How Secure are You in Your Relationship with Jesus?

January 12

I was saved for almost a decade before hearing about the reality of “eternal security.” One day a friend said something about “once saved, always saved,” and I scoffed. Back then I could not imagine knowing that I would make it into heaven when I died.

In a desire to secure my salvation, I responded to countless altar calls, prayed to receive Jesus every week, and was even baptized. But the church denomination I was part of taught that believers could’t be sure of salvation at all. I knew that salvation was by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), but somehow that didn’t cover the whole thing. I still had to do things to stay saved.

Thankfully, John takes this issue head-on in Chapter 10. Reaching back into Israel’s poetic history, specifically Psalms 23 and 80, Jesus begins by framing His relationship with His followers as the Good Shepherd. As such, He is willing to lay down His life for His sheep. (v. 11) Okay, got that part down.

Next, Jesus goes on to say that He knows His sheep, and they know Him because they know His voice. (vv. 4-5,14) That’s comforting! Then, Jesus really begins to get serious as He focuses on false prophets and false teachers, telling His audience that everyone who’s come before Him is a liar and thief, which includes the current Jewish leaders. (vv. 8, 10) They have come to steal, kill, and destroy His sheep. They don’t have a relationship with His sheep. They don’t even have skin in the game to really care about them at all. They’re “hirelings.” In other words, they just do it for a paycheck.

In verse 16, Jesus footnotes that He has other sheep who are not in this pen, referring to His future mission to reach the Gentiles and bring them into a relationship with Him. At that time, He says, there will be one flock with one shepherd—Him. In Ephesians 2:16, Paul tells us that God has made one body of believers from both Jews and Gentiles. (Galatians 3:28)

Finally, in John 10:28–30, Jesus reaches the focal point of today’s devotional, sharing some powerful promises about the security of all who believe:

• First, He promises eternal or everlasting life. This word means that this kind of life doesn’t end. If eternal life could be ended by something (such as sin) or someone (such as us), then by definition, eternal life wouldn’t be eternal, would it?

• Second, He promises that no one can snatch His sheep from His hand and that the Father has, essentially, “wrapped His hands around Jesus’ hands.” In other words, if someone or something wanted to take Jesus’ sheep, they would have to go through the Father’s and Jesus’ hands. Do you think that anyone—or anything—could do that? Me either.

Later in our journey, when we reach the Book of Ephesians, we’ll delve into Paul’s assurance to believers—that the Holy Spirit was given as our earnest money or down payment guaranteeing our redemption. (Ephesians 1:14) But what do we take away from everything we’ve discussed today?

Application

The security of Jesus’ followers is not based on them, their attitudes, or their behavior. Jesus’ followers are held secure in their eternal destiny in a relationship with Jesus—because of Him and His finished work on Calvary—not their own works. The Good Shepherd promises to not only bring His sheep to Himself, but keep them for Himself. We’ll dive further into this in a few days in John 17—Jesus’ prayer for His disciples or, as many have dubbed it, The High Priestly Prayer.

© Copyright 2026 Craig Beaman