28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
10:28
And I give them [believers] eternal life,
Jesus gives to His disciples eternal life, not temporal life until they sin again. Once He gives eternal life, no one loses it. To speak of eternal life ending at some point is a violation of the extant idea of eternality.
The emphasis here is on Jesus giving eternal life. This is not something we earn or deserve. He gives us this kind of life freely. Since it is the Savior who does the giving of eternal life, we do nothing to earn salvation. Because we did nothing to earn our salvation, we can do nothing to lose it.
The idea of “eternal life” in Scriptures places emphasis both on its quantity and quality. This life is of a particular kind, not only life that goes on without end.
and they shall never perish;
The word “never” is very strong in the Greek—”not ever perish” (double negative making it emphatic). There is no possible way a person can lose his or her salvation.
neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
Jesus commits Himself to never allowing His sheep to lose their salvation. The security of the sheep depends on the Shepherd, not on the sheep.
The word “snatch” was used of a wolf’s attack to carry away its prey. No foreign entity will rob us of our salvation. The idea of “snatch” is to wrestle something from someone by force. No one has the capacity to steal our salvation from us. Jesus guarantees eternal salvation at the point of belief because the onus of keeping our salvation is His.
10:29
My Father,
The expression “my Father” means that the sonship of the Son of God is altogether unique (Jn 1:14).
who has given [entrusted] them to Me,
This phrase harks back to John 6:37-39. Jesus’ protecting power is that of the Father.
is greater than all;
No one is stronger than the Father. The Father keeps our salvation by omnipotent power.
and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
No one or system can cause believers to lose their salvation, because the Father holds them in His “hand.” The salvation of the believer is held firmly in two omnipotent hands: (1) the hand of the Son and (2) the hand of the Father. There is joint agreement between the Father and Son that the believer is eternally secure.
PRINCIPLE:
The Father and Jesus jointly guarantee that no genuine believer will lose his or her salvation.
APPLICATION:
Continuance in eternal life does not depend on our feeble attempts. It is not our weak hold on Him but His hold on us that keeps our salvation. God must be consistent with Himself and His promises; therefore, He cannot go back on His word by letting us lose our salvation.
God works to preserve genuine sheep. The Shepherd protects His sheep from the enemy (Jn 10:28-30). The guarantee of our salvation rests on the power of the Father.
When it comes to our passage, some people are willing to deny the plain statements of Scripture. They are so committed to the idea that people can lose their salvation that they deny this passage for what it says.
Hi Grant this is a copied and pasted article and would really appreciate if you could look it over and critique it but its long; if you dont have time then that is fine but it is way past my pay grade? Thank you. I believe in once saved always saved anyways here is article:
The doctrine of “Once Saved, Always Saved,” is a false doctrine that is totally contrary to Scripture. It is plainly contrary to Scripture because it denies another doctrine clearly taught in all of Scripture, the doctrine of the possibility and danger of apostasy (2 Peter 3:17). When you must deny one doctrine of the Bible to hold to another doctrine of the Bible, you are contradicting the Bible.
The “Once saved, always saved” doctrine is plainly contrary to Scripture because it conflicts with the facet of the Greek verb called “aspect.” The Greek verb in the present tense includes the idea of continuing action. In John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him…” indicates by “believeth” that continuing faith, not a one time act of faith, is being spoken of in this and in all New Testament promises of eternal life premised upon our believing in Christ.
Many Bible readers who unwittingly have accepted the teachings of Calvinism have fallen into the mistake of supposing that any person who falls away from the faith never had the true faith to begin with. They base that upon a misinterpretation of 1 John 2:19.
The truth of the matter in the Greek New Testament is quite plain. There are separate Greek words for our one English word “know.” One of the words pretty much means what the English word “know” does. Another Greek word is that same word augmented by a prepositional prefix which means to possess full and accurate knowledge. A third and altogether different word in Greek is used to represent intuitive knowledge that cannot be improved upon by learning more, whereas both of the other words allow for more learning.
Jesus told the Jews that they did not know God; he used the ordinary word for “know” (G1097). But in almost the same breath Jesus told them that he did know God, and Jesus used the third word for “know”(G1492) which indicated he had full and intuitive knowledge of God, whereas the Jews did not even know what they could have learned of God as through the study of the Scripture (John 8:55).
The false teachers mentioned in 2 Peter 2:20 had the kind of knowledge the second Greek word I’m referring to specifies, the augmented word (G1922), which plainly indicates they had full and accurate knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is an error to suppose that these teachers were not saved, or to suggest they had a “head knowledge” but not a “heart knowledge.” The use of the Greek words as employed by Peter forbids such interpretations; if that were what Peter meant, he would have used the word for “know” in its plain form rather than augmented form. I have marked these things out in the notes in my book, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. I first learned of these distinctions as a new Christian when I bought and used Darby’s New Translation, for he explains these nicely at several points in the footnotes to his translation (see note “l” at 1 Corinthians 8:1, for example), though he does not use this information to make the points I have made.
2Pe 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
Note that this warning is addressed by Peter to believers, addressed as “beloved.” The warning is to beware, lest believers be led away with the error of the wicked. This means to succumb to the false teachings of the wicked. Note Peter warns that it is possible to “fall from your own stedfastness.” Clearly, stedfastness is not possessed by unbelievers, but by believers!
1Jn 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
Joh 8:55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
The New Testament teaches that it is possible to be guilty of doctrinal apostasy and it is possible to be guilty of moral apostasy. An example of doctrinal apostasy would be those who teach “another Gospel, which is not another” as declared by Paul in Galatians 1:6-9. Anyone who would believe and teach “another gospel” is guilty of apostasy and is not saved, or no longer saved (Galatians 5:4). The parameters of moral apostasy are quite fully stated in 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 and similar passages. Anyone who practices the sins named by Paul in this list “shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Gal 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
1Co 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals,
1Co 6:10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God.
1Co 6:11 Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (NET Bible)
Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
The chief proof text used to support the false doctrine of Eternal Security or “Once Saved, Always Saved” is John 10:28.
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
The key question to address when considering John 10:28 is who are the “them” and the “they”?
Careful readers of the Bible know to always consult the context of any supposed proof text for a doctrine. In this case, John 10:27 carefully defines just who benefit from and qualify for the promise given in John 10:28.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Only those who continue to hear and continue to follow the voice of Christ as now strictly contained exclusively in the New Testament can be considered to qualify as His sheep. The notion that we must continue is reinforced in the Greek text by the use of the present tense. This condition is directly stated in Colossians 1:23,
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Notice the “If” that introduces Colossians 1:23. The presence of “if clauses” is another grammatical reason based upon the Greek text of the New Testament which fully proves that the doctrine of eternal security or “once saved, always saved” cannot possibly be the teaching of Scripture.
The proper statement of the assurance and security of the believer is to declare that the Bible teaches the absolute eternal security of the believer, not the unbeliever. That short statement does fully match what the Bible actually teaches.
I have written these comments regarding the fallacies of Calvinism in brief form “off the top of my head.” I do not mean to offend Calvinists, but I do mean as a “watchman on the wall” to shock them into Biblical reality. This information could readily be expanded into a book of several hundred pages if I were to supply all the relevant texts of Scripture, further supporting arguments, and direct reference to the points of grammar and explanations of the grammar so that readers of English Bibles with no knowledge of Greek and Greek grammar could understand. So if you think I’ve left an important point unaddressed or unanswered in this major controversy, don’t kid yourself into thinking I could not address and answer it, or that I have not already considered it in my studies! But feel free to raise any questions about these issues you may have.
I hope you will carefully consider what I have written. These are crucially important issues about which we must be right in our understanding. I have tried to present this information in a form you can easily understand. Let me know if I missed doing that.
Scott, my impression of this claim for the Greek aspect is superficial and erroneous. His use of Greek is inadequate, especially his use of “aspect.” Akionsart and aspect are two different things. Aktionsart (Greek verbs operate on kind of action, not time of action primarily). Aspect gives the viewpoint of the author or the vantage point of the author. The later use is the exact opposite of how this person uses it. Aspect can be looked at from point action but when it does it views it from a comprehensive viewpoint. The present tense can be used in the sense of a helicopter viewpoint making the present tense be viewpoint as one whole. In his comment on “aspect” he uses it erroneously in the sense of aktionsart, not aspect.
Again, he does not have a clear understanding of the first class condition of Colossians 1:23, see my study there. Here is a brief summary of the doctrine of the security of the believer: https://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/doctrine/security-of-the-believer-3/ and here: https://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/doctrine/eternal-security/
Scott, regarding 2 Peter 2:20f see this study: https://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/problem-passages/2-peter-220-22/
Ok great thanks alot!!! Can i ask one more question please– what is Antinomianism and how does it apply to eternal security or salvation, if at all? Im asking Because conditional eternal security believers will say that “you cant live like the devil and go to heaven”?
Scott, antinomianism comes from 2 Greek words: anti=against, nomos=law. The idea is to live without the law or standards. Gnosticism was antinomian. The fallacy of those who charge believers who operate in grace is to claim that they are licentious or careless in the way they live because they feel eternally secure. However, this asserts something that those who believe in grace do not believe; it is a strawman. If you look at my commentary on Galatians the whole argument is against those who continue to live under the Mosaic law and by that deny liberty in Christ (Ga 5:1).
I have one more question please– I used to have confidence in my eternal security but I ended up falling into lordship salvationists teaching that certain works( and my works arent good because i struggle with bad thoughts and addiction) must be evident in behavior for proof of true conversion or your a false convert (which basically makes you take your eyes off of Jesus and onto yourself and your performance as proof of true conversion). So its made and makes me look back and question my salvation because after being saved i fell back into gross sin and i still have a porn addiction that im battling so it makes me question if i was really ever saved or not because of (1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor [a]homosexuals, nor [b]sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God).
Its a miserable feeling. I have bad anxiety so i go back and forth about if i am truly saved or not.
Grant this is what you wrote in your article “security of the believer ” :
Truth is stated by the Word, not experience. There is not one instance of any Bible character who was saved and then lost. Many try to appeal to Judas (Matt. 27:3-4). They say Judas was saved, lost and then repented. The text says that Judas was “remorseful” which means regretted. Why did Judas regret? Probably because of the fear that was going to come upon him. He felt sorry for himself. He regretted what was going to happen to him. Judas had that feeling of forsakenness. He couldn’t live with himself any longer.
So after reading this it makes me doubt even more because i am remorseful like Judas was and i definitely dont want to go to hell and fear hell and death sometimes and sometimes i feel forsaken by God as well. So i think “is my state of being like Judas’ and God has forsaken me” ”
So its a constant battle of i know i cant lose my salvation but then maybe i was never saved because of the gross sin that i fell back into and then i sometimes think to myself “have i apostasized or am i a reprobate because of the mental anguish of not feeling eternally secure. Anyways i wanted to get this feeling off of my chest. And then ill think “if i really believed i was saved then why am i always doubting”. Any suggestions? Thank you very much
Scott, note that my point about Judas was that he was never a believer (Jn 6:66-71).
Re your feeling of being a non-believer. The issue here is to distinguish objective vs subjective reality. We can find no assurance in feeling, but we can in the extant, objective promises from God. You have put your finger on a major problem with lordship salvation. It is a system of salvation that operates on operation bootstraps. The individual has to live up to standards not clearly defined. As long as the individual leans on his or her works or efforts there is no way to gain assurance of salvation. To believe in the Greek is a transitive verb and a transitive verb requires an object. It is the object of what we believe that saves the soul. It is a matter to hold God to His promises.
Scott, you may be interested in this article: https://faithalone.org/journal/1993ii/J11-93c.htm#_ftn1
Grants thanks for your help!! Goodday
Grant this is seriously the last question!!!
These arguments for conditional eternal security and loss of salvation are:
Saul and Judas are often cited as proof that a saved person who can lose his salvation. Saul is problematic because the Holy Spirit was given and withdrawn from Old Testament saints, who weren’t permanently indwelt by the Sprit as in New Testaments times. Jesus said he had chosen Judas who was “a devil.” But does chosen to be an apostle mean chosen to eternal life.
Do you have any thoughts on these examples? Also if you could lose your salvation then wouldn’t you be putting yourself back under the law? Thanks
Scott, go to my studies on these passages: John 6:64f and 70f 17:2f, 12 regarding Judas.
Re King Saul. The taking of the kingdom from him had nothing to do with his salvation but of his privilege of reigning. The Spirit of the Lord departing from Saul is not equivalent to the New Testament concept of the indwelling of the Spirit (1 Sa 16:13, 14). In the Old Testament there were special endowments of the Holy Spirit for service which had nothing to do with individual salvation.
Scott, if you want a more indepth look at aspect and aktionsart, look at this article: https://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/problem-passages/misunderstood-greek-present-tense-thomas-l-stegall/
Grant that was a great article!! Thank you for taking the time to send me the article. God is good!!