The Good Shepherd – Part iii
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. (John 10:29)
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (John 10:27)
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:28)
God the Father gave His Son as a free gift of atonement for the sin of mankind. We often recite the very words of John 3:16 (For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.) and forget that this love that God has given is His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The vastness of the gift is unlimited in its power of life for IN Christ, IN His Person, is life eternal. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:28) Those who have been born anew, who are new creations in Christ, are bound by the eternal life of Christ Himself. His divine blood is the eternal lifeline to each and every one of His redeemed. We are a completely new being. Yes, I said new, for we have been set free from sin and death in the life of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. By His sacrifice of Himself we have liberty to approach God as His children, or may I say, sons. For Christ has taken sin out of the way completely in the two facets of His sacrifice: the first facet, He satisfied God and God’s righteousness by taking our transgressions and nailing them to His cross; in the second facet, as the scapegoat He took our transgressions and sins into the wilderness never to be seen again.
And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. (Leviticus 16:8)
But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:10)
And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp. (Leviticus 16:26)
There were two goats: one was the Lord’s portion and it was offered on the brazen altar. This was to satisfy all God’s claims against us. This is where the Lord Jesus of twain made one new man so making peace for us. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace; (Ephesians 2:15)
The second goat (the scapegoat) was presented before the Lord alive. This was to make atonement with Him. This was the removal of our sin, and the scapegoat was released into the wilderness, and therefore, was never seen again. The scapegoat bore the transgression. We need to compare this with Isaiah Chapter 53, verses 3 – 6.
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3)
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:4)
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)
In Isaiah 53:4 we have the picture of the scapegoat which was fulfilled by our blessed Lord the Lord Jesus Christ. These are the words of the Spirit of God, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; thus, relating our sorrows and griefs on the scapegoat sent into the wilderness as Hebrews, Chapter 8, verse 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Also, in Hebrews 13:12 we have another New Testament connection to the Old Testament of Leviticus Chapter 16. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. (Hebrews 13:12)Not only was the scapegoat sent into the wilderness, but nothing of sin could return to the camp, even the man who took the goat into the wilderness had to wash his clothes and bathe his flesh before he could come back into the camp. Nothing could return — all was taken away, and even the man had to return clean without spot. This is a beautiful example of our life in Christ, for we have been cleansed by Him so that we can enter into the presence of God without sin, and without transgressions. Both sin and death was swallowed up in victory in His sacrifice of Himself.
The divine witness of Christ’s sacrifice being accepted by God Almighty was His resurrection. In the three days and three nights of His darkness and the travail of His soul, we see the scapegoat bearing our grief and our sorrow into the wilderness so far out of the way that God would remember it no more. Many consider resurrection as a time period when the dead will come forth, but they do not consider that IN Christ Himself is the resurrection and life.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: (John 11:25)
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (John 11:26)
The One New Man
In the power of His eternal life (Hebrews 7:16) He had the power to lay His life down and He had the power to take again. Resurrection was IN Him as ALL life is IN Him; however, in the Lord’s resurrection we also have the completion of the one new man. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; (Ephesians 2:15) In Christ’s sacrifice He removed Adam and replaced Adam with a glorified man from heaven above manifested on earth, crucified, raised from the dead, glorified before God, and this new Man who is in heaven at the right hand of God is our Holy and Great High Priest after the order of Melchisedec. In this one new Man, He has made peace with God for us. He took upon Himself the flesh of this world, not the humanity (the sinful nature) of this world. He had to be a divine sacrifice without sin, and without Adam. The man who brought sin into the world could not be part of the divine Being, for Adam was created of God, so God had to remain separate from Adam. The only connection to Adam is bearing all of man’s transgressions and sins on the tree of Calvary. This is where Christ made peace with God for us in the new Man, the Lord from heaven. We have three main gifts: 1, the gift of the Son from the Father; 2, the gift of the Spirit of God from the Son, and 3, the gift of new life in the wonder of Christ. Our eternal life is beyond the realm of man in Adam; for Adam gave us sin and death. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12) This sin of Adam could not be reversed IN Adam. The only solution was NEW LIFE, a new creation, and this new creation had to come forth from the highest Himself in creating a new race of people WHO possessed His eternal life.
The Stone of Israel and The Shepherd
The mighty God of Jacob had to come as the tried Stone, the polished stone, Christ came as the very breastplate of life for His sheep. But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) (Genesis 49:24) God the Holy Spirit combines the shepherd’s work with the stone that was rejected by Israel. The stone most precious, in His trials and tribulations here on earth, is the same Shepherd who shepherds’ His people today; therefore, we embrace and meditate on Psalm 23 day and night. For the comfort from this Psalm for the sheep of His pasture is truly a well of water springing up within. The Lord of glory (the Shepherd of the sheep) gives unto them eternal life from the dew of the morning as the Son of righteousness arose with healing in His wings. Even though He had displayed His power over life in His ministry even with the raising of Lazarus, the absolute proof of His power of life was in His own resurrection. Not only in John Chapter 10 did He declare that He had the power of life, but also in John Chapter 11, in verses 25 – 26, He proclaimed to Martha that He IN HIM WAS the resurrection and the life.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: (John 11:25)
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (John 11:26)
The first thing that we see in the Lord’s conversation with Martha is that the Israelite knew of the resurrection. Their teaching of the divine nature of God taught them that there would be a resurrection of the dead. However, they did not understand that resurrection was IN God Himself. That HE was the resurrection. I will remind you of the vision or dream of Jacob: the Lord referenced this dream in John Chapter 1, verses 50 and 51. Compare this with Genesis Chapter 28, verses 11 thru 15.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. (John1:50)
And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. (John1:51)
And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. (Genesis 28:10)
And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. (Genesis 28:11)
And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. (Genesis 28:12)
And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; (Genesis 28:13)
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 28:14)
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. (Genesis 28:15)
John Chapter 1 brings in the fullness of the Lord’s resurrection. In Genesis Chapter 28, the LORD is seen at the top of the ladder, the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. This brings in the fullness of the Lord’s resurrection, for He has been manifested upon earth to receive His own and to take them to glory. He came to earth as the divine Man, to give Himself as a ransom for sin, and in this, He swallowed up death in victory to open the door for His sheep in His resurrection, and giving them His own eternal life. We can say, therefore, Christ is IN us and we are IN Christ. In both John Chapter 10 and 11, Christ proves that life was within Him. He claimed for Himself the actual power of life. And this power gave Him the power to create life, and to recover life in the power of His own resurrection; as life is IN Him, so He creates life by the power of His eternal life. (Hebrews 7:16) This is the very power of life that He gives to His sheep as His proclaimed that they shall never die. For He has taken Himself (the divine Man from heaven) and sacrificed Himself upon the cross of Calvary and made one new man, so making peace with God. And He, as God, declared of His sheep that He (the divine Author of life) gives to His sheep His OWN eternal life.
When Christ stated to Martha that whosoever believeth in Him shall never die, this was a divine statement that His life in the new creation (the creature being born again) could never lose this life, for it was His own eternal life that He has given to His sheep. (John 11:26) This is where mankind cannot see beyond the grave, or should I say ‘above the grave.’ Man, in Adam, is blind to the spiritual world. He was driven out of the garden, and all spiritual contact was broken and left behind. Only the supernatural work of God (giving the gift of faith) could call out a people for Himself; which throughout history brought forth souls who believed in a holy and righteous God. And all the promises to Abraham, and others, was fulfilled in the fullness of time when God sent forth His Son made of a woman, made under the law. And this fulfilled the power of the new creation in Jesus Christ. Now, Christ was made the center of ALL life, and eternal life. When Adam sinned God did not destroy the creation at the time of Adam’s sin. Why? because now, through the course of time, God would fulfill His work of redemption in the fullness of time by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Christ who has opened up the door of redemption: past, present, and future. For it was then that He was manifested as the Son of God with the power of life. In Him was life and the life was the light of man. Martha understood that the Lord standing before her was the Christ, the very Messiah, and that He was the promised Son of God to come. This was the teaching that God had given to the Jews: that there would be an Annointed One sent forth into the world, and this would be God’s Christ — the Annointed Son of God. However, at the Lord’s coming there were many false teachers among the Jews. Tradition had replaced the very words of God. The Jews were listening to the voice of man, and not to God’s voice, in all this confusion, the Son of God divinely revealed Himself to His sheep. For He had come for them based on the new creation, the spiritual birth of man IN Himself, the Son of God. John Chapter 3, verse 16, spills over into 1st John, Chapter 3, verses 1 thru 3.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1 John 3:1) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2) And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:3)
The question should be asked, Who calls us ‘the sons of God?’ It is God Himself through God the Holy Spirit. We have been brought into the very Heirship of the Lord Jesus Christ through the divine birth and life that He has given us. And therefore, we are partakers of His very life, the life of God’s dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 7:16) Man (in Adam) will never understand the redeemed relationship with the Almighty God. For as the world knew not the Lord Jesus Christ, so the world cannot know His redeemed. All the doubts that the worldly man has can be answered in the Word of God. How often have you heard someone murmuring for bread as the children of Israel murmured? They declare that they are not being fed at their church when they hold the bread of life in their hands. Each and every Israelite was responsible to not only read the Word of God, but to make the Word of God part of their life. Today, each and every Christian has that same responsibility to know all the testimonies, and teachings of the Word of God sent down from heaven by the very voice of God. However, to understand the Word of God one MUST have the Spirit of God within. One MUST be born of the spiritual nature of God, and then, that soul is taught by the Son of God Himself. And now that child of God possesses the very eye of God’s Spirit to see above the grave, and to embrace the victory over death is already ours.
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14)
And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:15)
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. (Hebrews 2:16)
Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17)
For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)
Can you see more now? He took the power of death and changed it to the power of life in Himself so that the words that He spoke to Martha are a present reality to all the children of God; consequently, we must repeat the very words of our Savior as recorded in John 11:26, And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Let us follow these words of the Lord Jesus Christ with the words of the Holy Spirit who Christ sent into the world to lead us into all truth.
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. (2 Corinthians 2:14)
For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: (2 Corinthians 2:15)
To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:16)
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; (2 Corinthians 5:18)
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:19)
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you. (2 Corinthians 13:3)
For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. (2 Corinthians 13:4)
The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:47)
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:48)
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:49)
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (1 Corinthians 15:50)
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (1 Corinthians 15:51)
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52)
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:53)
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (1 Corinthians 15:54)
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1 Corinthians 15:55)
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. (1 Corinthians 15:56)
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:58)
These Scripture sections are the sure Word of God unto eternal life. There is no course on earth that can corrupt these words. The words of man will always be the words of man for man is flawed by sin, therefore, man will always attempt to discredit the Word of God. Even from the pulpits of this world they use sly and ignorant speech to deceive the hearers. The Word of God is a spiritual force sent forth into the world and backed up by the Spirit of God Himself to lead the Christian into all truth. The Word of God bears the truth of God’s very voice which modern mankind (with all his technology and understanding) cannot grasp that the Word of God IS infallible. Mankind relies on his fallen nature to understand the Word of God, which is impossible for in the fallen nature he is dead to ALL spiritual activity from God for he has been deceived by sin in every way. Sin has blinded him and cursed him unto death. Mankind is a slave to sin, and sin is the hardest master of all time. This tyrant of sin has only one demand, and this is death. So death is passed to every man. Even the Lord from heaven (the sinless One) had to go into the realm of death to overthrow it and to bring forth life. And He did this through the travail of His soul. (Isaiah 53) As we have read, He has defeated both sin and death as witnessed in Hebrews Chapter 2. In John Chapter 10, the Lord proclaimed that He has the power to lay down His life, and He has the power to take it again. In Hebrew 7:16, we have the confirmation of His eternal life within Himself. Before the very first act of creation, back even further in the counsels of God, the Lord Jesus possessed the power of an endless life. However, in His transformation by His resurrection, He went from Jesus Christ (the Son of man, the Son of God) to Jesus Christ the new Man in heaven for us: the glorified Son of man, and the glorified Son of God. He is the Eternal Man in heaven. This will never change for He has been glorified in fulfilling all of God’s righteousness.
And as Adam bore the image of God (Genesis 1:26, 27) so the sons of God will bear the image of Christ, the Son of God. (1 John 3:2) This can only come through the new birth. Why do I repeat this? because it was a necessary step to the new creation in Jesus Christ. One MUST be born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but by the will of God. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13)
The new being, as we read in 2 Corinthians is completely new. Old things are past away, and the Spirit of God emphasizes, Behold all things are become new. Therefore, in the transition of the new birth old things are past away in Adam. Adam is gone. Sin is gone. Death is gone. The Lord speaks to the heart, the soul and the spirit, I give unto them eternal life. When we realize that the Lord is uniting His life with our life, the power of His life with our life, the eternity of His life with our life, the realization comes to the heart, soul and spirit that we have our life in the Son of God Himself. The Spirit of God affirms this in Galatians 2:20, that my life is in Christ. This is not only for the future, but it is for the now. The apostle declares through the Spirit, the life that is now led by the child of God is a life IN Jesus Christ, and Christ is IN me. He has created a new being IN Himself: a glorified Man named Jesus Christ, and is sat down at the right hand of God in heaven above. (Hebrews 1:3) Everything that Christ accomplished on the cross of Calvary is for NOW and ETERNITY. All the courses throughout the history of mankind have been rectified in the death of Christ on the cross whether it is unto grace and/or unto judgment. The fullness of God’s righteousness was completed in the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.
Before the creation of the world, God had given the Lord Jesus an inheritance, and this inheritance would not be complete until Christ went into death and defeated death, and put sin out of the way. He received His inheritance before the foundation of the world, and He collected it at the cross of Calvary. Throughout all the blood stained pages of time, there is a divine record of what the Son has accomplished, and what He has created. All the pages of time one day will be considered before Him, and He will present righteousness to those who have been made righteous IN Him, and judgment to those who have rejected Him. He will receive His Bride as a portion of His inheritance at the marriage of the Lamb. It will be a Bride without blemish, the completion of His Body in the fulfillment of His blood sacrifice. And the glory that is bestowed upon Him will also be bestowed upon His Bride as well, and they will share his glory throughout eternity in the new heaven and the new earth.
Mankind makes a mockery out of God’s eternal life by declaring ‘here today, gone tomorrow.’ Mankind labors fearlessly and furiously to extend his own life, and one reason is that he is motivated by death. And his fear of death is so great that he wants to put it off as long as possible. It is the blindness of man that keeps him from receiving eternal life through Jesus Christ because of man’s sin, and enmity against God. The Lord’s statement in John Chapter 11, verse 26 is foolishness to the natural man, but to the redeemed, it is life within the Savior, and it is being a partaker of Christ’s eternal life. This is a light to the soul that IN Him (the Lord Jesus) is life everlasting, and with His power of an endless life He gives our life His authority in the power of His life. He became the Captain of our salvation when He defeated death, and He defeated death in the brightness of His life of glory. The glorified Man is the glorified Son, the glorified Son is the glorified God, the glorified God is the new Man in heaven for us, and ministers to us through His own Spirit. He is the Eternal Priest after the oath and order of Melchisedec making intercession for us as we tread the pathway of faith here on earth.
In our position on earth we are known of God, and unknown of man. It is NOW that we need His presence in this dark world. He must go out before us (before His sheep) and lead them in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. He has been given a name above every name, and this name is Jesus Christ. All the collective names of God are fulfilled in one name, the name that is above every name, and this is because of the manifestation of the Son of God in these last days: to finalize the plan of redemption and to prove the power of God over life in Himself, to redeem His sheep, and to take them into His eternal life never to be separated from their Lord and Savior.
The religious systems of this world want to rob us of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. They cannot bear a name that is above every name. They spend hours with a string of Old Testament names to divert our attention from the power of resurrection and life in Christ, then they attack the Word of God (both the Living Word and the written Word). Just think of all the diverse doctrines that mankind has conjured up in his sinful heart just in the first Chapter of the gospel of John. They attempt to take away the divine truth, and the gifts of God sent by the Holy Spirit to edify the Church, the Body of Christ.
Religion is the biggest fallacy of mankind. It is where the ministers of Satan hide. They build their doctrines without any foundation. They go away from the Word of God to entice man away from God and not to draw man to God. Their doctrines are built on man’s traditions and false teaching as it was in the days of the Lord Jesus with the Jews and their rulers. They were deceiving the Israelites, so also today, the dark pulpits of religion deceive millions every Sunday. The thief and the hireling can be found in every religious schism, and the names of blasphemy replace the name of Christ, the name that is above every name. Well, it’s OK to hate me for I expect nothing less. It is your soul that I am concerned about, and your eternal relationship with Jesus Christ my Lord. The devil has been placing his preachers in pulpits and in congregations of all sizes for more than two thousand years. These very deceivers have been given to attempt to deceive the very elect, but thanks be to God, the sheep (born of the Spirit of God) only hears the voice of the Eternal Shepherd, and He gives them His eternal life. And as the stars of the heavens, He knows the name of each sheep, He has called them out of darkness to shine as lights into this world. Why would anyone in his right mind want to forfeit, or deny, or to decline eternal life? They have been blinded by sin, and sin prevents them from seeing the life of Christ. No one can posses eternal life outside of Christ. If anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9)
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Romans 8:11)
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:14)
The Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows His sheep, and GIVES unto them the FREE gift of eternal life. There is no argument for anything less, only the unregenerate heart of mankind cannot see the life of light in Jesus Christ. We should never expect the goats to have eternal life for they have eternal damnation. It is only the sheep of the Lord Jesus Christ that can take this comfort in Psalm 23, and in Hebrews 3:6.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. (Psalm 23:6)
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. (Hebrews 3:6)
Amen.
© Copyright 2019, Michael Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)