“.. that I shall lose none of all those he has given me..”
I have always been amazed at how one could be so certain of not losing their salvation because of verses like this one - that are based on the subjective mood. The Greek is carefully crafted so that misinterpretations can be prevented. Here “I shall lose none” denotes uncertainty... which is contradictive of your own certainty! No, God is not willing to lose even one that He has given Christ, but that doesn’t mean He doesn’t. He lost Judas in spite of His will to the contrary. (John 17:12)
This thread ended last Christmas! Been on a vacay??? ;o)
Still, I'm glad you asked. It really isn't just a few verses where "moods", tense, audience, condition, etc. influence the meaning of God's message and the assurance He gives to us. The central theme throughout the WHOLE Bible is that of God's grace. Judas never WAS a believer in Jesus. The Gospels are full of the fatal flaws of his so-called discipleship and his rejection of who Jesus was. Could he have gone and betrayed Him the way he did had he been a genuine believer in Jesus as the Messiah?
The assurance of our salvation comes NOT from what we have done or do, but in what Christ has done FOR us. A gift is by its nature free, unearned, undeserved, unmerited and given to us by God because of His great love. All the works we do can never pay the debt of the smallest sin we have committed.