“The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:24-27 NLT
Jesus seemed to be surrounded by an increasingly antagonistic crowd of people, who were unsure about His claim that He was the Messiah and in any case unable to accept His teaching that anyone who believes in Him will inherit eternal life. As has been said before, the people before Him, probably heavily influenced by the Pharisees and their followers, were looking for a Messiah who would bring about a radical reform of the political situation and bring about the re-establishment of Israeli as its own nation once again. But for some reason they were unable to relate the prophecies about the Messiah to the Man, Jesus, who was standing before them, because they favoured one and ignored the other. On the one hand there was the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53, and on the other the King and Ruler in Micah 5 and Zechariah 9. It was the latter portrayal of the Messiah that the people in the crowd in front of Jesus were expecting. But with the benefit of hindsight we have been able to separate the two prophetic groups into the First and Second comings of Jesus, something that eluded the Jews of His day.
Jesus said to the crowd in response to their question about who He was, by saying effectively that He had already told them and the miraculous works that He had done had proved it. And He went on to say that, as the Good Shepherd, He was going to look after those who were His followers. As for the crowd before Him, they were not his “sheep” because they didn’t believe in Him. We pilgrims are hopefully the true sheep who know Jesus, who know His voice, and who follow Him. And in return he knows us. What a wonderful place we are in! But there are other “sheep”, people who claim to follow Jesus, but in reality don’t. They may be religious people, who faithfully say and apparently do all the right things, but who don’t really know His voice, and He doesn’t know them either. Jesus told us about such people in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’” Hard words indeed! But who are these people? They claim to be Christians, and many labour away doing wonderful things in Jesus’ name. I know such a person who calls themselves a Christian but who has replaced faith with things they do instead. A nicer and friendlier person is hard to find, and they never refuse a request for help. But they are convinced that their good works are sufficient for their salvation, and refuse to accept that salvation comes by faith in Jesus alone.
The go-to verse for me about an assurance of salvation is Romans 10:9-10, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved“. And we remember what Paul wrote in Romans 3:22-24, “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” But in the end, the assurance of our salvation, and acceptance by God of being “true sheep”, boils down to faith. Romans 3:30, “There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.”
If we are unsure of our status as sheep, we pray and if necessary have a discussion with our pastors or a trusted Christian friend who will soon put our minds at rest.
Dear God. It is only through believing in Jesus Your Son that we will become Your children. We are thankful for Your grace and mercy. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 