Gripped by the truth

A passage often used out of context is in John 10 where Jesus Christ says, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
[29] My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
[30] I and my Father are one.”

 Jordan explains, “If you talk to someone about the security of the Believer, whether it’s the idea of ‘once saved always saved’ or that you can lose your salvation, this passage is one of the passages often used to assure people God has given eternal life.

“One writer said, ‘This verse is even a guarantee against ourselves,’ with the idea being that even at times you yourself are your worst enemy, and even though someone else might not can take you away from God, you sometimes wish you could get away yourself.

“Most of the time we don’t want to acknowledge that or admit it, but the fact is every now and then you just get tired of being saved and there’s just something bad you’d like to just go and do.

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“First of all, the Book of John is not written to or about members of the Body of Christ. So no matter what this passage is talking about, it really is not directly about you and me. It’s not a verse about our security; it’s a verse about how God deals with certain people in the program of the nation Israel.

“When Christ says to ‘pluck them out of my hand,’ He’s talking about, ‘I have them in my hand, I’m gripping them, I’m holding them.’

“You remember that verse in Isaiah about how He’s holding them so tightly that their imprint is pressed into His hand? Well, the difference between that and you and me, as members of the Body of Christ, is we’re not being held in His hand—we are a part OF His hand!

“We’re not simply being gripped BY him; we’re literally members of His bones: ‘Bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh.’ There’s a different relationship for you and me in Christ.

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“We looked at how there is a program to pluck Israel out of His hand. In fact, there’s a program designed to make God Himself throw Israel down. None of that will work, though, because He says He’s stronger than the Adversary.

“The biggest hindrance in using this passage as an eternal security passage is that when you read verses 28 and 29, you did not read the whole statement. The statement begins in verse 27: ‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.’

“If you remember the passage, He’s talking about the fact He’s got other sheep to get into the sheepfold but He wants to get these sheep in first. He’s talking to them about the LOST sheep of the house of Israel. There’s going to be two groups in Israel: some lost ones and then some that recognize the Messiah.

“Talking to the Pharisees, Christ says in Verse 26, ‘But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.’

“How do we know when they are His sheep and not His sheep? ‘My sheep hear my voice.’ When they hear His voice, what are they hearing? They’re hearing His Word. Not only do they hear His voice, ‘They follow me.’

“Who does He give eternal life to? Interestingly enough, in the verse He doesn’t even say anything about believing.

“When you read a passage like this always remember you’ve read many chapters already and there’s a context, where a bunch of verses went before, so there’s a lot of information you already have in your frame of reference and that’s why it’s dangerous just to pull stuff out and stick it in an isolated context.

“John 8:30-31 says, ‘As he spake these words, many believed on him.
[31] Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.'

“Notice there are two classifications there. There are people who believe and then there are disciples. Disciples are more than somebody who’s just believed. A disciple is someone who’s come to learn and continue in what he’s learning.

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“Verse 32 says, ‘And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’

“People use that verse all the time, but in that verse what is the truth? Well, what did He say in verse 31?

“In John 17:17, Jesus prays to the Father, ‘Sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is truth.’ You see, when He said, ‘You’ll know the truth,’ He said it in the same breath as, ‘If you continue in my word then you are my disciples; you shall know the truth and it will make you free.’

“There’s an issue here in Israel’s program where they believe and then they have to continue on in a message that’s telling them a bunch of things to do, because what God is doing with Israel is forming a literal, physical nation of Believers; a righteous nation of people who produce certain kinds of works in the earth that bring in a kingdom reign.”