In July 28, 2006, my mother, Vivian Carol Horn, died in her sleep and, according to the promise of 2 Corinthians 5:1-8, immediately entered the presence of the Lord. The obituary she prepared years in advance of her death read like this: At the age of 16, she came to realize that she was a sinner for whom Jesus died. From a God who cannot lie, she accepted His death on the cross, and nothing else, for her sins. He was the One who loved her and gave Himself for her. This was the most important decision of her life.
My mother’s life is secure in the Saviour’s hand. I can say this with absolute certainty based on the precious words of John 10:27-30 which simply, yet clearly, outline the believer’s eternal security in Christ. In these verses, Christ reveals Himself as the Good Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep, and further details exactly how safe the Christian is in His hands.
My sheep… In this passage, the shepherd is the Saviour who “giveth His life for the sheep” (v. 11). The sheep are people from both Jews and Gentiles who have trusted in the Good Shepherd for salvation (vv.9, 11, 27).
Hear my voice… Hearing is a reference to believing. In verse 24, unbelieving Jews said, “If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly,” to which Christ replied, “I told you, and ye believed not.” Their unbelief, not an auditory problem, kept them from salvation.
And I know them… When a person becomes a Christian, he is known by the Saviour and becomes a son of God (Jn. 1:12; Rom 8:14-17). This relationship cannot be severed. God remains our Father even when we sin (1 Jn. 2:1). The Holy Spirit is the seal—the guarantee—of adoption by God, and, although our sin grieves Him, it cannot break this divine seal (Eph. 1:13; 4:30; 2 Cor. 5:5).
I give… God’s standard of holiness requires absolute perfection. To slip in any one area of His Law brings condemnation as a law-breaker (Jas. 2:10). Man’s ability to save himself by obeying the Law has a 100% failure rate (Rom. 3:10-20). So God offers salvation as a free gift—because we could never earn it (Rom. 6:23). Furthermore, since our salvation is not obtained by good things we do, it cannot be lost by bad things we do. (Rom. 3:24; 4:5; 5:17; 6:23; 11:6; Gal. 2:16; Eph 2:8-9; 2 Tim. 1:9).
Eternal life… they shall never perish… Scripture uses words such as “eternal,” “everlasting,” and “never perish” to describe the believer’s salvation (Jn. 6:40; Heb. 9:12). If we could lose our salvation, then, by definition, it would not be eternal. Eternal life is received at conversion, as John 3:36 illustrates: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life.” This life is everlasting. There should be no confusion.
And they follow me… Genuine believers will be followers of Christ. The new believer’s life is miraculously created unto good works (Eph. 2:9). “If verses” such as 1 Cor. 15:2; Col. 1:23; Heb. 3:14, 6:6; and 1 John 1:7 are sprinkled throughout the New Testament, stimulating groups of professing believers to re-examine the reality of their profession of faith. The question is this: If you’re not acting like a Christian, why aren’t you? Professing Christians are either struggling with sin as a believer, or worse, have never trusted Christ at all! True believers are followers of Christ and will bear fruit that shows their obedience to Him.
My mother’s life bore testimony to the Good Shepherd who kept her in His hand until she could see Him face to face. I look forward to meeting her again—and soon! “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thes. 4:16-17).