The lord in the metaphor didn't talk about going in and coming out..
He was concerned about getting them out.. but being sheep they could wander back in, I suppose.. The lord Jesus never used the word heresy or even developed the meme of it.. Since theres no ONE pen the inhabitants of one pen would naturally see the inhabitants of another pen as heretics.. Since the walls of the metaphorical pen are dogma, ceremony and/or tradition and possibly intimidation.. Its easy to lose track of what we are talking about here..
Starving in the pen is a good point.. The wisdom would be get out of the pen were there is much food that don't smell of ammonia or shut up and eat the grain you are given.. The lord reacted strongly to the pen of the synagogue..
Thats the spirit.. get into the metaphor don't fear it..
Breathe, breathe, must remember to breathe ....
The lord in the metaphor didn't talk about going in and coming out..
Not sure if relevant but I was thinking John 10:7-9, especially. "...(7)I am the door of the sheep ... (9)I am the door; if any one enters by me he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ..."
Thats the spirit.. get into the metaphor don't fear it..
Breathe, breathe, must remember to breathe ....
The lord in the metaphor didn't talk about going in and coming out..
Not sure if relevant but I was thinking John 10:7-9, especially. "...(7)I am the door of the sheep ... (9)I am the door; if any one enters by me he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ..."
This is truly a pregnant metaphor.
If I were to apply hosepipe's insights at 4353 to the situation at hand, the pen the sheep in the pasture might go back into could be a pen of his own imagining, for good or ill.
But Jesus Christ is the Gate and the Good Shepherd. So the sheep is actually free of the pen to pasture no matter what he thinks.
Sanctification is, after all, a walk.