John 10:10 - The Abundant Life

John 10:10 says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

I want to start by saying that it is crucial that we all tread carefully when dealing with the words of the Most Holy God of Scripture!! I tremble with reverence for His glory. My only desire is to do His will and to give all the glory to God Almighty through the worhip and praise of His Son Jesus Christ. I am writing my thoughts here with utmost reverence and diligence to be careful not to depart from or alter what God intended in His Word.

I need to begin by getting something off my chest here. Excuse me. I do NOT want to hear about how this passage (John 10:10) is about us having an "abundant life" here on earth while millions of people all over the planet are suffering beyond anything we (most American's particularly) can fathom!! Try in good conscience preaching "Your Best Life Now" to the dying, the poor, the diseased, etc. Forget about it!! It makes me sick to think that any pastor (or any other student of the Bible for that matter) would have the audacity to propagate this heresy! I am not a scholar by any stretch of the imagination, but I know that when taken in context to the rest of Scripture this passage is referring to abundant eternal life with Jesus Christ. Uh... do we not remember Paul writing in Philippians 1:21, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."?? What about "Denying yourself?" In Luke 9:23 and Matthew 16:24, Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Jesus continues in Luke 9:24-25 and Matthew 16:25-26 saying, "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?" Can we just read the Bible and get back to the Word of God instead of feeding our insatiable appetites for self advancement and enhancement!! Dying is gain!! Living is Christ!! NOT one's best life now!! Thank you.

I have increasingly become more aware that many people have approached and are approaching this passage (John 10:10) with the incorrect presupposition (even an expectation) that God is vehemently concerned about us having an "abundant life" now in the form of happiness, painlessness, and a life with little or no trials. Many of the comments about this verse follow the "Your Best Life Now" and the "Purpose-Driven Life" false teaching movements (among others). It is important to understand that the Gospel, the True Gospel that is from the Word of God, should be able to be preached to all the world. If it is the true Gospel message, it will able to be preached the same everywhere! How can someone who believes in this false hermeneutic of John 10:10 preach or witness this verse (or any part of the Gospel) to someone who is experiencing famine in a third-world country or someone who is a young adult who has a deadly disease or any of the millions who are not experiencing their so-called "best?" Is someone who is dying (especially at a young age) having their best life now? Listen closely here! We are not called to have abundant life in any worldly sense, but we are called to become children of God by way of true repentance and ultimately through complete trust and faith in Jesus Christ alone as Lord and Savior!! This is the only way that we "might have life and have it more abundantly." A false view of the Biblical "abundant life" can, and most certainly will, lead to eternal damnation--Hell. When a person is having their "best life now" or are living the abundant worldly life here on Earth, it is clear that their eternal life is in serious jeopardy. The Gospel message IS Good News, however it is not the good news of "having our best lives now." The Gospel is to be taken to ALL the world unaltered and devoid of eisigetical infusion or delusion. It is destructive to manipulate (or use eisigesis, instead of exegesis) the Word of God to fit someone's anthropocentric presupposition or their selfish, whimsical, and worldly desires.

One exegetical web commentary correctly writes, "With this verse many incorrectly teach that Jesus came to give life, not just ordinary existence, but life in fullness, abundance, and prosperity in this world. There is a great problem with this perspective. First, let's take a look at the word "life". In the Greek it is "Zoe" (S# 2222) referring to the principle of life in the spirit and soul. Distinguished from "bios" (S# 979), which refers to duration, means, and manner of life.So we find that the life (zoe) that Jesus referred to are the things of the spirit, the things which are not seen. Not the things of the flesh or of the world which are seen. Jesus here is talking about eternal life, not about having good things on this earth" (TheWordsofEternalLife.Com/John_10.html).

The life that Jesus is referring to here is not the temporal life but the eternal life through Him. The Reformation Study Bible (ESV) commentary explains that "The life that Jesus gives is unique because it is eternal, and He gives this life in ever-growing abundance to His redeemed." John MacArthur writes in his commentary, referring to verses 9 and 10, that "These two verses are a proverbial way of insisting that belief in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God is the only way of being 'saved' from sin and hell and receiving eternal life. Only Jesus Christ is the one true source for the knowledge of God and the one basis for spiritual security." The believer's abundant life (the assurance of eternal life) comes by way of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.

If one's abundance is here on earth (the abundance of this world) are they receiving the true abundance of eternal life? We are called to be "in the world", but not "of the world." Jesus Said, "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:19). Jesus also said, "I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world" (John 17:14).

How does the wrong interpretation of John 10:10 correlate with 2 Timothy 3:12 which tells us, "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" or Colossians 3:1-4 where God says to us, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." Are these verses talking about "your abundant life now here on earth?" No! How about 1 John 2:15-17, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

It would behoove us to heed the warning breathed out by God in James 4:4 where we learn, "You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

"For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come" (Hebrews 13:14).

(More to be added later)

-Jason

Note: All verses are from English Standard Bible (ESV).