but only without additions, alterations or omissions of any kind,
including the author’s and ministry name and address at the end.
Nothing may be removed from this text including links to other pages.]
That, however, is never the way the eternal security teachers cite John 10:28! Incredible spiritual harm has been done over the years by ignoring verse 27 and reading into (distorting) verses 28 and 29 (no one can pluck them out of my hand) into something that is not there. Verse 27 is an integral part of John 10:28 for it describes who shall never perish, that is, Jesus' sheep who continue to follow Him. To omit verse 27 and/or the facts about the word follow is to change the meaning of Scripture! Only God knows how many remained unrepentant and went to Hell thinking John 10:28 gave them a never perish security in sin!
Almost every eternal security book I've read, which tries to prove once saved always saved, places heavy emphasis on Jn. 10:28 and no one can pluck them out of my hand. For many, this is the one and only foundational proof text for their never perish once you have been saved teaching. But does John 10:28 really teach once saved always saved and never perish for all who have been saved? Let's take a close look at it and the surrounding verses:My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they FOLLOW me. I give them eternal life, and they shall NEVER PERISH; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:27-29)Please note the word follow in verse 27. It is a CONTINUOUS TENSE in the Greek and describes Jesus' sheep. The plural pronouns they and them refer back to verse 27. Hence, the only ones promised the wonderful never perish security in verses 28 and 29 are the ones who CONTINUE to follow Jesus! No such never perish promise, either here or anywhere else in the Bible, is reserved for one who doesn't CONTINUE to follow Jesus, such as a backslider.
What a shock this fact of grammar regarding John 10:27 must be some. The truth is, there aren't any irrefutable Scriptural arguments for once saved always saved. All the alleged "proof" texts for this teaching are no real "proof" texts at all! The wonderful never perish and no one can pluck them out of my hand promises - applies only to the followers of Jesus, not the backslidden. Our book, The Believer's Conditional Security, refutes 110 of the arguments commonly cited for once saved always saved. Have you read it yet?
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Somebody Has A Grossly Distorted View Of The Scriptures
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