[Diamond]

There are people of Christ's flock. There are those who are not. They don't believe BECAUSE they are not part of Christ's flock.

You have the "BECAUSE" right. Jesus explicitly states this fact in various places.

"Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father."

"He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.

Those who have have the cause and effect reversed want Jesus to say,

"You are not of God because you do not hear me".

But that's not what Jesus says. He says exactly that which you contend He is saying: "BECAUSE you are not of God, THEREFORE you cannot hear me."

Cordially,

[The Theophilus]

"You are not of God because you do not hear me".

As an exercise in showing how the Free Willer will often eisegete a passage, I love to have them read John 10:25-30 and then ask them, without looking back at the text to either "paraphrase that passage" or just paraphrase 10:26 and almost all the time they will say "you are not my sheep because you don't believe".

The one I find most odd, is how they love to quote only the first half of the sentence beginning in John 1:12 "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name" And without exception they are incapable of reading and comprehending the rest of the sentence. who were born , not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Totally unable to read a complete sentence.