Christ's Doctrine of Faith: A Study of "Believing" in John's Gospel (John 10:26)

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The fifty-third time we see the idea of faith explicitly mentioned in John’s Gospel is John 10:26. Here, the Lord Jesus Christ says: “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you” (KJV). So, what is the context of this passage? Also, what are facts about faith from this passage?

First, what is the context? This will be another one of our short context analyses. When the Jews demand Jesus to tell them whether He is the Christ or not, the Lord responds that He told them, but they did not believe Him. After this, He informs them that the works He does in His Father’s name bear witness of Him. Then, He tells the Jews that they believe not, because they are not of His sheep. This is the context of John 10:26!

Second, what are some facts about faith? One fact is that believing in Christ is a proof of being one of His sheep, because He says that these Jews do not believe because they are not of His sheep, implying that those who do believe Him do so because they are of His sheep, and this implication is further confirmed because of what He says about His sheep both before and after this verse. Drawing from both the first fact and Jesus’s descriptions of His sheep prior to John 10:26, a second fact about faith is that it is a mark that the believer, as one of Christ’s sheep, is known by Christ and knows Christ (John 10:14). A third fact about faith, drawn from the same sources, is that it causes the believer, as one of Christ’s sheep, to hear and follow Christ’s voice but reject the voice of strangers (i.e., all competitors to His rightful rule over the Christian’s life-John 10:1-10). A fourth fact about faith is that it is a mark that the Christian, as one of Christ’s sheep, is one for whom Christ died in such a way where His salvific work is applied to them (John 10:11). Yes, Christ is the Bread of Life, who came down from Heaven to give life to the world, but only those who believe in Him have His salvation applied to them (John 6:33, 40, 50-56). [1] These are some facts about faith that we can draw from John 10:26!

[1] My understanding of how this passage in John 6 teaches that Christ died for all but applies His redemption only to those who trust in Him is inspired by this resource: https://middletownbiblechurch.org/doctrine/4whom04.htm