Friday - John 10 - Sheep

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'M a sheep. Are you a sheep? Jesus is the Shepherd of the sheep. There are many people who are not sheep. They never have been, and never will be His sheep. But clearly, He does have sheep – that is, people who belong uniquely to Him (Psalm 100:3). For whatever reason (John 10:10), there are many who want access to the sheepfold, but they are averse to getting in the right way. They are opposed to the Shepherd. They object to the standard of coming exclusively through the Messiah. In this chapter, great emphasis is placed on the fact that God's sheep recognize His voice and respond to it. Of course, His very explanation was not heard by most of His audience, precisely because they were not His sheep (John 10:6). But those who were His (who belonged to Him) were able to listen and understand (John 20:27).

Of those who are not sheep, some could be called goats; others were wolves, thieves and hirelings. The problem with not being a sheep is of course that there is no salvation for those who are not sheep (John 10:15 & 26). Christ laid His life down willingly for His sheep – specifically, for both Jewish and non-Jewish sheep (John 10:16). And, the best news of all is that His sacrifice is permanently efficacious in giving life to the sheep – not temporarily, but eternally (John 10:28-29). This is the glorious eternal security which is so precious to us who have it and hold it. Of course, those sheep that don't hold to the doctrine of eternal security do indeed still have eternal security, whether they realize it or not.