I thought that's what you would quote. The problem is that this verse says nothing about what happens if we turn away from God, if we "jump" out of His hand. +John Chrysostomos in his VI Homily on Phillipians addresses this question:
"For, “woe unto you,” it is written, “through whom the name of God is blasphemed.” (Isa. lii. 5, LXX. nearly.) For if, when we have a son, (and what is there more our own than a son,) if therefore when we have a son, and are blasphemed through him, we publicly renounce him, turn away from him, and will not receive him; how much more will God, when He has ungrateful servants who blaspheme and insult Him, turn away from them and hate them? And who will take up him whom God hates and turns away from, but the Devil and the demons? And whomsoever the demons take, what hope of salvation is left for him? what consolation in life?
As long as we are in the hand of God, “no one is able to pluck us out” (John x. 28.), for that hand is strong; but when we fall away from that hand and that help, then are we lost, then are we exposed, ready to be snatched away, as a “bowing wall, and a tottering fence” (Ps. lxii. 3.); when the wall is weak, it will be easy for all to surmount. Think not this which I am about to say refers to Jerusalem alone, but to all men. And what was spoken of Jerusalem? “Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching His vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, and I made a fence about it, and surrounded it with a dike, and planted it with the vine of Sorech, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also dug a wine press in it, and I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth thorns. And now, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, judge between Me and My vineyard. What should have been done to My vineyard, that I have not done to it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth thorns? Now therefore I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be for a prey, and I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. And I will leave My vineyard, and it shall not be pruned or digged, but thorns shall come up upon it, as upon a desert land. I will also command the clouds, that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant. I looked that it should do judgment, but it did iniquity, and a cry instead of righteousness.” (Isa. v. 1–7, LXX.) This is spoken also of every soul. For when God who loveth man hath done all that is needful and man then bringeth forth thorns instead of grapes, He will take away the fence, and break down the wall, and we shall be for a prey. For hear what another prophet speaks in his lamentations: “Why hast thou broken down her fences, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood doth ravage it, and the wild beasts of the field feed on it.” (Ps. lxxx. 12, Ps. lxxx. 13.)...."
This is thw Faith of the Church. Your interpretation of +John is doubtless the basis of Luther's "sin boldly".
FK, meant to ping you to 7827 (Continuing Orthodox Ed.)
With all due respects to +Chrysostomos, there are several things that are being overlooked. First, Christ states very plainly that He is the "door of the sheep" and all who enters "will be saved" (John 10:7-9) What Chrysostomos is proposing is that we can enter the door and leave. But our Lord stated, "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." (John 10:9) One cannot leave.
Secondly, our Lord states, "I am the good shepherd and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me" (John 10:14) Our Lord plainly states that He knows who are His own. How could one turn from Him that Christ already knows? Christ states that "I must bring them and they will hear my voice" (John 10:16)
Finally, please note there are those who are NOT Christ's sheep (v 26) and there are those are (v 27). We're given to Christ by the Father (v 10:29). This, by the way, is a recurring theme throughout John (v 6:39, 6:44, etc.)
Chrysostomos mistakenly takes the vineyard example and applies it "to every soul". This is not what our Lord is saying and many people stray into error by presuming something not there. In the vineyard example, our Lord Jesus is speaking about the covenant being taken away from the Jews.
I'm not sure what Luther's interpretation is but I can certainly read the text.
Thanks. In Missouri, I have to turn in my COE credits by the end of July, so this helps me catch up. :)
[+John Chrysostomos] "As long as we are in the hand of God, “no one is able to pluck us out” (John x. 28.), for that hand is strong; but when we fall away from that hand and that help, then are we lost, then are we exposed, ready to be snatched away, as a “bowing wall, and a tottering fence” (Ps. lxii. 3.); when the wall is weak, it will be easy for all to surmount."
With all due respect to +John Chrysostomos, I must respectfully disagree with his premise. His paraphrase of John 10:28 LEPT off the page at me. He equates "As long as we are in the hand of God" with "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish". These two ideas are worlds apart, so while I can appreciate the argument that he makes, I honestly do not think he is starting from the actual words of the scripture. I see him as proving tradition by tradition. Likewise, he starts with the premise of translating "no one is able to pluck us out” into "no one except himself is able to pluck us out”. I simply note that this isn't what the verse says.