A Few Comments on the Revolution, then a Response to Robert Gagnon on John 10

Well greetings, welcome to The Dividing Line. It is an unusual time 1 .30 in the afternoon here in Phoenix But I'm doing the

Bible Dingers webcast Gonna be joined by Michael Brown.

Are we talking about? Stuff Unity in the church stuff like that.

So we're gonna be doing that at 3 now. I don't know if that's live or not. I Assume it is

But I assumed that the debate with Jared Longshore was gonna be live too and actually it was only gonna be recorded and poor

Joshua Hames when I once I asked Well, isn't this gonna be live then he starts trying to do all this stuff to make it live and it worked

But it was a lot of pressure on him and we had technical issues and stuff like that. So Don't know it may just be being recorded and we played at a particular time later on We'll see

I I don't know For those of you seeing this program at a later time, this is the week of the

Democratic National Convention Which this year very clearly and very plainly has become the

Marxist National Convention and I I Ran into an older fellow.

Yes, sir. I I just needed to correct you on one thing. It's the Democrat National Convention because they are not democratic just saying yeah

You know the you know pulling off a coup and You know putting somebody forward as candidate who has not received a single vote ever in a primary ever

Didn't even make it to the first primary in 2020 Is pretty non -democratic.

I would definitely say that's that's the case But I ran into an older fellow this weekend he works working security and We just started chatting and You know, we both were saying the exact same thing you know, we're like can you believe what's going on in the world and Everybody I've talked to Everybody that I've talked to and I'm not talking about a church.

I'm just talking about running new people to hospital You know at Arby's, you know, wherever it might be.

Everybody's all saying the same thing and He's same age as me pretty much within a year or two and you know, we're both like I Just didn't think he'd happen this fast

And I'm like, yeah, yeah, that's that's what's left me just going the speed with which this is taking place the

Marxist revolution right in front of our eyes My old friend

Michael Fallon just posted something on Twitter right before that I mean six minutes ago so that's pretty much right before the program and It's got a picture

I was walking through Rich's office and Fox News was on and Some reporter had just walked up to Trump and was talking to him because Trump does that he he actually answers questions

And you know doesn't have everybody vetted and there's no there's no Teleprompters around and stuff like that.

You haven't seen any of that with Harris or Waltz and you won't You know here in state of Arizona our pseudo governor managed to oversee her own election and Refused to debate, you know because she can't she knows it and these people can't they know it

It's it's just astonishing what's happening Of 30 years ago, this would have been a landslide victory and I don't think these idiots would have won a single state

But not now Anyways, there's a picture of Harris and Waltz and there are all these signs behind them to say freedom and I Mike didn't say this, but I couldn't help but remember

What's it called it's not called them was it called them no they see what was that movie

Where you put the sunglasses on and all the signs that we see you see what they're actually saying because there's aliens that have oh, yeah, it's um, it's a sort of a cult classic and These sunglasses that they'd allow you to see the aliens and it translates all the stuff to obey and all the rest of stuff and It just reminded me of that That kind of stuff.

Yes, sir I'm not quite ready for this. But so the

What was the Name of the movie. Oh gosh now suddenly. I've drawn a blank. You caught me off guard.

I wasn't quite ready to do well Yeah, you seem you have much to say today. So, um, all right

I I'm thinking of a particular movie Red Dawn Red Dawn remember Red Dawn and When mom and dad are in the concentration camp

I Never saw I snowed so so they have they've converted the drive -in theater to the concentration camp for the undesirables in town and Up on the drive -in theater screen.

It has one word friend Friend yeah, and they're just blasting

Propaganda at the at these people over and over to at the undesirables same thing here freedom

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so Mike said that whenever you see the sign freedom behind Kamala Harris and Tim Wallace, please realize

They're not referring to freedom from collectivist tyranny The freedom they're proclaiming is freedom from free market capitalism and our constitutional

Republic The freedom that they promise is a world free from being forced to earn a living Think and plan your life well and a life free of bad decisions as every decision will be made for you

Free from a world of oil and gas from individual ownership of everything from the need to prosper and succeed

Free from a world where your thoughts are your own thoughts free from a world of meritocracy

Free from a world of autonomy free from a world of spontaneous travel.

That's for sure Under the Harris and Biden administration You will be liberated from the cruel world of the

American project and the freedom to pursue a happiness that has brought wealth and prosperity To nearly every non corrupt nation in the world

You will be liberated from the chains of liberty of personal sovereignty. This is the freedom

Harris and Waltz are referring to and Again Back in the day when education meant actually learning things

It would have been commonplace for American citizens To know

How things had worked under the Soviet Union What had happened with Stalin and Lenin and Mao 120 million people killed in one century by the most evil

Political Religious worldview system ever devised which could never

Ever have come into existence if it were not for Darwin Darwin was central to the

Marxist world and but anyway people would know about these people and How they used food as a weapon how they starved

The Holodomor in Ukraine they starved seven to nine million people to death

In a land of plenty with their collectivist controls

And so we'd we'd see this we'd see these people we'd go wait a minute Kamala Harris is a

Marxist what they're talking about is Marxism Um this nation fought

Marxism When One of the reasons that I think we offed

George S Patton jr. And did not allow him to come back to the

United States after his being central in our victory in Europe He almost single -handedly turned

The bow the bulge around and rescued the invasion of Europe It's very well known that after the

Americans and the Russians met in Central Germany and having defeated Other Russians remember there was still another battlefront.

We were still fighting Japan in the Pacific He Told his superiors we need to keep going.

We've got the armies here. We've got all the stuff here The new enemy is right in front of us.

It's going to be Russia it's gonna be the Soviet Union and we need to feed that enemy now while we can they're weak and We're here and Of course it could not have happened

Impossible, but that's why they got rid of him because he saw it was coming now

When the wall fell in Berlin, I've stood there stood where the wall used to be

We've there was a period of time there where it's like it's done democracy has one piece for as long as we can imagine

Now I'll be honest with you, I think one of the primary Sadly, well the primary force is

That has kept peace from breaking out in that way is the United States of America This nation is warmongers.

We've been warmongering for a long time It's sad, but it's true. What's going on Ukraine. I am convinced 100 %

Us all the way where do you think all that money's going? Why why do you think both the

Democrats and Republicans just keep throwing billions of dollars out the window

That we don't have Without even thinking about An audit or responsibility or something like that anyway

So we saw the end of communism and we Just didn't realize some people did some people did some people warned us the communists just simply used up Russia and Eastern Europe and moved on to greener fields they invaded the

United States not with armies, but with Intellectuals, well, they weren't really very intellectual but they invaded the university and That's why with each passing election

The DNC can become more and more bold More and more open don't they don't have to put on the airs that they used to have put on They have a

Planned Parenthood bus sitting outside the DNC giving vasectomies and abortions. They don't have they don't have to worry about it

We yes, we worship death. We love death Death is wonderful. We are all about death

Elect us and you will see death like you've never seen before They don't have to worry about it anymore.

They have the media The media is not going to report on them The media is not going to research anything.

They're not going to research into Harris's past or waltz's past or anything like that they're not going to touch it with a 10 -foot pole and so Yeah freedom freedom freedom from what?

Freedom is an issue of worldview and they it is absolutely amazing.

I Did see that Trump has said today and I I was watching a video someone a lady passed out in the audience in his

Rally today, so he stopped everything Walked over with the Secret Service to make sure she was okay and gave her a hug

And Like I said afterwards, you know, he's talking to press and you know doing stuff that politicians used to do things like that But Where'd it go?

That's that's the thing about Twitter. Yeah, you see something and anyways, I evidently he said at this

Yeah, there we go President Trump has announced that all military members who are discharged for refusing to covet mandate will be reinstated and receive full back pay

Along with a formal apology from United States government. Well, I'll tell you what I'll be honest with you.

I'm just I'm just I'm not a politician. I'm not a prophet I'm not sitting here doing the wacky weird

Trump stuff that certain people are doing. I I would love to have another four years of At least gridlock

Before the Marxists take over I really would but I just don't think it's possible.

I don't think it's possible I Don't believe living in Maricopa County that my vote counts for anything

I don't believe it will even be counted or if it is it's gonna be washed away by 40 illegal aliens voting the other direction so I That's honestly how

I feel I Hope I'm wrong. I want to be proven wrong. I want to be completely wrong What is it number fifth and over six?

Something like that, uh, you know on the seventh or eighth or whenever I Would love to Fry up some crow and eat it for being wrong

Yes, sir You you you talk about the illegal aliens. I see I I'm more pessimistic.

I think it's the The suitcase ballots They don't belong to anybody Remember in Atlanta.

Oh, I know everybody left and they pulled out the suitcases. I think we're gonna get Flooded with suitcase ballots.

Oh, I I don't I Don't know how it'll work. You know, it can be the 20 ,000 mules.

It can be the suitcase ballots. It can be computer stuff You know voting machines

Unless it's one ballot with verified citizenship, in fact the only way to be honest with you that this nation could actually be saved in its current state and This is impossible to have happen is if you have one vote per property owner

That's how we started and it was male property property owner as well but If it's not one paper ballot

Per person who has some Investment in the future existence of the nation

It's uh, it's over with I hope I'm wrong. I want to be wrong. I'm praying to be wrong

I really really am But I'm looking at the world. Look look at the UK Look at the

UK. They're putting people in prison for 18 months to two years for protesting

All of the immigration the wave of immigration into United Kingdom and They they put a guy away for 18 months for using profanity in saying who is

Allah who the bleep is Allah 18 months in prison now

I can guarantee you They have not put a single Muslim in prison for saying who the bleep is

Yahweh or anything like that wouldn't even think of I I honestly

I look back at the debates that I've had in the I wonder what's going on a speaker's corner these days

I really do wonder what's going on a speaker's corner these days. I Don't believe that I could have the debates in the

United Kingdom that I had only ten years ago Only six years ago That's how fast

This revolution and the collapse of freedom of speech the rise of totalitarianism in Western culture is taking place.

It is amazing. I'd love to see the brakes put on for four years I'd love to think that maybe if if for four years something good could happen

Positive could happen that people would see it and go. Yeah, you know what? You see they're coming out of the universities and out of the educational system

Zombified That they can't see this is related to this which is related this which has something history to it

I know they can't see it. I mean there are there are

Christians There are people who I know that they go to Christian churches. They're baptized believers.

I've known them for decades and They can't see The worldview of Harris and The and the

Marxist they just can't see it. It's like it. It's like there's a complete disconnect and you're like How can you not see that what they're doing is derived from their worldview?

I It truly does make you go. Oh Wow, um

Delusion judgment believe a lie You want to believe a lie

Believe Kamala Harris standing in front of a freedom sign. That is a lie.

That is just straight out a Mockery of any intelligent person and that's where we are and I Don't know.

I I just I don't know Lots of things we could say there, but I said

I was gonna get something else and we only have 40 minutes left on the program here

And what I said, I was going to get to Is a tweet from Bob Gagnon now a

Video came out haven't heard almost anything about have you been getting lots and lots of emails?

From people wanting a response to the eternal security video that came out Eight months ago or something.

Yeah, I didn't think so. I haven't heard anything from anybody I Downloaded it and listened to it.

I know I was driving, Louisiana So I'm not sure which part of a lot of whatever the last trips were I listened to all of it and I was sitting here going

Wow, I'd love to discuss this. I'd love to play that and I know Or surgeries later

What was that video about again? And so I made since I do have it downloaded someplace

It would be worthwhile actually still doing that It was bad it was really really really really bad and Unfortunately because they had so many different people they had open theists in it and Pelagians And you know people coming from 47 different perspectives and and so it didn't in any way actually address a reformed understanding of the perfection of the work of the

Father Son the Spirit in saving a particular people in Christ and That is the only coherent doctrine of the perseverance of the

Saints Of the security of the elect

Whatever terminology you want to use That's the only defensible Mechanism, that's only defensible theological position what most non reformed evangelicals call one saved always saved is

Laughably silly it's imbalanced you know these people who say you know you walk down the aisle and you shake the pastor's hand and You know so the the the free gracers the easy gracers the cheap gracers

You've got your ticket punched you can go become a Buddhist a Muslim rapist, whatever

Sola Fide as if as if any of the reformers would have for a second understood that kind of absurdity as a proper understanding of faith alone

So I think I did actually play now think about it I Think I did actually play a couple sections on that trip

On the dividing line, I think I said, you know, we're gonna do more on this but Because like I said, it was just it was extremely disjointed and Didn't actually deal with any

Meaningful doctrine of eternal security which has to be based upon the sovereignty of God doctrine of election predestination particular redemption

Things like that So anyway, I don't know how many years ago. It was now minimally three maybe five.

I had some friends start sending me tweets from Bob Gagnon a Robert Gagnon is

A wonderful fellow. I've had dinner with him a number of times. Well, at least twice I think He initially when

I first I think first contacted him he was at Pittsburgh Theological it was a

PC USA school Which I found odd because he was obviously taking very conservative positions on the subject of homosexuality and And the

PC USA is not a conservative nomination any longer by any stretch of the imagination There was a time

Where if you were at a PC USA seminary you needed to subscribe to Westminster Confession of Faith that time is long past.

I'm sure But Dr. Gagnon went from PC USA to Houston Baptist and From Houston Baptist now,

I think I'm correct. He's at a Wesleyan school now

Those are not schools that have a consistent soteriology theological commitment

At all So I've always been confused at that point

That there was something in his past he was raised Roman Catholic someone sent me some text message of some tweets he had posted about you know, he's a posting stuff about the excesses of Roman Catholicism, but there's always this sort of underlying if Rome would just get rid of these things all the

Marian stuff and All the papacy stuff which means she ceases being

Rome obviously But there's sort of this underlying then we could all just get along and everything would be okay as if Rome's gospel is perfectly orthodox, which isn't and So anyways people were sending me these these tweets a number of years ago where he was going after stuff and in the gospel of John and especially

John 6 and John 10 and things like that and I I Responded In just as lengthy a form as he was posting on Twitter and There was a little bit of back -and -forth, but then he moved on to the subjects and didn't really respond to a lot of the primary criticisms that I had offered of his exegesis

I Saw him post something on John 6 recently and I went

I Think he wrote that years ago in response to me It looks really really familiar to me.

I could be wrong, but that was my feeling so A couple days ago

Dr. Gagnon responded to fellow named Andrew now Andrew had presented a very basic simplistic once saved always saved claim and as I mentioned when

I responded to the Video in many situations

I will join in with the criticism of an unfounded

Imbalanced unbiblical Got your ticket punched on your way to heaven kind of a perspective

Because it's dangerous It ignores From a reformed perspective it ignores the nature of saving faith the work of of Conforming the elect of the image of Christ The work of the

Spirit in their lives and sanctification Yeah, it's it's imbalanced and it's

Is responsible because you know when I was at that big huge megachurch long long ago we'd go out on Outreach visits trying to find people who had walked through the door

Walked an aisle got dunked and then disappeared never to be seen again and Over and over again, you'd run into people that oh, yeah

My son Bobby, you know, he's 32 and he's Sleeping around and drunk half the time, but he

I got him to walk the aisle there at the church and so I know he's saved and and I've seen that kind of false assurance

Destroy many a person So I'm no friend any of that kind of stuff So I'll join in criticisms, but the problem is

That's joy people who make those criticisms do not differentiate Between a balanced

Reformed understanding that There is a specific elect people of God That the

Father has chosen the Son They have been united to the

Son He dies in their place he enters into the presence of Father to intercede in their behalf and the

Spirit comes at the ordained time to bring spiritual life and To bring regeneration and then to seal them for the day of redemption

Because the Son will not lose any that are given to him by the Father So it's

Trinitarian harmony the gospel once again and That's not a

Ticket punched going to heaven type of a perspective. So In responding this

Andrew Bob gag nuns and with all respect Andrew, please read

John 10 and 1029 which by the way is my father who has given to me is greater than all and No one is able to snatch them out of the

Father's hand. I and the Father we Over plural verb are one

Please read John 1029 in the light of its literary context first in John's Gospel and Then the whole

New Testament G is and every New Testament author Warned persons who received the

Holy Spirit To continue in a transformed life. Otherwise, they will be cut off This is clearly what they want followers of Christ to think otherwise

They would not have repeated these warnings over and over again. This does not make us eternally insecure, but it is a warning against complacency well

The the question as To what would make us eternally insecure is a good question because the the issue is

Every New Testament author warns people who receive the Holy Spirit to continue in a transformed life

Okay, who will do that? And and this goes back to stuff like, you know, you can go back to Augustine and Augustine Had this strange idea that you know

You could you could be Born again by baptism infant baptism

But only the elect are given the gift of perseverance and So you had true believers who were truly born again, they were not going to persevere

So they were gonna fall away because they weren't given The gift of perseverance. So you've got you've had stuff like that You certainly can't find any of that in Scripture that kind of stuff

The dividing line between reformed and non -reformed has always been Who is actually accomplishing the work of salvation is?

God making it available Is he a provisionist or does he actually save?

and So if a so there's no question That there are numerous warnings against apostasy complacency

Examine yourself. See if you're in the faith These are all biblical phrases.

The question is is it our examining of ourselves is

It our holding on that results in our eventual

Salvation or Is that you know, is this the prescriptive descriptive or is this is this stuff that God prescribes for us to do?

or is it descriptive of the people in whom he is at work and This has been

Central Argument and sorts of confusion for a very very very very long time

He gives his own translation of John 10 20 to 30 Which pretty much sounds like my own and I give my sheep eternal life and they shall certainly never perish and no one will snatch

Them from my hand My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able snatch them out of my father's hand

I and my father I would put we only because people Don't deal with oneness

Pentecostal ism enough to realize why you might want to do that We are one the passage provides an assurance to Jesus sheep

That no wolves coming from outside are strong enough to get the sheep that remain in his fold

Contrast 1012 which refers to a wolf snatching the sheep from the hired help that this is where I Am concerned about the language

It Provides an assurance to Jesus sheep that no wolves coming from outside are strong enough to get at the sheep

That remain in his fold knows notice what the emphasis is there the emphasis is upon the sheep's remaining not the shepherds keeping

Not the shepherds keeping I Would submit to you that John chapter 10 is

Very very clear in that the focus is not upon the sheep's remaining

It's upon the shepherds capacity the shepherds ability. That's that's what

John 10 is about and So it concerns me when you see that shift to away from What Christ accomplishes to something else and we'll see that in a couple ways here

It also defines the sheep in 1027 as those who are listening to my voice and are following me.

So it sounds to me Like this is the descriptive prescriptive confusion

Yes, the who are the sheep they hear his voice and they follow

Christ But that's descriptive of what the elect do when they are changed

It's not prescriptive as to how you keep yourself safe Now like I said, he's at a

Wesleyan University now, I think last I checked anyways And that's what you'd get at a

Wesleyan University. It's it's what you do that is so vital here It's the decision maker

There is no assurance given here that those who stop hearing Jesus's voice and following him will not parent well

Okay, so who makes that decision

I Would argue that's that's God it's

He gives a certain people to Christ Jesus and Christ will not fail to save them and So, why does any person persevere in the faith

I I would argue again work the Spirit of God within them.

It's not their Faithfulness, they're holding on and so Someone who does not continue to listen to Jesus voice and Follow him.

I'm not saying and and if all he's saying is This surface level one saved always saved stuff

Gives assurance to people that they can stop listening to Jesus stop following him and get saved and still be saved yeah,

I agree that that's a dangerous and a false perspective But the the baby's still in the bathwater the baby's still in the bathwater

Yeah, okay, so Yeah, you know, I don't know if he's teaching someplace specifically as A professor now because I he was at Houston Baptist.

Maybe he's still there I could be wrong But He is teaching courses through Wesley biblical seminary

This fall So yeah, that's where that's I knew I'd seen something about Wesleyan stuff anyway, so the baby's still in the bathwater, so It's one thing to say.

Yeah, that's that's foolishness that God intends our salvation to be so empty that it does not include being made like Christ, but that's not the same thing as saying that the spirit produced and prompted obedience of the believer is

What makes the difference And is the deciding factor?

so He goes on to say this is evident from other texts in John that supply conditions or qualifications well

What he doesn't deal with this stuff like John said where the condition of qualifications drawing the father

Giving the father to the son and like I said, he did seek to address that at one point and We ended up having some correspondence that I don't

I don't believe that ever was completed or finished So but he cites

John 812. I am the light of the world the one who follows me She'll certainly certainly not walk in darkness.

We'll have the light of life. Well Okay So walking in darkness

Yeah Is that something I add to the work of Christ or Is that something that I want to do because of the work of Christ how you answer that is?

How you answer that honestly? speaks to where you are between Rome and Geneva Rome and Wittenberg.

This was the issue of the Reformation. This was the issue of Erasmus and Luther really was Um, Johnny 31, so Jesus was saying the

Jews who believe in him if you remain my word you are truly my disciples So again prescriptive descriptive

Is it my remaining in his word? that is in view here or Is this descriptive what a true disciple is?

Truly truly I say to you if anyone keeps my word. He shall certainly never see death John 851 Okay But who does that who keeps his word well his sheep who chooses the sheep the shepherd does

This the the sheep do not choose their shepherd The shepherd chooses the sheep

The one who has my commandments and keeps them is when it loves me and the one who loves me will be loved by my father

And I will love him and I'll manifest myself to him. This is in reference to The disciples and the coming of the

Spirit it is not in reference to well

Commandment keepers by keeping commandments Will bring about their own

Sanctification and salvation whatever terminology you want to use again. Is this a description? Those who have been changed in this way

This is description of what they are like or is it a prescription to everybody? This is how you become that?

Those are two very very very different perspectives John 15 keep my commandments you remain my love

This is I have kept the commandments of my father and remain in his love you are my friends if you're doing what I am commanding you

We agree completely But we would say the true saving faith the work of regeneration results in You know if we you know, let's go back to what's the

New Covenant? What's the fulfillment Jeremiah 31 according to Hebrews chapter 8?

I'll write my law upon their hearts. I will write my law upon their they

They they don't take a heart of stone and write the commandments upon a heart of stone and Not gonna do it an example of those who did not so remain this is this one really is concerned concerning to me an

Example of those who did not so remain in Jesus Word and continue to follow him appears in John 6 66 271 the text speaks of many of disciples of his disciples who no longer followed

Jesus After his eat my flesh and drink my blood speech Okay Didn't Jesus start off like about verse 34 35

Saying I I know those I know I know who believes in me and I who doesn't wasn't wasn't the whole the whole point of Focusing upon himself the exposure of The false disciples who had simply seen the miracles and wanted more wonder bread

Does any of that result in a diminishment of the centrality of the power of God The father in giving a people to the son the son in saving every single one of those that are thus given to him and we know that John 14 through 16 that's through the work of the

Spirit These were these were false disciples the the idea here seems to be that Well, but they were they were his disciples

Okay, that's what they identified themselves as And by the end of John chapter 6, there's only 12 left and one of them's a devil

You don't think that was purposeful You don't think I was meant to communicate something certainly was

Most of important of all is divine branches analogy in John 15 discussed in the prior post

Which makes clear that believers who are in Christ are removed by God if they do not bear fruit

Those that are removed are thrown into the fire. So again, very very common to go well because Their branches in Christ That means that they were in Union with Christ Which would mean that they're regenerated

They have Christ's righteousness imputed to them. Their sins have been imputed to Christ everything that's the only way to truly be in Christ and As I pointed out years and years and years ago, and I'm pretty certain

I'd Who knows how you'd even go back to find this stuff these days and so long but because I Now I'm thinking about it pretty certain that that conversation took place on Facebook Which I hate rather than Twitter, I Think so anyway

I'm pretty certain that one of the references that I provided At that time was to the article that I wrote many years ago now

John 15 the branches which is still on at a omin org if you just throw the reference in or the name or something like that, it will definitely pop up and What I argued in my exegesis of John 15 is that You are not a true disciple

If you did not bear fruit And so just as in the sower and the seeds

The ones who grow up quickly and then fade away those that have the word stolen from them

You know, those are choked out by the thorns and thistles what is the consistent

Commonality between them in Jesus description no fruit no fruit and so if you don't bear fruit in John 15, why are you assuming this was actually a regenerate person

That would go against Jesus his own standard in how he uses this kind of agricultural metaphor

Those that don't bear fruit will be gathered up and burned That doesn't mean that they had the righteousness of Christ or anything like that Or if they were ever you united with Christ, I mean if you're gonna go that far

Are you really gonna say that the father? knowing That they would fall away

United them to Christ in Christ's death So what he substitutes for their sins?

But they're still gonna fall away and be lost even though their sins have been born in his body upon the tree.

This is where things get very very Messy and ugly now he says

It is important to note here that exclusion from God's kingdom for failure to bear fruit

Does not imply those who do bear fruit in some way merit God's kindness

The branch produces fruit only if it remains in the vine without me You can do nothing only the father and son get credit for our transformed lives

I'm Always appreciative when people attempt to Protect in some fashion

The singularity of the glory of God The problem is, you know, look at the the technical stuff that people have done in Roman Catholicism To find a way in a

You know Patently merit -based system to say that only

God gets the glory You know the the entire sacramental system you can

Roman Catholic and smuggle that in into faith working by love faith working my love so Working there you go.

Here comes the entire Sacramental system through the back door and that's not what

Paul was talking about What Paul's talking about is Saving faith which comes from God and is given

By the father to his elect people through the work of Christ made available to them and applied to them by the

Spirit of God so all of that to Go back to John chapter 10

And Remind ourselves of What Jesus actually says here

John chapter 10 verse 25 Jesus answered them.

I told you and you do not believe The works I do in my father's name these bear witness of me

But now so he's saying the Jews Know that they're saying tell us openly tell us plainly.

Are you the Messiah and Jesus answer it is is I did tell you and you don't believe

Who pistew it? Hey, this is this is the same context John 6 when when

Jesus says and yet You are not believing and in both instances.

He's explaining What the relevance there would be Why is that so so important and he says the works that I do in my father's name these bear witness of me

But you do not believe why? Why why do you not believe is

It is it because Jesus had not given them his best sermons given them his best efforts

No You do not believe verse 26

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You are not of my sheep. You don't believe Because you are not of my sheep so How does someone become one of the sheep if you say it's by believing how does that work?

because Jesus Says you don't believe because you're not my sheep and the standard

Evangelical argument is you believe to become one of the sheep

But that's not how Jesus says it You're not on my sheep my sheep hear my voice and I know them and They follow me so What's the focus here it it really seems to me

That the phraseology that dr.

Gagnon used at the beginning of his Little mini article puts the emphasis upon the sheep choosing the shepherd and choosing to remain in the flock

I submit That the only way to really Consistently interpret

John 10 is not start there You do not believe because you are not of my sheep my sheep because they are my sheep

Hear my voice It's not by hearing his voice you become one of his sheep

That's that that's I know it's really normative That's very common But anybody who knows anything about sheep and shepherds goes what

That's that's not possible my sheep hear my voice and I know them

I Know them and they follow me

Prescriptive descriptive very much descriptive very much.

They I know them and Because I know them

Because they hear my voice then they follow me

They follow me That's what sheep do but we don't have that natural capacity

Unless that heart of stone is taken out and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish there is a specific people and The Sun gives eternal life to them not on the basis of their um

Hearing that's passive anyways and Not on the basis of their following I Give eternal life to them.

I mean John 10 comes after John 6. You've got to You've got to allow the preceding conversation to have its place.

I Give eternal life to them and they will never perish now.

I've I've had some people try to go. Well, that that's a that's that's an heiress to middle.

So Yeah, you know it it's it's limited to External forces taking them away from the father and the son and and so on and so forth

No the focus never becomes us and the idea that What you have here is well, it's just so wonderful because Jesus provides this assurance

That nothing outside of us Will ever take us out catch that Because that's what that's what the tweet said no external force can separate us

But we can We have that power no power in the world can do it except us and That's what

I've heard people say for years and years and years You present this text.

Oh, yeah, no one will ever a snatch out of the father's hand, but you can jump out you can jump out and what is that kind of interpretation focused upon the

In Capacity of God to accomplish his purpose in lives is like people it focuses upon What mankind does?

And that's the natural that's that's what natural man does that's People will much prefer that kind of perspective

To what you have in Scripture because If I am safe in the hand of the

Father and the Son Then that means I didn't save myself my faithfulness my works

Won't do anything can't do anything. It's not possible Father the

Son the Spirit are able to save perfectly in of themselves So no one will snatch them out of my hand now if it says that they will ever perish now if I jumped out of the hand of God Doesn't that mean

I'll perish? it does but They will verse 28

Who may Apollon tie is an era subjunctive of strong denial

It's one of the strongest ways of denying the very possibility of something taking place and so if I can

Jump out of the hand of God then I can bring about my own destruction, but Jesus promises no one will snatch them out of my hand and I include yourself

My father who has given them to me this It's perfectly valid to go back to John 6 because there's a given to me language

Is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. So what is John 10s emphasis

Is it upon? Prescription you do this Or is it descriptive of what the result of being given by the father to the son is?

We saw that in John 6. We're seeing it again in John chapter 10, and that is the only meaningful foundation for the perseverance of the

Saints Continuation of saving faith is that father son and spirit are accomplishing a specific thing

Their own self -glorification in the lives of the elect people of God Looks pretty straightforward to me, but there are a lot of traditions out there that go other directions.

So as Mentioned on the program yesterday You know,

I'm here post operatively You know,

I mean I've still got some pain going on and and And stuff like that, you know,

I could be here on Thursday and Friday I could drag my tired old body in but somebody else is

Chasing after the entertainment of the world and Is going someplace else and I don't need

I don't even remember What this is all about but this is the last program for the week

And I'll just leave it there and let you figure it out from there.

I'm not sure who's sending me stuff here. Okay, anyway Huh? Yeah, ain't you you're sitting just sitting there going.

Okay. I just wanted to get get this over with Anyways, so this will be the last program for the week unless something really insane takes place.

I suppose which will of course happen because the Democrats are in session

But Lord willing we will be seeing you next week and I will be a little bit more energetic than I may have been this week and We'll we'll go from there.

So appreciate all the prayers all the support. We will see you all next week. Thanks for watching.