Skip to main content

I Am Not Sufficient


I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will 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. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  (Romans 8:35)
This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” (John 18:9)
          Years ago, my response to Romans 8:35 was “Trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword can’t separate me from God’s love … but I can. I mean, if you knew how pathetic I am….  That was my thinking. Of course, that wasn’t clear thinking on my part. One of Jesus’ disciples denied Jesus three times after trying to hack a guy’s head off to protect Jesus. Two others wanted to pull a Sodom-and-Gomorrah-style judgment on a couple of towns that weren’t receptive of their message. A third was a tax collector, and we all know what they’re like. They were jealous of one another, judgmental, egotistical, and argumentative. I’m not saying I’m better than they were. I’m saying that I can’t compete with them. And yet, Jesus said He had not lost one of those that God gave Him. 
          Jesus said that no one will snatch those He has given eternal life out of His hand. No. One. Am I no one? I might be willing to claim to be a nobody, but am I no one? Really?
          I know people who believe that salvation can be lost or rejected after it’s granted, and I’m sure they have Scripture to back up their claims, but looking at these verses today, I once again have to conclude that I am not sufficient to undo what God hath wrought.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will 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. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more