Can I Loose My Salvation? Part 1

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Prayer / Announcements

We have wrapped up a series of characters in the bible who displayed deep rooted faith. For the next couple weeks we are going to look into an important topic that I think we should all be familiar with.

Some of this spawns from the time we spent looking at John the baptist. If you remember he had a bold faith that walked him into the purposes of God in his life. He called out sin to even the most powerful in his society, and made a way for Jesus to enter the scene. He prepared the way.

But when he was pressed he still had to deal with his humanity. He had doubts. Sometimes in all of our lives we doubt God, it can be His existence, His goodness, His trustworthiness, much of the Psalms is David or others expressing their raw emotions, but at the same time returning to the truth of who God is.

At times we may even be prone to doubt our salvation. In those moments we typically are looking at ourselves. Can I mess this up? Can I take sin to far and lose my salvation? Can apathy and stress, and the appeal of this world steal my heart away from God?

You may have heard the phrase - Once saved always saved. This is the theological truth of the “Eternal Security of the believer” and is a fairly universal baptist doctrine although there are some churches that don’t believe this the overwhelming majority do.

We are going to take a look at John Chapter 10 for this week and part of next week as well.

John as a book is a theologically supercharged, and chapter 10 is really a powerhouse of spiritual truths.

Have you ever lost something? Why? I will tell you something I have never lost. My wedding ring. Why have I never lost or misplaced it, its always on my hand.

Ok so jumping into John 10 there are a lost of visual metaphors taking place here. We are going to try and simplify them and apply them to our lives but the message Jesus is conveying is a powerful one.

The True Shepherd

The first illustration is in 1-6.

John 10:1–6 “1 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.”

This is coming on the heals of Chapter 9 where Jesus heals the blind man, and they excommunicate him for telling what Jesus did for him. I was blind but now I see, thats all I know. Jesus ends ch 9 with a bit of a rebuke, and John rolls right into chapter 10.

These could be tied or could be separate its not clear, but the message is. There are going to be those that are thieves and robbers, don’t trust them. Then there is going to be the true shepherd. Thats who you trust. That’s who you follow.

The theme of shepherd is all through the scripture, it would have resonated with the audience exactly what He was saying.

At that time most likely what is being described is a sheepfold that might have several flocks. Almost like an overnight storage area. The doorkeeper would protect the flocks from thieves and robbers and let the shepherd come in to get their flock at the appointed time.

You get this clear understanding that the shepherd has sheep, but not all the sheep. You could say that those sheep who belong to the shepherd are those he goes into get. He calls them, and leads them.

This is an actual picture of shepherding. The sheep that know that shepherd will find their way to him when He calls. From the multiple flocks only the sheep that have a relationship with the shepherd will come to him.

Its important to note here that this is not talking about the process of salvation. These sheep already have a relationship with the Shepherd. Sometimes that can get confusing.

V.6 They didn’t understand.

I am the Door

John 10:7–10 “7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Jesus is like ok lets try this again. He continues on the same theme as before but now he takes it deeper. We looked at John a while back and John is always moving us from shallow to deep, to scratching the surface to fully understanding who Jesus is.

Jesus now tells them not only is He the shepherd that comes in properly the way the shepherd is supposed to, but he is also the door the shepherd comes through to get to the sheep.

Wait is he the door or the shepherd? Yes

He changes to a different metaphor, where the shepherd is caring for his own flock, not storing them overnight and paying for security. Here the shepherd is out in the field and at night it is the shepherd laying across the opening being the door and the shepherd at the same time.

Those that have come before….Anyone. False messiahs, religious leaders, anyone claiming spiritual life apart from Him, are thieves and robbers.

Something else needs to be said here too. The sheep in the metaphor are different. In the first metaphor there are multiple flocks, in this one it is one flock, and one shepherd. All the sheep here need to be seen as followers of Christ.

When he is talking about Himself and the Thief he is talking in the perspective of the believer.

Notice the contrast that Jesus stacks against himself.

The Thief - Comes to steal, kill, and destroy. The Thief subtracts from our lives. We think of this as metaphor, but it is only metaphor in the sense that Jesus is giving us metaphor for us to understand. The metaphor reflects the reality of life.

Ephesians 6:12 “12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

There is a literal Thief and he steals, kills, and destroys. He tries to implement all of these in every aspect of our lives. Our work life, our married life, our parenting life, our personal walk with Christ.

How have you seen the enemy steal, kill, and destroy in our culture?

The thief comes to steal - What?

Joy - Joy is stolen and replaced with discontentment, comparison, and distraction. We take our eyes off of Jesus and fix them on everything around us, and soon enough we are saying to God what you have given me…Looks, health, wealth, prestige…it is not enough! When your Joy in Christ is stolen, you begin to look in the mirror and say I am not enough, God you did not create me right, why am I the way I am?

Peace - he tries to steal our peace. This leads away from the rest and comfort of who He is, and causes us to worry, be anxious, fearful, and over all unsettled. This could be anything, health, financial, whatever it is it removes rest and comfort of God’s promises.

Time - The older you get you begin to realize how precious time is. It sounds cliche’ and I wish I understood this when I was younger but you will never get time back, and you never know how much time you have.

CS Lewis in his masterpiece Screwtape Letters says to the affect that Satan will fill life with so much noise, and clamor there is no time to think about eternal things.

Corrie Ten Boom says it this way: If the Devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy

The list could go on and on, but we can’t

The thief also comes to Kill. There is a progression to the thief that I think is important to look closely at. He steals first. Stealing can happen little by little. Solomon said: Song of Solomon 2:15 “15 Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes.”

Its the little things that can creep in, or creep out of our lives. The things that he steals, he then kills. So Joy, Peace, and Time, he steals them away and then kills them. He slowly stole it from your life, and you we don’t even notice that it is missing, and then its dead.

What does the the thief kill? Kill means to take life.

Spiritual Life - The spiritual life that we lead is killed by the thief. We are too anxious because we take our eyes off of Jesus and start looking all around at what everybody has, and start giving all our time to trivial things and the spiritual life we lead gets choked out.

Galatians 5:16 “16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

Galatians 5:25 “25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

Relationship - This goes both ways. The thief aims to kill relationship with God, especially, or any relationship that is God honoring.

The obvious here. Your marriage. Malachi 2:11 refers to marriage as: The Lord’s holy institution which He loves

He wants to KILL your marriage. We can become blind to what is happening, and we don’t notice, or we notice but don’t perceive. Have you ever heard a pastor use the phrase Fight for your marriage? We hear that and think it is a battle against ourselves but its not. Its a battle against the thief.

Have you ever stopped when things are difficult with your spouse and just thought, who am I actually fighting, and to what end? If you think you are fighting your spouse, you might be deceived.

He wants to kill your relationship with God. If this is successful it many times leads to the other areas of your life dying. If he can kill the relationship with God, our intimacy is killed through unconfessed sin, or idolatry. We place other things in the place of God.

For unbelievers, it would include making sure they stay spiritually dead, and separated from God.

The third thing as if all of these are not enough. The thief comes to destroy.

It feels a lot like kill to us, but I assure you it is not the same.

This is where you see legacies fall. This is where pastors, or influential people you once knew are brought to ruin.

If we are sticking with the Sheep metaphor, this is scattering the rest of the flock, burning the pasture, and tearing down the fencing or walls of the pen.

This is taking all the things that have been stolen, and killed already, and ensuring that any fruit that may have been evident, any purpose of life, and erase any trace of that life.

A word I haven’t used yet but Identity. He steals your identity, kills your identity, and ultimately aims to destroy your identity.

Don’t be deceived. What areas has the thief been working on stealing, or killing? Stop him before those areas are destroyed. Possibly Pray.

Enough with the negative. This is a contrast, the Thief vs. Jesus himself.

What does the abundant life Jesus promised look like?

There are a few things that we see tied to Jesus. V. 9 Saved, go in and out, and find pasture. V. 10 Life, more abundantly.

Freedom and safety — The phrase “go in and out” in biblical usage often refers to the full liberty and security of one’s life under God’s protection (see Deut. 28:6; Ps. 121:8). It’s not about wandering away from God, but moving freely without fear because the shepherd is watching.

Psalm 121:8 “8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.”

Deuteronomy 28:6 “6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.”

Pasture — Symbol of spiritual nourishment, rest, and satisfaction (cf. Ps. 23:2). Under Christ’s care, the believer has continual access to the sustenance they need for their soul.

Together, it paints a picture of a sheep living in an environment of complete trust—safe to rest, safe to graze, safe to roam, because the Shepherd guards the boundaries.

More Abundantly - Overflowing, beyond ordinary.

Fulness of Joy John 15:11 “11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Peace that passes understanding Philippians 4:7 “7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Purpose John 20:21 “21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.””

A richness of soul, marked by fruit of the spirit. The abundant life is an inward reality, with an external manifestation. What I mean is that it is a change of perspective that can only be brought by true relationship with God, and manifests itself in the fruit of the spirit.

Galatians 5:22–23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

Eternal Life - the abundant life starts the moment we “enter by Jesus” our inner life is transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit and presence of Jesus, but it is realized in eternity when we dwell with Him with no sin, pain, or heartache.

The abundant life doesn’t end when we leave this world its finally realized in full.

In What ways have you experienced Jesus as your Good Shepherd?

Psalm 23:1–6 “1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 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.”