When we entrust our children into the care of someone, at the end of the day we don’t want to hear that they lost our child! When the teacher takes the class into the big city for a museum trip, we don’t want to hear that she lost some of the students. Nor do we want to hear that the scoutmaster lost some of the campers in the woods! When we turn to God and accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we come under God’s special care and protection. Can He lose us? Let’s look at today’s Scripture passage and see what Jesus says.
As our passage opens, Jesus is talking to His disciples and the crowds of people who have come to hear His teachings. Jesus assures His listeners, and us today, that whoever comes to Him for salvation will never be turned away (vs. 37). All means all, whoever they may be - Jews, Gentiles, prominent businessmen, drug dealers, grandmas, or prostitutes. No one has ever been turned away who came to Jesus, and no one ever will. Sometimes, in some churches, the members might look with scorn on a poor person, or a person with an unsavory past. They don’t want “sinners'' in their midst. However, Jesus never turns anyone away, the good, the bad, or the ugly.
Jesus then goes on to say that He will never lose anyone who comes to Him, either (vs. 39). The Bible is very clear that we cannot earn our salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). In the same token, neither can we lose our salvation once we have accepted Jesus as Savior (John 10:28-29). This is a permanent, eternal transaction. Once we are saved, we are eternally in God’s Hand. God is not like an irresponsible child, and He will not let one of His children slip out between His fingers to get lost again. Jesus said that He will not lose one person who comes to Him. We cannot lose our salvation. We are eternally secure!
As we continue, we find out who are the ones who are eternally secure in God’s Hand, and who are the ones who have eternal life. As verse 40 states, that “everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life”. The Him referred to in this verse is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. A person must believe in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. who alone offers the only way of salvation.
As Jesus spoke these words, the religious leaders and many of the people grumbled and murmured among themselves. They did not want to believe Jesus was the Messiah and Son of God. People want to come to God on their own terms. They want to believe that their way is the right way, or that all ways are acceptable to God. God’s Word, the Bible, though, says that Jesus is the only Way to God, and the only way to obtain eternal life (John 14:6).
The door is open for all to accept Jesus. No one is turned away who comes to Him, but the key is, we must come to Him. The Holy Spirit will speak and urge the lost, in many different ways, to accept Jesus (vs. 43-44). However, they have to choose to believe and accept Jesus as their Savior. They have to decide. This offer is made to all. Jesus said that if these people with whom He was talking to really knew the Father, as they claimed, they would accept Him as the true Messiah (vs. 45).
Again, they challenged Jesus to provide manna, just as Moses had given their ancestors. The manna Moses gave could not impart eternal life. It only provided for physical needs, and then only for a while, as they all eventually died. Jesus is the Bread of Life, who came down from heaven. Whoever accepts Him has eternal life (vs. 47-51). To eat living bread is to accept Jesus into our lives and become united with Him by believing His death for us, His resurrection, and live for Him each day.
Throughout Jesus’s many discourses with people, including the Pharisees and other religious leaders, He did not use flowery, “seeker sensitive” words to avoid offending anyone. Jesus told it like it was, regardless of their grumbling. Too often ministers today, including some prominent TV preachers, won’t mention sin, won’t mention the need to be saved, won’t proclaim the Bible as God’s only Word, etc. for fear of offending people. Jesus drew a line. Either accept God’s Son as the only means of salvation and have eternal life, or don’t and spend eternity apart from God and damned.
Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? If so, then you can know that you have eternal life, and that you are eternally secure in God’s Hand. He will never lose you! If not, I urge you today to call upon Jesus, asking Him to forgive your sins, and accepting Him as your Savior, for now and for eternity.
No comments:
Post a Comment