Jesus' sheep do follow Him, ... even so, a good shepherd will, every now and then, have to leave the flock ... to find the one sheep which has wandered off ...
In my 10 plus years of experience in discussion with Belief Alone Proponents this is my conclusion:
Topics like “
Following Jesus, or living holy” according to the Bible appears to just be optional. They appear to only throw in “
Following Jesus, and living holy” when backed into a corner. As if it is tacked on last minute to demonstrate that no believer will not justify sin or evil. However, I believe their idea of “
Following Jesus, and living holy” is only an illusion or a mirage because many Belief Alone Proponents do not agree with the standard obvious understanding on the “
Parable of the Prodigal Son.” They all believe the prodigal son was saved (or still a son) while he was living it up with prostitutes. Even Gotquestions.org (a prominent Christian ministry) believes the prodigal son was saved while he was in his sins. Yet, the Parable is clear that he was “
dead” and “
lost” while he was prodigal (Luke 15:24, Luke 15:32) (Note: Again, this truth is also confirmed in James 5:19-20 but you just seemed to ignore it). Jesus warned about how looking upon a woman in lust means that person is in danger of being cast bodily into hellfire (Matthew 5:28-30). Jesus says if we do not forgive we will not be forgiven by the Father (Matthew 6:15). So our Lord taught clearly that certain sins can keep us out of His kingdom. So it’s not just a Belief Alone in Jesus as one’s Savior, and your good to enter His Kingdom.
You said:
Luke 15
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
You seem to miss the point about the sinner repenting (See verse 7) (Luke 15:7). I believe repentance is seeking forgiveness of one’s sins or sinful state with the Lord Jesus Christ with the intention that they will never sin again (See my post
here). But whenever I talk with Belief Alone Proponents, they have no real intention of never sinning again. They believe they cannot stop committing mortal sin on some level this side of Heaven. So there is no real intention of forsaking mortal sin and putting it away for good and overcoming it. So this is why Belief Alone Proponent’s claim in that they support the idea of “
Following Jesus, and living holy” is not really true according to how the Bible teaches it. Believers have to confess and forsake sin in order to have mercy (Proverbs 28:13). But one is not doing that if they know they will sin again as a matter of fact. For John says to “sin not.” (1 John 2:1). Jesus tells two people to “sin no more.” (John 5:14) (John 8:11). Believers are also told by John the Baptist to bring forth fruits
meet (i.e. worthy) of repentance (Matthew 3:8). Why is this important? John says, “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” (Matthew 3:10). Okay. So the idea here is that the person is the tree and an axe is about to chop down the tree (the person) if no good fruit is brought forth and it will be thrown into the fire. A similar truth is taught by our Lord Jesus in John 15:2-7.
You said:
And Jesus is a Good Shepherd ...
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
Again, the key here is that they will listen to the voice of Jesus (i.e. “they shall hear my voice” - KJB) in John 10:16. If one is not actually listening to the voice of Jesus, and they are sinning they are no longer under the promise guarantee of being saved. Sure, they can go prodigal for a time temporarily, but they need to repent and come back to be in state of saving grace again. It also would not be natural if they went prodigal like every several months or years. Also, if one never has any intention of truly putting away mortal sin, they are not really sorry over their sins and they are not really seeking to do what the Lord says (i.e. to listen to His voice). So they would not qualify as being a sheep in this instance because they never really had any real intention of listening to the voice of Jesus. They just want to follow Him sometimes while sin ultimately rules them as their true master.
You said:
Sounds quite like what he says to those works-based salvationists in Matthew 11 ...
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
First, the passage you quote here is actually Matthew 7 and not Matthew 11.
Second, the issue here is not Jesus condemning good works. Jesus did not say, depart from me ye that do good works. Jesus was condemning two things.
#1. Jesus said depart from Him because they work iniquity (or they are evil doers).
#2. Jesus said to depart from Him because He never knew them.
So these believers were the kind that justified sin in some way. They thought they could sin and still be saved. Sure, they might have claimed to do certain good works or miracles, but such a thing would not matter if they also worked iniquity or sin in some way.
As for Jesus saying, “I never knew you”:
There are two possibilities here.
#1. Jesus is referring to believers who always justified sin (But He is not teaching a universal rule or truth here whereby no believer can ever fall away from the faith; For we know by other verses that believers can fall away from the faith. - See this post
here for the verses).
#2. Ezekiel 3:20.
“Again, When a righteous
man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” (Ezekiel 3:20).
Not sure you understood this verse, but it is saying that if a righteous man turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity (sin), it says all his previous righteousness shall not be remembered. This means that there are no more good deeds for the Lord to remember for a believer if he turns back to their sin. Seeing the Lord associates with those who do righteousness (1 John 2:3) (John 14:23) (1 John 2:29) (1 John 3:7), it only makes sense that if a believer turns back in doing righteousness and commits sin, there is no more righteousness to remember for the Lord and thus He does not know them because God associates or knows a person by their keeping His commandments; For we can have an assurance that we know the Lord by keeping His commands (See again: 1 John 2:3). So in Matthew 7:23, Jesus can say to the believer in whom He might have known once as saying He never knew them because there is no righteousness to remember in their life anymore on account of their sin.
You said:
As to God's will ...
John 6
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
...
40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
This was not a blanket universal rule for describing the entire life of the believer. These Jews needed to be Initially Saved. In addition, keep in mind that these Jews were no doubt influenced by the Pharisees who made salvation all about the “
Works ALONE” (with little to no grace) via by the 613 Laws of Moses. So the Lord Jesus needed them to focus on the first aspect of salvation, which is in being saved INITIALLY by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Which is a process of salvation that is based upon God’s mercy and it is not based on works). For no believer can be saved initially by works or a system of works ALONE. This is why Jesus needed to change up their thinking. But that does not contradict how one must do good works and live holy as a part of the Sanctification Process after they are saved by God’s grace, though. Also, believing in Jesus is more than just trusting in His grace for salvation, but it is also believing in everything Jesus taught, said, and did, too. Going back to Matthew 7, we learn that Jesus says that everyone who does not do what He says is like a fool who built His house upon the sand and when a storm came, great was the fall of that house (See: Matthew 7:26-27). So the idea here is that if we do not obey Jesus and do what He says, we will be destroyed - See also Acts of the Apostles 3:23).
