Fighter Verses

How can Jesus so easily shift from saying these two things?

no one will snatch them out of my hand (John 10:28)

no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand (10:29)

Answer:

(1) What belongs to the Father thus belongs to Jesus:

My Father has given them to me (10:29)

The Father … has given all things into [the Son's] hand (3:35; see also 13:3)

(2) Jesus is one with the Father:

I and the Father are one (10:30; see also 17:11, 22; 14:9).

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, 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. I and the Father are one. [John 10:27-30]

There is a noteworthy connection to ponder between Jesus giving his sheep eternal life and no one being able to snatch them out of his hand. First, the very phrase “eternal life” implies permanence. If you truly possess this life, then it would follow that you can never lose it, because something irrevocable has happened, namely, a resurrection. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24).

There is an even deeper connection between eternal life and Jesus’ hand, however, and it is to be found in seeing that eternal life is not something properly distinct from Jesus. Rather, eternal life is Jesus himself. Jesus prayed in John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Furthermore, John wrote, “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son….And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:11, 20).

To be held in Jesus’ (and the Father’s) hand, to know him, is eternal life. If you are his sheep, this is something that you possess right now.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, 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. I and the Father are one. [John 10:27-30]

This passage is, in part, Jesus’ rationale for why unbelievers don’t believe in him: “You do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice…. My Father … has given them to me” (John 10:26-27, 29). The implication is that unbelievers don’t believe because the Father hasn’t handed them to the Son and hasn’t opened their ears to hear the Son’s voice.

Jesus concludes with “I and the Father are one,” and the faithless crowd around him picks up stones to stone him. They claimed he was blaspheming, making himself (a mere man, so they thought) equal with God.

Jesus’ response? He demonstrates from Scripture that it is not blasphemy for the Messiah to claim equality with God. And then he invites them to join his flock.

If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 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 am in the Father. [John 10:37-38]

I simply wish to highlight here that Jesus, in his divine love, is pleading with a crowd that wants to kill him to believe in him and be saved. He has told them the truth about who he is and what salvation he offers; and more than that he has, as he says, supplemented it with signs to help them believe (see also 14:11).

Our Savior has indeed gone to great lengths to redeem sinners like us. What patience and tolerance! What eager, warm and sacrificial love! Believe in him. Praise him.

Why memorize Scripture? Most of us aren’t getting our Bible’s stolen or confiscated (yet). In fact, this day in age, with the internet and iPhones, Scripture is more accessible than ever!

Well, I can still think of at least five reasons why it’s best to have the Bible in your head (and not just your pocket):

1) You can meditate on Scripture at any time, whether you’re behind the steering wheel, waiting on the bus, turning the treadmill, or cooking dinner. You always have something profitable to think over, rather than just leaving your mind open to entertain less worthy thoughts.

2) You’re always ready to share godly wisdom, whether you’re chatting online, talking on the phone, writing a letter, or conversing over coffee. Sure, you can flip open your Bible and scan for a verse, but how much more would God’s word be on our tongues if it was already on our hearts and minds!

3) You can pray for yourself and others with the Word of God. You don’t have to fumble around your head trying to think of something to say, but you can recall God’s promises and apply them directly to the situation at hand. In my experience, praying Scripture adds much power, confidence and comfort to prayer.

4) You are better prepared for evangelism. I think most of us are scared to share our faith because we’re never sure about what to say. We don’t want to misrepresent the gospel, nor do we want to come across as pushers of our own opinions. But if we have Scripture in our mouths we can appeal to its message and its authority, rather than our own. We can let God’s word do the talking and the persuading, while we simply remain His messengers.

5) Your Bible study is richly enhanced. Scripture has expressions and themes that connect all over the place, and you will notice these better in your reading if you remember what has been said elsewhere. For example: last night in small group we noticed while discussing Proverbs 3:11-12 that the word “despise” occurred just two weeks ago in our 1 Timothy 4:12 fighterverse. Is there a relationship between “do not despise the Lord’s discipline” and “let no one despise you for your youth”? Questions like this, which help us gain a better understanding of Scripture, are the fruit of memorization.

Can you think of other ways to use a FighterVerse?

Three questions about discipline:

(1) Is all suffering discipline for sin? Or is some not for sin?

Certainly, the Savior suffered, and he never sinned. Moreover, Peter distinguishes between categories of suffering: “This is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?” (1 Peter 2:19-20; see also 4:14-15). So, there is much suffering which is not a direct result of one’s own sin.

(2) When we are disciplined for sin, is it for specific sin?

It certainly can be for specific sin. Paul indicts the Corinthians for not examining themselves and repenting, since they have taken the Lord’s supper in an unworthy manner (e.g., rushing, without waiting for each other). Then he says, “That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died” (1 Corinthians 11:30). So the Lord’s discipline certainly can be for specific sin.

That conclusion, though, begs the question: Is the Lord’s discipline punitive (i.e., repayment for sin)?

No, for Paul continues, “… when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:32). And as John says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment” (1 John 4:18). The true believer receives discipline for his or her good, for correction or salvation, not as punishment. Christ received the repayment of God’s wrath for all the sin we ever commit.

(3) Can discipline for sin not be for specific sin (i.e., for just being a sinner in general)?

After forty years in the wilderness, Moses says to the Israelites that God has been testing and humbling them, letting them hunger and then feeding them manna—all in order for them to know that he alone is Provider. Then he says, “Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you” (Deuteronomy 8:5). The implication then is that the Israelites (not to mention ourselves) needed the trials God brought in order to purge general unbelief from them.

The Proverbs speak similarly: “Blows that wound cleanse away evil; strokes make clean the innermost parts” (20:30). “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him” (22:15). Our sinful hearts may not have fleshed out a particular sin yet, but we are still in need of God’s discipline to purge evil from us.

I want to piggy-back off of Tyler’s comments about spanking yesterday. There is a corollary in our Fighter Verse between an earthly father’s discipline and our Heavenly Father’s discipline. Tyler pointed to it when he talked about the good effects of discipline in his life when he was young and then said, “so it is with God’s discipline.”

The book of Hebrews draws this same connection. In fact, the author quotes this week’s Fighter Verse:

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?….Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? (Hebrews 12:5-9)

Our father’s discipline helps us understand (imperfectly, of course) the way God disciplines us.

But it also works the other way around.

God’s discipline functions as an incentive for earthly fathers to discipline their children. They must demonstrate to their children what it looks like for a father to love them deeply and, out of that love, discipline them for their good. Parental discipline is a God issue. It is one way of showing children what God is like, and is therefore charged with incredible significance.

Note the parallel between this week’s Fighter Verse and another well-known proverb. Look for the connection between discipline and love and how it argues for the need for fathers to discipline their children.

Proverbs 3:11-12

My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

Proverbs 13:24

Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. [Proverbs 3:11-12]

I was blessed to be spanked as a child. My dad did not withhold the rod from my rear end, and I am forever grateful. Of course, I didn’t like it at the time. But a little pain back then has spared me, I believe, from a lot more since.

So it is with God’s discipline. When he loves you, he hurts you. But the hurt is not his final aim:

Come, let us return to the LORD;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
[Hosea 6:1]

Like little children, our hearts are sick with stupidity and rebellion (see Proverbs 22:15). But in his patient love God gradually drives it from us, one spank at a time.

(Interestingly enough, just yesterday John Piper posted his anwer to the question, “Would Jesus spank a child?” which touches on these same themes.)

Whether you’re practicing Portuguese for missions work in Brazil or trying to keep your Latin alive, you may find it useful to memorize fighterverses in a second language.

I’ve taken several semesters of biblical Greek, yet I’m constantly forgetting the vocabulary words. To try and remedy this, I’ve started memorizing every New Testament fighterverse both in English and in Greek, as long as it’s no more than one verse long (I don’t mind keeping it simple here).

So, for instance, two weeks ago I memorized 1 Timothy 4:12 in English,

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

and in Greek,

Μηδείς σου τῆς νεότητος καταφρονείτω, ἀλλὰ τύπος γίνου τῶν πιστῶν ἐν λόγῳ, ἐν ἀναστροφῇ, ἐν ἀγάπῃ, ἐν πίστει, ἐν ἁγνείᾳ.

O Lord, I’m a hypocrite. How dare I write about these truths?

For weeks now, I’ve awoken to the morning alarm only to immediately begin worrying about the day’s demands, unwittingly relegating the pursuit of God to secondary priorities—exactly contrary to Proverbs 3:9-10.

This morning, I thought out a blog post on the verses’ meaning and left it. Later, incidentally, I mentioned my ongoing anxieties to a brother, and he encouraged me with a recent devotional he heard on Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42). It was powerful in convincing me how wrong I am. He prayed for me, and now as I return, I see my hypocrisy in what I wrote for the blog. Thank you, Jesus, for repentance and forgiveness!

Here’s the post anyway (with minor alterations); I believe it’s still true:

Lest we miss the obvious by assuming we know it without lingering on it, let’s tease it out.

Do we take the plain reading of a verse and rubber stamp it as direct application on our lives? If so, “the first fruits of your produce” part is either irrelevant to us, or requires us to seek agricultural employment. Moreover, our reward for heeding this verse is full barns and plenty of wine (which I—for one—don’t particularly care for).

Obviously, a deeper and more timeless principle is being taught here than that of simple produce, barns, and wine, a principle which a cursory reading may miss. Deuteronomy 26 (among other Scriptures) orients our understanding the context (as Tyler posted).

Now, an underlying principle becomes more apparent:

Seek gain first and you forfeit both God and the gain you seek. Seek God first and you gain both him and his blessings (see also 1 Kings 3:5-14; Matthew 6:33).

Do you share Scripture with others? I urge you: let the living and active Word change you as you do.

Proverbs 3:9-10 comes right after a passage many of us cherish: Proverbs 3:5-8:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.

There are significant parallels between these two passages. First, each set of verses either describes or implies two ways of living. In Proverbs 3:5-8, a person either trusts in the Lord with all his heart or leans on his own understanding. He acknowledges God or he ignores him. He either fears the Lord or is wise in his own eyes.

In Proverbs 3:9-10, a person either honors the Lord with her wealth or (it is implied) honors wealth with her wealth. She either uses the firstfruits of all her produce to show that God is better than crops or that her god is her belly (Philippians 3:20).

A second parallel between the two passages is that the result of embracing the way of life commanded is counterintuitive regenesis. In Proverbs 3:5-8, if you trust in the Lord rather than in your self-centered wound-curing schemes, your flesh will be healed. Your bones will be refreshed. Not by treasuring bones but by treasuring the bone-maker. In Proverbs 3:9-10, if you give away your wealth rather than keeping your barns well-stocked, your vats will be bursting at the seams. The path to abundance is depletion. It is those who lose their lives that find them (Matthew 10:39).

Finally, I think Proverbs 3:5-8 helps us to interpret Proverbs 3:9-10. In other words, honoring the Lord with your wealth is what trusting in the Lord with all your heart looks like in practice. You don’t give away the firstfruits of your produce if you’re leaning on your own understanding. Misers are wise in their own eyes. This implies, then, that what you do with your money shows what you’ve done with your God.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)