The Gospel Made Plain

John 10:22-30 – Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29My 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. 30I and My Father are one.”

I. The Complaint

The Jews blamed Christ for their Confusion in v. 24 asking, “How long will you keep us in doubt?” Many blame God for their condition: as if God hasn’t told us all that we need to know for life and godliness; as if God hasn’t done for us all more than we deserve…in spite of what we deserve. While the Gospel is preached so many balk; they stall; they quibble over semantics; they wallow in doubt.

Do you do this? If so, may I warn you of how dangerous it is. Jeremiah declared, “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved” (Jer. 8:20). I trust that this is not true of you. According to him we have been told everything we need to know and are therefore without excuse if we fail to believe on Christ as our Savior.

II. The Response

Jesus answered their complaint in vs. 25 = “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.”

Jesus argues that He has made the Gospel plain and clear and that His miracles substantiated his claims. In other words, the problem is not a lack of information or proof, but a failure to believe. In v. 17 Jesus makes it clear that anyone who willfully seeks the truth will find it and that anyone who willfully rejects the truth of Christ Jesus will be eternally rejected by God.

So Jesus claimed: The message is sufficient, and its proofs are numerous and effective. His words alone had caused some to believe.

• It was the testimony of the Samaritans that they had believed Jesus because “we have heard for ourselves,” rather than because of the testimony of the woman whom Jesus had met at the well (4:42).
• The nobleman who had his son restored to health by Jesus “took Jesus at his word” (4:50).
• Peter had testified, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (6:68).

These had believed on the basis of the words alone.
Yet, there were also Jesus’ many works that substantiated them.

1. Consider the miracle at Cana of the changing of water into wine (2:1–11). John tells us that this was the first of Christ’s signs and that, as a result of it, the disciples believed on him.
2. Another miracle is the healing of the nobleman’s son (4:46–54). This work shows Christ’s power to overcome sin and sickness and to instill peace and faith in the human heart.
3. Another sign is the healing of the impotent man (5:1–16). The meaning of this is that all men are spiritually impotent—they cannot come to Jesus—but that Jesus acts in grace to call them to himself in spite of their inability.
4. Fourth, there is the feeding of the five thousand (6:1–14). Here Jesus is revealed as the One who alone can satisfy the hunger of the human soul.
5. Fifth, there is the walking of Christ upon the water in which his power over the elements is dramatized (6:15–21).
6. Another miracle is the healing of the man who had been born blind (9:1–41).
7. And then there is the raising of Lazarus from the dead (11:1–44).

Each of these works reveal something about Jesus that we would not have seen so clearly otherwise, and each supports his claim upon men’s loyalty. And today we have a complete record of the Gospel revelation of God from Genesis to Revelation. And The Word of God teaches us:

• Originally, man and woman had life and communion with God in a sinless world. When they sinned, this life was lost and has been the state of humanity ever since. When Adam and Eve lost their spiritual life they hid from God.
• Consequently, when the gospel is preached, those who hear it also turn away unless God intervenes to do a supernatural work of regeneration in their hearts. Moreover, the desperate state of people apart from Christ is suggested by the fact that no one can recover this life except as a free gift from God.
• Jesus calls it a gift, for it is undeserved and unearned. If it were earned, it would be wages; if it were merited, it would be a reward. But eternal life is neither of these. It is a gift, which means that it originates solely in God’s good will toward men.
• Men and women will perish except for this gift. Look at verse 28 = Jesus says of those to whom he gives life that “they shall never perish.” (But since he makes this promise, it must be because we will perish if he does not intervene.) We are sinners; sin makes us heirs of God’s wrath. If God does not intervene, we stand under divine judgment, without hope, facing the punishment due us for our own sins.
• Furthermore according to verse 26, we cannot even come to Christ, if we are not of his sheep because we would as lost people lack the ability to hear his voice and turn to him. For while it is true that in ourselves we cannot come to Christ and so lie under God’s just condemnation, the main point of these verses is that God has nevertheless acted in grace toward some. Earlier this was expressed by saying that Christ died for the sheep (v. 11), in other words, by the doctrine of a particular redemption. In this section we are told that Jesus has given eternal life to the same people (v. 28), and that these are those whom God has given him (v. 29).
• And then Jesus says, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (v. 28). This does not mean that there will not be dangers, of course. In fact, it implies them; for if Jesus promises that no one will succeed in plucking us from his hands, it must be because he knows that there are some who will try. The Christian will always face dangers—dangers without, from enemies, and dangers within. As a true believer you may well be deprived of things. Some may lose their job, his friends, his good reputation. Still he will not be lost. The promise is not that the ship will not go to the bottom, but that the passengers will all reach shore. It is not that the house will not burn down, but that the people will escape safely.
• “Snatch“ in this verse refers to the thieves and robbers of vs. 1 .
• But notice the Security is found in the double security of being in the hand of Christ and the hand of the Father who is greater than all. Talk about Eternal Security; whatever could cause you to lose your salvation would have to be bigger than God himself. Any sin you commit, any sin committed against you, any deception by a false teacher, any attack by Satan… God is greater than all! Do you believe this promise, that you are safe in Jesus’ hands, that you will never be lost?

They asked for Christ to be plain. But he has been. The real question is do you believe. Or maybe you just don’t like the truth.

• May you believe with all your heart that men and women are unable to believe because of the curse of sin.
• And may you understand that those who believe do so only because God acts in grace to elect them into the company of His people.
• And may you understand plainly that all whom God elects do come, are saved by grace through faith, and never lose their salvation.

If you do not believe, it is not because it is not plain, but it is because you aren’t one of His. In John 10:26 Jesus said, “But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep…”

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