When exploring the topic of eternal security, one of the primary passages used to defend and describe the security of the believer is John 10:27-30. In Christian Theology, Millard Erickson writes (page 1003):
Jesus’ words in John 10:27-30 constitute a powerful declaration of security. … Jesus is categorically excluding the slightest chance of an apostasy by his sheep. … All in all, this passage is as definite a rejection of the idea that a true believer can fall away as could be given.
Charles Stanley, in Eternal Security: Can You Be Sure, agrees (page 18):
Think about it. If our salvation is not secure, how could Jesus say about those to whom He gives eternal life, “and they shall never perish” (John 10:28)? If even one man or woman receives eternal life and then forfeits it through sin or apostasy, will they not perish? And by doing so, do they not make Jesus’ words a lie?
Is that the case?