Safe in the Good Shepherd’s Fold

The Doctrine of Eternal Security 

Jesus’s teaching in John 10 describes the safety and security believers experience as sheep who follow the Good Shepherd. Those who put their faith in Christ’s finished work do not have to speculate about their eternal future. Salvation cannot be obtained through human works, nor can it be forfeited when we falter. This is true because right standing in God’s sight rests solely on Christ’s perfection, not ours. The Holy Spirit “seals” or guarantees the eternal salvation of all people who put their faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice.1 When God initiates the good work of salvation and redeems a sinner, He continues perfectly unhindered until salvation’s glorious consummation.2

How do we explain people who first profess Christ as Savior, then later walk away from Him? While we cannot accurately assess anyone’s relationship with Christ, God can. Scripture teaches that God holds fast those who genuinely trust Him for salvation. In this life, believers continue to struggle with sin and doubt. However, God’s grip on the true believer is stronger than sin’s pull, feelings of doubt, or the enemy’s opposition.3 When doubts arise, our best focus is to passionately seek the Lord. The promises of Scripture stand firm as an anchor for the soul. Salvation is God’s work from start to glorious finish.4

Many people believe their salvation can be lost. Some walk away for a time and then return. Others who walk away may never have had real trust. We cannot know—only God knows. However, if salvation depends on our wavering obedience, we live life facing eternity without certainty. We do not adequately grasp Christ’s unconditional love and sustaining grace. Struggles that come when we sin cause doubts. Christ’s righteousness, not our own, secures salvation.

What a relief to understand that our soul’s security rests in Christ, not ourselves! We regularly experience the darkness lingering within our hearts. We recognize that we often love our sin more than our Savior. But we also recognize that we are sheep who hear our Shepherd’s voice. When we stray, Jesus comes after us. When we falter, He holds us up. Jesus carries us through. We will persevere in faith, not because we are strong, but because Jesus is mighty.

1. Christ’s sacrifice: Ephesians 1:13-14
2. Secure until salvation’s consummation: Romans 8:29-30
3. No separation: Romans 8:38-39: Philippians 1:6
4. God’s work in salvation: Romans 8:30; Philippians 1:6

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 14, The Gospel of John

Jesus Christ Gives Sight to the Blind

The Doctrine of God the Son 

At his first encounter with Jesus, the newly healed, formerly blind man did not realize who Jesus was. Newfound sight, pressing opposition, and growing understanding led this man to recognize the truth. He soon bowed before Jesus in belief and worship. The Lord Jesus Christ is none other than God’s own Son who came to seek and save the lost.1 Equal to and co-existent with God from eternity past, Jesus came into the world to live, die, and rise again.2 Only Jesus can rescue sinners and give eternal life to all who put their faith in Him.3 

Your response to Jesus determines whether you are spiritually blind or sighted. Like the man born without sight, we are all spiritually blind from birth. Only God can open blind eyes. The eternal destiny of every human rests on their response to God’s Son. One day, Jesus will return to earth and every knee will bow before Him.4 God has exalted His Son and given Him the right to judge sin and grant eternal life.5 To refuse Jesus is to choose spiritual blindness, which tragically results in an eternity separated from God. 

No one remains neutral about Jesus. Throughout history, the name of Jesus has divided humanity.6 The Pharisees denied evidence of Jesus’s divine authority as well as His healing power. Today, people continue to resist Jesus while ignoring the truth about Him. Spiritual blindness remains in those who fail to recognize who Jesus is and the saving work He accomplished on behalf of sinful humanity. To refuse Jesus is to turn away from the only true hope that exists. 

Believing in Jesus means seeing what matters most. When the Lord opens our eyes to behold Jesus, we see glimpses of His glory that will be magnified and celebrated throughout eternity. 2 Corinthians 3:18 speaks of the powerful transformation God sets at work in the lives of those who believe in Jesus: “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” What do you now “see” because Jesus has opened your spiritual eyes? How does gazing at Jesus give you a refreshed perspective on your life and the world around you? Seeing Jesus leads us to worship Him. The Son of God, exalted by the Father, will reign for eternity without rival. 

1. Seek and save: Luke 19:10 

2. Equal to God: Philippians 2:5-11 

3. Only Jesus saves: Acts 4:12 

4. Jesus’s return: Matthew 24:30; Acts 1:10-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11 

5. The Son’s judgment: Matthew 16:27; 26:64 

6. Outcomes of belief and unbelief: John 3:36

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 13, The Gospel of John

Saved from the Death We Deserve

The Doctrine of Salvation from Sin’s Penalty 

Jesus encountered massive crowds and performed spectacular miracles as He walked among sinners. Yet, He sought out individuals. He also willingly revealed Himself to His resistant enemies. The self-righteous, proud, and indignant Pharisees exemplify sinful rebellion. Even so, to fully understand sinful nature, we need only look into our own hearts. Every human is born with a sinful nature inherited from Adam and Eve. Our sin convicts and condemns us, separating us from our perfectly just and holy God. We face the well-deserved punishment of death to pay the penalty that each sin we have committed deserves. 

God sent Jesus to die in the place of sinners to make atonement for the sin of all humankind. By dying on the cross, Jesus paid in full death’s penalty on our behalf. Jesus’s outpouring of amazing love saved us from the righteous wrath of God.1 Through faith in Jesus and His atoning sacrifice, all believers experience salvation. We are freed from sin’s power in our lives and given eternal life with Him. 

Without faith in Jesus, people walk through life dead in sin.2 Deceived by the allure of temptation to sin, death haunts at every turn. Tragically, those who bear sin’s punishment on their own await not only physical death but also spiritual death, which culminates in eternal condemnation and separation from God. Life is lived without hope. 

When we place our faith in Christ and His redemptive work on the cross, Christ sets us free from sin’s death penalty. The sin for which Jesus died will never rise to accuse or haunt a believer.3 Believers are also set free from sin’s present power over their lives. However, even forgiven Christians continue to sin.4 The Holy Spirit leads the believer to confess specific sins and grow in personal holiness.5 Believers are saved not only from sin’s eternal debt but also from a wasted life. How will you celebrate this wonderful gift?

1. Saved from wrath: Romans 5:9 

2. Sin’s penalty: Romans 6:23 

3. Death of sin: Psalm 103:11-12; Isaiah 38:17; Jeremiah 31:34 

4. Continue to sin: Matthew 6:12; Romans 7:14-25; James 3:2; 1 John 1:8 

5. Confession: Matthew 6:12; John 1:29; Ephesians 2:1-5; Hebrews 9:23-28; 1 John 1:9

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 12, The Gospel of John

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — One God in Three Persons

The Doctrine of The Trinity

As humans, we struggle to understand the width and breadth of God’s all-encompassing nature.1 The unity of purpose that exists and operates within the three persons of God is equally beautiful and mysterious. In John 7, Jesus revealed that He spoke on behalf of His Father. He promised the indwelling Holy Spirit as the source of living water to satisfy the soul-thirst of all who believe in Him. The unity among God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit continues to humble and baffle us.

The Bible clearly upholds the union of the three persons of the Godhead. Though distinct, all three are fully God and work harmoniously with one another to accomplish God’s plan. As God reveals His truth to us, we increasingly come to appreciate the majesty of the triune God we worship. God the Father sent God the Son into the world to save sinners.2 God the Holy Spirit sparks new life within believers; seals them as God’s children; and provides ongoing, indwelling power to live for God.3 The past, present, and future aspects of salvation involve all three persons of God.4

Anyone who fails to appreciate the beautiful cooperation and community among the three persons of God misses an awesome glimpse of God Himself. Though human limitations do not allow us to grasp the totality of wonder surrounding God, whatever we understand is more than enough to humble us before His greatness. Many attempt the impossible—to confine God to the boundaries of their intellect or personal approval. In Jesus’s day and ours, most people reject truth they cannot understand.

Jesus came representing His Father’s heart, accomplishing His Father’s will, and demonstrating His Father’s authority. The Holy Spirit draws us to Christ and gives us the power to surrender with obedience to the Father. Believers can rejoice in the boundlessness of God that exceeds the confines of their own minds. The simple unity, complex diversity, and amazing cooperation within the three persons of God should lead us to worship a God who surpasses us in every way. If you are a believer, will you marvel at all God has done to save you? If you have not yielded to God, in all His infinite wisdom and wonder, will you do so today?

1. God’s higher ways: Isaiah 55:8-9
2. The Father sent the Son: 1 John 4:14
3. The Holy Spirit: Acts 2:38; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30
4. Three persons: Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:30-36; Ephesians 1:3-10; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-4

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 11, The Gospel of John

“Rightness” Before God

The Doctrine of Righteousness

Righteousness refers to the perfect and unblemished “rightness” of all God is and does. God’s perfect righteousness means that He cannot tolerate sin. Jesus Christ is the only person who has lived a perfectly sinless life.1 Everyone else has sinned and continues to sin.2 When Jesus offered His followers Living Bread, He offered them Himself. Through Jesus’s achievement and not their own, those who believe in God’s Son receive eternal life.

Believers continue to sin like all other humans, but Jesus’s blood and righteousness cover their sins. People who believe in Jesus are justified—declared right with God and thus able to have eternal life in His kingdom. The indwelling Holy Spirit empowers believers to recognize and repent from sin. Through this ongoing process, called sanctification, the Holy Spirit imparts practical righteousness as God’s children grow to be more like Jesus.

People often fail to recognize the seriousness of their own lack of true righteousness. Comparing themselves to others and not God, they feel satisfied if they deem themselves better than someone else. No one realizes their need of Jesus as Savior without first acknowledging their inability to live up to God’s righteous standards. This serious matter should not be deflected or ignored.

In love and grace, God sent His own Son to rescue us from our desperate state. Jesus paid sin’s penalty on behalf of all who put their faith in Him.3 The Holy Spirit awakens dead hearts to recognize their debt of sin and turn to Jesus for salvation.4 Through Jesus, believers gain right standing with God, not because of what they offer, but based on Jesus’s perfect righteousness. In Jesus, God provided the righteousness He requires that we could not offer. For eternity, God’s people will praise His Son for His indescribable gift.5

1. Jesus’s sinlessness: 1 Peter 1:18-19, 2:22; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 John 3:5
2. Everyone sins: Romans 3:10; 1 John 1:8
3. Jesus’s sacrifice: John 3:16; Romans 5:8
4. Holy Spirit’s conviction: John 16:7-8
5. God’s indescribable gift: 2 Corinthians 9:15

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 10, The Gospel of John

Chosen by the Father

The Doctrine of Election

Jesus said, “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37). God’s providential sovereignty stands behind the challenging doctrine of election. Before God created the world, He chose those who would respond in faith.1 Romans 8:29 says, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son….” However, God’s sovereignty in election does not negate each person’s responsibility to believe.2 God offers an invitation for all to believe. When God draws people through His Spirit, He works through their individual faith.3 

Sin has so ruined humanity that no one truly seeks God.4 Our fallen state renders us utterly unable to respond to the gospel in faith unless God first enables us.5 Consider salvation as a door. A bold invitation is emblazoned on the outside of the door: “Whoever will may come.” Those who take hold of God’s promise walk through the door by faith to see another bold sign inside the door: “All those the Father gives me will come to me.”

God’s ways are inconceivably bigger, higher, and more perfect than humans comprehend. We easily miss the harmony between the twin truths of divine election and human responsibility. We should not dismiss infinite truths we cannot fully understand. God’s choice in eternity past does not remove personal responsibility for unbelief in the present. The seriousness of rejecting Christ remains a sober warning. 

The wonder of salvation humbles and amazes us. God imparts life to dead hearts. Knowing this truth compels us to confidently share the gospel with others. Salvation, from start to finish, is God’s work. All glory belongs to God. However, the responsibility to turn to Christ for salvation is ours. Will you trust God who loves perfectly and always acts righteously?

1. Chosen before time: Ephesians 1:3-14
2. Human responsibility: Psalm 81:11-12; John 8:24
3. Call to faith: Matthew 11:25-30; John 6:37-40
4. Sin’s damage: Psalm 14:2-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10-18
5. Drawn to faith: John 6:44

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 9, The Gospel of John

God’s Rightful Rule as King of Creation

The Doctrine of the Sovereignty of God

God is sovereign. This means God alone controls everything. He rules every sector of the universe He created.1 God’s decrees govern history.2 God’s sovereignty includes the calling of those who will be saved by Him.3 God determines the outcome of all things according to His wise purposes. God controls and guides all events for His glory and our good.

Like their ancestors centuries earlier, the people of Israel desired a king.4 They recognized Jesus’s authority and correctly speculated about His identity. However, they wanted a king who ruled on their terms and satisfied their desires. They stood before eternity’s sovereign King seeking to mold His agenda to meet their demands. Because of humankind’s inherited sinful nature,5 we long to exercise sovereignty that belongs only to God. People long to control what only God controls. We desire autonomy more than submission. God rules rightly, justly, compassionately, and eternally. His sovereignty remains steadfast despite our rebellion and utter failure to understand His character and purposes.

Without a proper understanding of God’s absolute rule over time, history, and every earthly event, we flounder in uncertainty. People’s whims, the world’s constantly changing landscape, and our own lives seem to careen randomly forward. Certainly legitimate questions arise as we attempt to interpret the chaos around us. However, failure to recognize God’s present purposefulness leaves us without the rudder we need to direct our lives.

The truth about God’s sovereignty stabilizes our thinking in many ways. We do not need to fully comprehend what God expressly controls. When our understanding fails to grasp all that God is doing, we trust the infinite perfections within His character. Knowing that God will one day eradicate evil, end injustice, and reign without rival offers hope when current events trouble us.6 Recognizing God’s right to reign over everything helps me relinquish my own desire to rule what I cannot control or to mold God to fit my image of Him. Surrendering to the Sovereign God who rules time and eternity is always right. How will you find comfort today recognizing God’s wise rule over this world and your life?

1. God’s authority: 1 Chronicles 29:11-12; Psalm 47:7
2. God governs history: Daniel 4:34-35; Acts 2:23; 17:24-27
3. God’s call: Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:2
4. Israel’s desire for a king: 1 Samuel 8:4-5
5. Sinful nature: Genesis 3; Isaiah 53:6; 59:12-13; Romans 7:14; 8:7
6. God’s eternal rule: Revelation 21-22

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 8, The Gospel of John