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NASB | John 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 10:27 "The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me. |
Subject: "My Sheep Hear My Voice" |
Bible Note: "My Sheep Hear My Voice" 'Many have taken this statement by Jesus in John 10 to refer to the Christian's acquired ability to "hear" God's personal instructions to him. "Hearing God's voice" is advocated as a very useful skill that aids optimal Christian living. Allegedly, this is a learned ability one gains as he matures in Christ. It enables him to sense Jesus' will in any given situation as he "hears" Jesus' voice. 'Jesus has nothing like this in mind, though. I know because of the context surrounding the verse and a key clarification John himself gives early in the chapter. In verse six, John explicitly states that when Jesus speaks of His sheep "hearing His voice" He is using a figure of speech.' NASB John 10:6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. 'The word "voice," then, can't actually mean some kind of inner voice because a thing is never a metaphor of itself. It's a picture of something else. Jesus must be referring, in a figure, to something else that the phrase "hear my voice" represents. What is it? 'The context tells the story. Jesus says, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me," and then adds, "and I give eternal life to them" (27-28). Note the sequence: His sheep hear His voice. They follow Him in response. He then gives them eternal life. Hearing Jesus' voice is a figure of speech for the inner working of the Holy Spirit that leads to our salvation. It results IN salvation; it's not the result OF salvation. It's applied here to non-believers destined for the Kingdom, not believers already in the Kingdom. 'This makes perfect sense in the broader context of the chapter. The Jews have no trouble hearing Jesus' words. They know what Jesus is saying. Their problem is that they don't respond with belief. Why don't the Jews "hear" Jesus by responding with belief? Jesus tells us plainly. They don't "hear" because God is not "speaking" to them. They are not among the sheep the Father has given to the Son (26). 'The voice being referred to here is not the still, small voice of private direction given by God to Christians, but the effective call of the Holy Spirit bringing non-Christians to salvation. 'Our paraphrase test comes to our aid once again: 'You do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. Mature Christians have the ability to sense My personal direction for their lives and obey it, and as a result I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all…. 'vs. 'You do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. The ones that the Father gives me, my sheep, are the ones that respond to my message and believe in me, and as a result I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all…. 'The first view actually makes salvation dependent on the ability to get personalized communications from God. The second makes salvation dependent on the Father, which is Jesus' point in the passage. 'To Jesus, "hearing" God is not an advanced skill one must develop to open lines of communication to the Father. It's a figure of speech. Hearing Jesus' voice is not getting individual, personalized direction. It's getting saved. It's the result of the Father drawing the non-believer into Jesus' arms.' (Never Read a Bible Verse By Gregory Koukl) ____________________ To read more go to: www.str.org At this website, under "Search Stand to Reason", enter the words: never read a Bible verse |
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Questions and/or Subjects for John 10:27 | Author | ||
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Hiram Abiff | ||
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Hiram Abiff | ||
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prazn | ||
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Joseph3 | ||
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kalos | ||
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mark d seyler | ||
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dolly beard | ||
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corin | ||
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hitman | ||
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Lou |