Believing in Jesus
"One does not ultimately become one of Christ’s sheep by believing in him. This position Jesus expressly repudiates in John 10:26 when he says: “You do not believe, because you are not my sheep.” Rather than saying that men are not his sheep because they do not believe in him, Jesus says that they do not believe in him because they are not his sheep. In other words, the Father must have elected them and summoned them first, that is, they must first be his sheep, before they can come to him, that is, believe in him. Then, concerning those who are his sheep by virtue of the Father’s election and effectual summons, Jesus declares: “My sheep [the “my” is emphatic in the Greek] hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (10:27); that is, as their Shepherd, he knows them, and as his sheep, they hear and follow him as a matter of course. And of those who are his sheep, Jesus says that they shall never perish, and that no one will or can snatch them out of his and his Father’s hands. Here Jesus affirms the saint’s eternal security in terms of that precious Shepherd-sheep relationship which eternally prevails between him and his own."
Source: Reymond, R. L. (1998). A new systematic theology of the Christian faith. Lectures delivered at Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Mo. and Knox Theological Seminary, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (783). Nashville: T. Nelson.
Source: Reymond, R. L. (1998). A new systematic theology of the Christian faith. Lectures delivered at Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Mo. and Knox Theological Seminary, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (783). Nashville: T. Nelson.
Labels: Faith
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