My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and
they follow Me. (John 10:27, NASB)
τὰ πρόβατα τὰ ἐμὰ τῆς φωνῆς μου ἀκούουσιν, κἀγὼ
γινώσκω αὐτὰ καὶ ἀκολουθοῦσίν μοι
The terms
translated by the NASB as "hear" and "follow" are ἀκούουσιν
and ἀκολουθοῦσίν, respectively. They are both in the third person present
indicative active of the verbs ἀκούω and ἀκολουθέω. This is important for the
following reasons:
(1) The use
of the active voice shows that these are actions that the "sheep"
engage in themselves. This is problematic for many false conceptions of
anthropology (theology of man) and soteriology (theology of salvation).
(2) The use
of the present indicative shows that these are actions that, to remain to be a
member of Jesus' "sheep" is predicated upon continually hearing and
following Jesus--this refutes many theologies of eternal security.
(3) This
leads into the following verses (vv.28-29) that are often wrested from their
context in support for all the various formulations of eternal security,
ignoring [i] its immediate context and [ii] the rest of the Johannine
literature that explicitly teaches one can lose their salvation.
On this
point, see, for instance:
