by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
In John 10:28, Jesus points to the safety of staying within range of the Shepherd’s voice. “My sheep hear my voice<\/em>,” and this hearing sets the stage for the next claim: “no one shall be able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” The Father’s hand is the pen, the zone of safety. Can any of the sheep wander away? That is a different concept from the idea of another “snatching” them out. Can a sheep develop “an evil heart of unbelief in departing <\/b>from the living God?<\/em>” (Hebrews 3:12). They are in the pen for greater safety. The concept is that the pen is the Shepherd’s safety zone from predators. They are all in the owner’s hands when they are brought into the holding pen. They are in range of the Shepherd’s voice, and they know they are safe here in this holding pen. No one can “snatch” them here. Does this passage argue that a sheep cannot escape or get themselves out of the pen, the holding place? Is the metaphor so tight that it never allows for a sheep to look for and find a way out of the holding pen?<\/p>\n It is not an argument about the inability of the sheep to tune out and escape the safety pen, but about where the safety zone is that keeps the sheep safe from predators “snatching” them like they can when they are out of the pen in a grazing situation. Out of the owner’s hand or pen, when they are out wandering, a wolf or lion can quickly “snatch” them in the open fields. If they wander out of range of the Shepherd’s voice, there is even more danger of being snatched. Can they be snatched in the owner’s holding pen? No! Can a sheep find a way out of the pen, the “holding” area, and increase the danger to itself? He may indeed! But that is not the point Jesus was making. Two things in the context bring great security to God’s people:<\/p>\n “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life<\/em>…” (John 10:27-28).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Jesus gives eternal life to those who are presently hearing and following. The grammar is continuous action (present tense): hearing and following are ongoing. The security applies to the sheep, not to those who stop following. One becomes <\/b>a sheep by starting to hear and follow, and if one continues to do so, one is safe. Thus, the text does not address what happens if someone ceases to hear and follow. Can one stop hearing and following? Can we reverse the process that made us become sheep? If one were not a sheep and then became a sheep, can one cease to be a sheep? The answer is a definite “yes!<\/strong>” We were not “snatched” from non-sheep to suddenly becoming sheep, and it is certain that we cannot be snatched from being sheep to becoming non-sheep. A process moved us from one status and nature to the other and that can be reversed if we are not very careful to continue to hear our Shepherd.<\/p>\n Using a different metaphor, John mentions in chapter 15 the vine and branch comparison. The sheep and hand (pen) metaphor did not mention that one could die on the vine, but in this different metaphor He shows us that it takes more than physical association. It takes actually drawing your spiritual sap from the Vine. “Abide in Me,<\/em>” he said (John 15:6). That is like “abide in His hand.<\/em>” It means you can cease to “abide”. If you abide, you will be drawing your spiritual energy from the Vine and will be alive, growing, producing. If you make a mental and spiritual disconnect, you quit drawing the sap of His love and strength into yourself like a branch connected to the vine, then you can die on the Vine and be cut off and thrown into the fire. The metaphor was designed to show that it can <\/b>happen. It doesn’t mean the branch never was a branch or never was connected to the Vine. It just means that the branch can, for whatever reason, stop <\/b>drawing energy from the Vine and then die on the Vine. “If<\/em> <\/b>you abide in M<\/em>e” presupposes that you have the ability to either abide or not abide. Security is not a forced matter, it is something we can ensure for ourselves or forfeit for ourselves. Continue to hear the Good Shepherd and stay in the owner’s hand are the equivalent of “abide in Me” (the Vine). You can “wander” off and then get “snatched” by predators, or you can stay in the safety zone where you will not be snatched. You can “abide in Him<\/em>” as a branch on a Vine, or you can cut off drawing your spiritual sap and die on the vine, then be cut off as fruitless branches and thrown into the fire. Neither metaphor speaks of the impossibility of apostacy, ceasing to be a sheep or of the inability to quit drawing spiritual sap from Jesus and dying on the Vine. In fact, both metaphors speak of how to ensure your safety: Sheep can continue to hear the Shepherd and stay in the owner’s holding pen and as a branch connected to the Vine we can continue to draw our energy from the Vine. There are ways to ensure our spiritual safety and growth, and there are ways we can exit the safety zone and enter danger zones. Neither metaphor teaches the impossibility of apostacy and spiritual danger. You can do things to “make your calling and election sure<\/strong><\/em>” (II Peter 1:5-13), or you can do things that can get you “cut off<\/em>” and “thrown into the fire<\/em>.” Be wise!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton In John 10:28, Jesus points to the safety of staying within range of the Shepherd’s voice. “My sheep hear my voice,” and this hearing sets the stage for the next claim: “no one shall be able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” The Father’s hand is the pen, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[427,58],"class_list":["post-96516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-eternal-security","tag-once-saved-always-saved"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31874,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-support-conscientious-objection\/","url_meta":{"origin":96516,"position":0},"title":"Do you support conscientious objection?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you or your church support selective conscientious objection and conscientious objection? 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