Thread by @ThomasCoutouzis

#Exetweet thread

1/ "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand." John 10:27-28

2/ When Christ said His "sheep hear his voice" He did not mean a literal voice speaking to them. A true believer reads God's word and believes it as truth because the Holy Spirit resides in them. They follow what Scripture says because they know it to be true.

3/ So we hear Christ's voice through reading Scripture and the truth resonates in us to obey. We stop repaying evil for evil, or living sexually immoral lives, or reveling in drunkenness, or lying to others.

Christ says, "I know (ginosko) them."

4/ "Know (ginosko) is an experiential knowledge, meaning that you know something from first hand experience or know someone personally. Christ is saying I know each and everyone of my sheep personally. He knows the true believer personally because He regenerated them.

5/ When Christ removes the scales from a sinners eyes and makes them into a new creation He creates a personal and eternal relationship with that person. That person knows Christ and Christ knows them.

This is why Christ says to false professing Christians in Matthew 7:23...

6/..."And then I will declare to them, I never knew (ginosko) you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."

Christ is saying "You professed to be acquainted with me but I profess that I never knew you."

"Never" (oudepote), combines oude "not even" and "pote" "at any time"

7/ Properly, "Never". You might notice the Greek negative "ou" which denotes a denial of something absolutely & completely.

Christ is saying that at no point in the lives of these false professors were they ever acquainted w/ Him. He then throws them into the Lake of Fire.

8/ Just because someone professes Christ doesn't mean they are saved from God's wrath. Belief is not enough. Belief must lead to repentance from sin. If it doesn't then the belief is false.

Christ now says His sheep will never perish & no one will snatch them from His hand.

9/ "Never" is "ou me". In Greek this is a double negative which differs from the English double negative. In English when we use two negatives they cancel each other out and make it a positive. In Greek a double negative is an emphatic denial.

10/ Properly, this denotes "by no means!" This double negative is the strongest negative you can use in the Greek language. When Christ says "they will never perish" He is making it clear that it is impossible for one of His sheep to perish in the Lake of Fire.

11/ When it says "no one will snatch them from my hand". "No" is "ou" which again denotes denying something absolutely and completely in the context.

That means you can't even snatch yourself out of God's hand. It is impossible for you to be separated from God.

12/ To deny eternal security would be to believe a few errors:

1. God does not keep His promises, making Him a liar.

2. That you are more powerful than God.

3. That God is not powerful enough to keep His promises.

4. That God the Father, God the Son & the HS are in conflict.

13/ I have had charismatics tell me that "God is not holding on to us, we are holding on to God." To which I reply, "Where in this passage does Scripture say that we are holding onto God?"

Jn 10:28 destroys this Charismatic argument. Their belief isn't corroborated by Scripture.

14/ Pelegians/Semi-Peligians hate eternal security because they believe that going to heaven depends on their ability to choose good over evil instead of God saving us by His grace. It is a works based heresy where the ability to reach heaven depends on your freewill.

15/ Do regenerate believers struggle with eternal security at times? Yes.

I have found this true in my life when I was an infant in my faith or when I was living in sin.

It is our actual sorrow and repentance over our sin that gives us assurance of our salvation.

16/ Unbelievers have no sorrow & repentance over sin. Sin makes me miserable & pulls me away from God. The Holy Spirit will no longer allow me to enjoy rebellion (sin) so it makes us feel horrible because I am a new creation. I get no joy out of sin anymore, but unbelievers do.

17/ I have found that when I am in God's word daily it strengthens & reminds me of His promises. It makes me more sensitive to sin so that when I fall I am quick to recognize & confess it.

It is grace that secures a believers place in Heaven, so the believer has nothing to fear.

****point of clarification regarding a believer in sin:

A believer can experience a short season of pleasure in sin, but sin has diminishing returns and in time if someone truly is a believer they will be unsatisfied by the sin they have chosen, making them miserable.

-cont-

One of the greatest assurances of salvation is the misery sin brings the believer & the sorrow over committing the act of treason against God. True Christians in sin are the most miserable people in the world.

No sorrow over grieving God = no salvation. Test yourselves.