guide you back when you get too far away. I have heard that when (a real-life shepherd) has a sheep that has a way of always wandering off that he will use that rod to actually break a leg of that sheep. He will then carry that sheep on his back until the leg mends. Sounds cruel, but guess what? A sheep so, "discipined", if you will, never goes astray again! Also, it is better to have a broken leg than to be devoured by wolves!
So, as to OSAS-who does the keeping, the Shepherd, or the sheep? If you have everlastng (Eternal) life and, let's say, ten years down the road, you do not have it; Whatever you had was not eternal life (that Jesus gives), but something else.
As to those that have never heard: the last verse of John chapter 3 is very clear as to who is saved and who is not. If you have the Son, you have life, if you have not the Son, you have not the life. Excuses? Not found here, or anyplace else in scripture, for that matter. Man is without excuse. Romans 1:20.
The Lord Jesus refers to those that are His as being a certain type of animal. The wise old owl? No. The soaring eagle?. No. The powerful bear? No.
He refers to them that are His as sheep. Dumb ole' sheep. Sheep are TOTALLY dependant upon their Shepherd. Sheep have a way of wandering off, and they do so at great peril to themselves. What is the solution? The solution is to stay close to the Shepherd! You can get too far from the Shepherd, but never too close! That rod that is in His hand is not to shew you away when you get too close, but to guide you back when you get too far away. I have heard that when (a real-life shepherd) has a sheep that has a way of always wandering off that he will use that rod to actually break a leg of that sheep. He will then carry that sheep on his back until the leg mends. Sounds cruel, but guess what? A sheep so, "discipined", if you will, never goes astray again! Also, it is better to have a broken leg than to be devoured by wolves!
So, as to OSAS-who does the keeping, the Shepherd, or the sheep? If you have everlastng (Eternal) life and, let's say, ten years down the road, you do not have it; Whatever you had was not eternal life (that Jesus gives), but something else.
As to those that have never heard: the last verse of John chapter 3 is very clear as to who is saved and who is not. If you have the Son, you have life, if you have not the Son, you have not the life. Excuses? Not found here, or anyplace else in scripture, for that matter. Man is without excuse. Romans 1:20.
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