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| A shepherd leading his flock of sheep and goats crossing the road. (APP18-080721 RAWALPINDI: July 08, 2021) |
#wrongly
#RightlyDividingTheWordOfTruth
2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew
thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of truth."
These words of the
Lord Jesus Christ below are precious when rightly understood; His gracious and
sovereign bestowal of eternal life is certain and immutable. When sincere folks
twist them, they not only contradict the other part of the Scriptures, but they
also confound sonship and discipleship, to the injury of many of God's
children.
John 10 - KJT
27 My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 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.
These words were
quoted by a sincere man to teach that all of Christ's redeemed are obedient
disciples; they hear the voice of Christ, and they follow Christ in obedience.
He understands these words to teach that Christ has no disobedient disciples.
He makes these words to teach the practical and temporal aspects of salvation, even though he claims to understand the distinction between eternal salvation
and temporal salvation. He is probably attempting to refute the idea that the
goats in Mt 25:32 are speaking of God's disobedient children.
These three verses
are obviously speaking of the eternal aspect of salvation:
1. The voice of
Christ in v27 is the life-giving voice of the Life-giver addressed to the dead
in trespasses and sins; as a result of this divine effectual life-giving voice,
all without exception are quickened with eternal life; they follow him, not in
the sense of practical obedience but in the sense of being united with him,
always with Him; all without exception, are firmly in His hand, they follow Him
and are with Him.
- If understood in
the practical sense, it contradicts so many other parts of the Scriptures; just
look at the parable of the four types of grounds.
- It's through the
sound of the gospel ministry that Christ's redeemed people are taught and
called to practical obedience, "teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the
end of the world. Amen." Mt 28:20.
- Others twist these
verses to teach that those without eternal life, i.e. dead in trespasses and
sin, can hear the voice of Christ and follow Him, THEN they are given eternal
life by Him.
2. This is further
elaborated in v28 as,
"And I give
unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand."
- Christ's
life-giving voice brought eternal life to those dead in trespasses and sin;
this bestowal of that eternal life is steadfast and immutable; nothing can undo
that divine bestowal of eternal life.
3. The steadfastness
and immutability of that bestowal of eternal life by the voice of Jesus Christ
are repeated and emphasised again in v29, "My Father, which gave them me,
is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's
hand."
The Scriptures
abound with passages that speak of the disobedience of God's redeemed people;
these are just dismissed, "they can't be Christ's sheep." Why? They retort, ignorantly, "Because Christ has no disobedient sheep; His sheep hear His voice and
follow Him."
