Bible Truth #164 - John 10:11-16

John 10:11-16
11  “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

12  The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.

13  The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14  “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—

15  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

16  “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.”

I want to focus on verse 16 but included the others for context. Since we (the Elect of God) were chosen IN Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), ALL of those chosen already belong to Christ. When Jesus spoke these words to His apostles, I believe WE (future believers) were among the “other sheep” to which He was referring. And when He said “I must bring them also” do you think for one minute He would fail, or that He would forget?

Also in verse 16, the Greek word translated “hear” is akouo which in the context of Jesus speaking here means understand, not just simply hearing a sound with our physical ears.

When He said, “they will hear My voice,” why do you suppose that is true? Do you think there was any chance whatsoever that the “other sheep” of which Jesus is speaking would NOT hear His voice? There isn’t a proverbial snowball’s chance in the Lake of Fire that the “other sheep” won’t hear His voice. Jesus said “...they WILL hear (understand) my voice.” There is no hope in that statement by our Savior, there is no chance, there is no opportunity, there will be no failure - He stated a matter of FACT - “...they WILL hear my voice.”

Will the lost hear (understand) His voice? NO, because this Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, is a stranger to them and they will NOT follow a stranger’s voice (Bible Truth #28, Bible Truth #110, Bible Truth #134). That goes for ALL sheep - lost or saved. Sheep will follow ONLY their shepherd. When He called us by name we heard (understood) Him and followed Him because God quickened our dead spirits and converted us.

This reconciles perfectly with John 6:37 in which Jesus said that all those the Father has given Him WILL come to Him. There were no ifs, ands, or buts - it WILL happen.

Remember that Jesus said in Luke 19:10 that He had come to seek and save the lost. Well, once again He is referring to a specific group, the “other sheep” He referred to above - unless of course you believe He lied or failed.

God has it rigged, it’s a done deal. As Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished,” (John 19:30) accept it as fact, accept it as Truth. He has obtained salvation for His Elect - He did not make it available to the Elect nor did He make it available to the lost. He has OBTAINED salvation for His Elect (Hebrews 9:12) and His Elect alone. The price has been paid and the only thing that remains to be done is God quickening the dead spirit in His Elect at a time in history - a time of His choosing. But all of His Elect are already in Christ whether they are saved or not, or whether they have even yet been born! (Ephesians 1:4)