Last Sunday our pastor was preaching on Psalm 23 and part of his message hit me as another answer to the OSAS issue. He said that when the Psalm refers to the security of a sheep in the Shepherd’s care “for His name’s sake”, it is referring to the fact that sheep are by nature unable to care for themselves and will wander into trouble, and when they do, it’s the shepherd’s responsibility to rescue them.
That’s right. As believers, we belong to God. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come (2 Cor. 1:21-22). Then He turned us over to the care of His Son, the Good Shepherd, and gave Him the responsibility for keeping us.
Jesus was referring to this when He said, “All that the Father gives to me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day “ (John 6:37-39).
Later He called us His sheep and promised that no one will get us away from Him. ” My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30).
If you are born again, you belong to God and Jesus has accepted the responsibility for keeping you. The two of them, who are one, will not let any power in heaven or on earth get you away from them.
Paul said it this way. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).