Tong2020 said:
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Is the passage not plain and clear to you? The reason why they do not believe Jesus is because they were not His sheep.
Right. Because they had not yet learned what they needed to know to believe. Not because they were born to be goats. That's why I told you it's a metaphor. You seem to think that being a sheep is something we were born to be. You aren't born a follower. You become one when you seek God.
"Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you."
Matthew 7:7
Now why were these Jews not sheep? Because they had not entered through Jesus.
Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate;
whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.
And again:
Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
Why were they trying to kill him instead of following him? Because they hadn't come to the understanding that he was God. Everyone has the opportunity to become one of his sheep.
<<<Because they had not yet learned what they needed to know to believe.>>>
And what is that you are saying they have not yet learned? And from whom would they learn that, when they do not learn that from the preaching of Jesus Himself?
<<<Not because they were born to be goats. That's why I told you it's a metaphor. You seem to think that being a sheep is something we were born to be. You aren't born a follower. You become one when you seek God.>>>
Then you seem to not hear and understand what the Holy Spirit through Paul, said about the Israel of God, about the children of God. That they are, as Isaac was, children of promise. You seem to not have the right understanding of what Paul meant by “children of promise” or “children of the promise”. You might want to consider studying about that, starting with Isaac who was born through promise.
<<<Now why were these Jews not sheep? Because they had not entered through Jesus.>>>
That’s only your view, which in my view is not what one could see in scriptures. For even before Christ, there were already Jews who are sheep. In fact, it was for the lost sheep of the house of Israel that Jesus was sent for.
Matthew 15:24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
On the other hand, nowhere in scriptures does it talk about the idea of one who is not a sheep becoming a sheep, or of a goat becoming a sheep, nor of weeds or tares becoming wheat.
You referred to John 10:7-9, to support your view that one becomes a sheep by entering through Jesus. But those very passages refutes that view. In v. 7, Jesus said
“Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep”. Look closely and pay attention to what Jesus said there. He is the
door of the sheep. Of the sheep, not of any other else. So that only the sheep may enter Him, as He is not the door of anybody else but the sheep, not goats who later become sheep when they are inside. The sheep He refers to there, were the lost sheep (not goats) of the house of Israel for which He was sent to bring back to the sheepfold to be with the rest of His sheep who are in the sheepfold.
Now, Jesus also speaks about His other sheep who are not of the house of Israel, that He said He must also bring.
John 10: 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
Bring where? That’s right, to the sheepfold, that they may be together with the other sheep who are of the house of Israel, so there will be one flock and one shepherd. It is obvious that the other sheep are not of the house of Israel, and so are of the Gentiles. Now, it is not goats that Jesus will go find and make them sheep by bringing them in the sheepfold, but lost sheep of His who are of the Gentiles.
<<<Why were they trying to kill him instead of following him? Because they hadn't come to the understanding that he was God.>>>
And how do you think they will come to the understanding when the Messiah Himself preached to them and showed them who the Messiah is, and did not have understanding still? The simple and plain truth, which Jesus Himself revealed is that they believe not because they were not His sheep. And being not His sheep, they don’t recognize Him who is the good Shepherd.
Tong
R2206
