Truthfulness is an aspect of God’s character that we cannot overlook. In a day and age when moral relativism has given way to total relativism, the idea of objectivity is becoming more unbelievable. Furthermore, an objective law-giver and His law run contrary to the subjective, choose-your-own worldview so popular today.
Thus, the truth claims of the Bible can come across as harsh. They sound so rigid to 21st century, post-modern ears. Even from within the church, the desire to read flexibility into scripture is present.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, doesn’t equivocate or mince words when He lays out why the Pharisees didn’t believe Him in John 10:27-29.
- My sheep hear My voice
- and I know them
- and they follow Me
- and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish
- and no one will snatch them out of My hand
- My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all
- and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand
This unbroken line of theology and love and salvation and truth is unmistakable in meaning. Jesus saves His sheep based on nothing that they have done. It is the divine work of God, not the will of man that saves. That salvation will lead to discipleship, and that discipleship will result in eternal security. This chain cannot be broken. We know this because of Jesus’ language, but we also know this because it is the nature of God and His promises.
At the same time, Jesus condemns those contemporaries who added their own subjective take on God’s promises. The Pharisees, the thieves and robbers from earlier in the chapter, are now called “gods” by Jesus. Answering their flawed question with a flawless exegesis of Psalm 82, Jesus calls them out for seeking vanity rather than true religion.
Truth, and true religion, only come from God. Men need a good shepherd, as men are prone to wander and worse. But as Jesus clearly said, His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. There is great joy, peace, and truth in that.
