Nine Reasons for Eternal Security
Salvation is eternally secure for every person who believes the truth about Jesus. Some people teach that those who believe the truth about Jesus may have salvation for a while, but may lose it along the way. They may phrase this view like this: “Jesus will never turn his back on you; but you can turn your back on Jesus,” or “Jesus will never walk away from you, but you can walk away from Jesus.” But what does Jesus teach?
Salvation is eternally secure for every person who believes the truth about Jesus.
As the Good Shepherd, he teaches that not only will he never abandon you, when bad shepherds will (John 10:13), but you will never be able to abandon him. To make this clear, he gives nine reasons for this, recorded in John 10.
1. You are his sheep (John 10:27).
He calls you “my sheep” (John 10:27). While this may sound simplistic, it is incredibly significant. If you are a sheep of Jesus, then you have a shepherd who never loses his sheep. He does what a shepherd does and never fails. He is the one good shepherd, the supreme shepherd, the perfect shepherd. Consider what Jesus also says in John 6:39-40:
This is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
You see, Jesus always does what a good shepherd does. He loses none of his sheep, and he raises all of them up on the last day. If Jesus saves you, he is not only able to not lose you, but he will not lose you. If you enter his flock and become his sheep, you will remain in his flock forever.
2. He gives you salvation (John 10:28).
Again, this sounds very simple, and it is. But it is also very important. The salvation that Jesus provides is something that he gives. Paul also describes salvation this way in Romans 6:23, when he says that “the paycheck for sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Paul emphasizes this truth in Ephesians 2:8-9, when he says that we are saved “by grace through faith, not of works, lest we should boast.”
You do not become a sheep in the flock of Jesus because you earned it, because you did good things, or because of anything like that. You become a sheep in the flock of Jesus because he gives this to you. It is a gift. He paid the full price to place you into his flock by dying on the cross for your sins, then raising again on the third day. As a result, he has given you salvation. You did nothing to earn it, and you can do nothing to relinquish it. He has given it to you and it will never go away.
3. He gives you eternal life (John 10:28).
Not only does Jesus give you salvation, but he calls it “eternal life.” This is a new kind of life, a fully-restored relationship with God. It is life in the green pastures, by the still waters of the one and only Good Shepherd. And this is the kind of life that lasts forever. That’s why he describes it as eternal or everlasting. Why? Because it lasts forever! And in keeping with the theme of Jesus being the Good Shepherd, and believers being sheep in his flock, you should remember what David wrote in Psalm 23:6:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Remember, King David was a man who had a heart for God, who believed on the Messiah in genuine faith, but committed some serious sins along the way. Notice, though, the certainty with which he states this truth. “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Fellow believer, the life Jesus gave you is forever. It can never go away. It could not go away for David, and it cannot go away for you. You are the sheep of Jesus. He gives you salvation, and he gives it forever. But there’s more!
4. You will never perish (John 10:28).
This is the opposite of the truth previously mentioned. On the one hand, he gives you life that lasts forever. On the other, he gives you a promise that the opposite will also not occur … forever. You will never perish. But you might say, “What if?” Stop right there. There are no “what ifs.” You will not. You will not perish. Period.
5. No one can take you from his hand (John 10:28).
Perhaps you know the parable Jesus told in Luke 15:4-7. He described how he is the kind of shepherd who will leave ninety-nine sheep in his fold, as it were, to go find one more that should also be there. In this parable, he is referring to people who will be saved, not to wayward believers. And he says that he lifts up this lost sheep in his arms and carries it into his flock. He saves him.
When you believe on Jesus, it is because he found you. It is as though he lifted you up into his hands, and guess what? When that happens, you will never be able to pull yourself out from his loving grip. You are in his hands, the hands of the Good Shepherd. No one can take you out of his hand. He gathers you up into his arms and will never let you go. Nothing can pull you away, not even you yourself.
Nothing can pull you away from Jesus, not even you yourself.
Paul explains this fact very well when he says this (Rom. 8:38-39):
Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
6. The Father gave you to Jesus (John 10:29).
Now here is a perspective-altering truth. You didn’t give yourself to God when you believed the truth about Jesus. It was the other way around. God was giving you to Jesus when you did that. Consider again what Jesus has already taught us in John 6:39:
This is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
Realizing that God the Father gave you as a gift to Jesus the Son, then think about what James 1:17 teaches us about the nature and character of God when he gives something:
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
God does not retract his gifts, especially when he has given something to Jesus! He gives and he doesn’t change his mind. He gave you to Jesus, placed you into the flock of the Good Shepherd when you believed the truth. He will never change his mind.
7. The Father is greater than everything (John 10:29).
“All things” can refer to any single thing out there. So, God the Father is greater than “any single thing out there.” But “all things” can also refer to all things out there combined, altogether. Nothing alone, and nothing in any combination – even everything else all together, all ganging up on you at once – can ever pry you out of God’s hands. That includes you, by the way. God is greater than you. You yourself are not great enough to walk away from the grip of God. Any bad choices that you make following your true belief in Jesus are not great enough to do it. You simply cannot walk away from God. Period. You are not great enough to do that. It is impossible.
You yourself are not great enough to walk away from the grip of God.
8. No one can take you from the Father’s hand (John 10:29).
There is no power play possible that can pry you away from the grip of God. To emphasize this point, consider the following Old Testament quotations. This is not a new truth that Jesus is taught. He referred to an old and ancient truth, that the hands of God provide everlasting safety for those whom he shelters, as David revealed in Psalm 23.
See now that I, even I, am he, And there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. (Deut. 32:39)
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. (Deut. 33:27)
And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me. (Isa. 49:2)
What God revealed to Moses and the prophet Isaiah, he re-emphasized through Jesus. Whoever believes the truth about the Messiah, Jesus himself, will be protected forever from all things. How? By the everlasting, ever-strong hands of God the Father. Not only are you unable to walk away from the firm grip of Jesus Christ, you are also unable to walk away from the firm grip of God the Father. And this leads to the conclusion of what Jesus is taught here in John 10.
9. Jesus and the Father are one (John 10:30).
This is the punch line! Jesus and the Father work together, in equal tandem, to save you. God the Father sent God the Son to die for your sins. They are two separate persons, but one being – the one true God. They are one, one in deity, one in eternality, one in power, one in authority, and one in faithfulness.
As my son Samuel likes to say – in his own words – Jesus is God, and God is Jesus. That is essentially what Jesus is saying here. And for that reason, those who hear his voice, as recorded in the Gospel of John, will believe the truth about Jesus, that he alone is God and Savior. These will never perish, and they will never, ever be able to lose the salvation that God provides.
Thomas Overmiller serves as pastor for Faith Baptist Church in Corona, NY and blogs at Shepherd Thoughts. This article first appeared at Shepherd Thoughts, used here with permission.
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John 10 holds special meaning for me because my late grandmother found assurance of her salvation from this passage. A lifelong Methodist, she sincerely believed that she could “lose” her salvation. However, years into her life she read this chapter in her daily Bible reading. That morning she changed her mind – based upon this passage – and never “doubted” her security in Christ again.