Please open your Bibles to John 6:41-51 which we will read in a few minutes.
I don’t know if you noticed or not but every song we sang in worship this morning was either about the blood of Jesus or referenced the blood of Jesus shed for us as a sacrifice of atonement; to pay the penalty for our sins.
In the New Testament the blood of Jesus and the sacrificial death of Jesus are used interchangeably as they are part of the same event; the most important event in the salvation history of the world.
With that in mind let’s go ahead and read: John 6:41-51
Why did the Father send Jesus to earth?
To put into effect the plan of salvation that was from the beginning.
The Father wants to save us, right? And yet,
In John 6:44, 65 NIV Jesus repeats:
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them …”
“No one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled him …”
Based on these Scriptures and others, many serious and sincere Biblical scholars have come to the conclusion that the Lord selects some people for salvation and while He selects others for eternity in hell, He never gives them the opportunity to find salvation.
I have sincere, Bible believing, born again friends who believe and preach this doctrine.
They are not heretics; they are brothers and sisters in Christ.
They still believe that the Bible is God’s inerrant word and that He is the Author.
They believe in the Holy Trinity.
They believe in original sin and personal sin which separates us from God.
They believe that salvation is found through grace and faith in Christ alone.
They believe in the return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead and final judgment.
They believe that every person who has ever lived has an eternal soul and will spend eternity either in Heaven with the Lord or in Hell with the devil and his angels.
They are brothers and sisters in Christ.
But in a brief overview of a few of their beliefs they differ from us.
Predestination: God has chosen some for salvation and has chosen others for eternal destruction away from the Lord.
Limited Atonement: The sacrifice on the cross of Calvary was only for those who are chosen for salvation. That the forgiveness found in the blood of Jesus is only for those chosen by God for salvation.
Eternal Security: After a person is chosen for salvation they cannot deny Christ and forsake their salvation.
If you listen to preachers on the radio or TV they will mostly be from one of two camps; they will be reformed Calvinists as just described.
Other than those you will most likely see health, wealth and happiness preachers.
If you find a preacher who tells you that the Lord never wants you to be sick or that true obedience always results in financial riches or that the Lord wants you to be happy all the time you need to change your channel or just turn the thing off.
So, what is the main difference between those who believe that God chooses some and not others, and, those who believe that God calls everyone and each person responds to the call of God or refuses to do so?
The main difference, put very simply, is the view of God.
Those who believe that God chooses some and not others have the belief that God is holds absolute sovereignty over every molecule in the universe and over every decision that is made by anyone on any subject.
Charles Spurgeon says, “I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes.”
So when Charles Spurgeon sees these verses …
John 6:44, 65 NIV
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them …”
“No one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled him …”
… he sees God choosing some and choosing not to choose others.
Sometimes I have wished for God’s absolute sovereignty over everything without Him giving us any choice.
Do you know how easy that would be?
That would free us from all responsibility!
Those who were going to be saved would be saved and those who were not would not!
Any testimonies, any preaching, any praying would be pointless so why do it?
That would be easy but the hopelessness of the lost would be tragic; God would be choosing those made in His own image for everlasting punishment by a God who did not die for them.
Let me be clear, that is NOT what we believe and we believe that to be a distorted view of the salvation plan of God.
Our view of God is twofold:
1) God is Sovereign: His overarching plan for this world and for humanity will be resolved in the exact way He has planned.
2) God is Just: God would never create humans, made in His image, and then intentionally deny them the opportunity to find salvation and then sentence them to eternity in hell because they never believed in Jesus as their Savior.
a. It’s as if you had a man in prison and never gave him any food and then when he died you said, “Well, he wouldn’t eat!”
b. Is God like that? Is that justice? Could a Holy God do that and still be just?
So when we see these verses …
John 6:44, 65 NIV
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them …”
“No one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled him …”
We also see verses such as:
John 3:18 NIV
“Whoever believes in Him (Jesus speaking of Himself) is not condemned but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believe in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
We see that the Lord has placed the response to His invitation in our hands and that response has been enabled by His grace and the work of the Holy Spirit.
We also see:
1 John 2:23 NIV
“No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”
The word “whoever” is found 243 times in the Bible; 116 times in the NT alone.
Does the Lord indeed control every action in our lives???
The simple little phrase, “if you” is found 419 times in the Bible; 269 OT; 150 NT.
It seems that the Lord has indeed given us some responsibility for our own actions!
Colossians 1:22-23a NIV
“But now [God] has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation - if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.”
So, we can clearly see God taking the initiative in putting into place the plan of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ and then drawing us to Himself, but, how does He do that?
1) God the Father draws us to God the Son through the work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit is overarching and included in all of the following ways that God the Father draws us to Jesus.
John 15:26 NIV
“When the Advocate comes, whom I (Jesus) will send to you from the Father - the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father - He will testify about Me.”
So here we see the fullness of the Godhead, the Holy Trinity at work in revealing Jesus to us.
The presence of the Holy Spirit will be the invisible power behind all of these ways that God the Father draws us to Jesus for salvation.
2) God the Father draws us to God the Son through the visible creation in which we live.
Psalm 19:1-4 NIV
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
If we were to sit and ponder the greatness of God’s creation, if we were to examine the intricacies of the smallest form of life under a microscope, if we were to use the most powerful telescope to search the depths of space, if we were to really ponder all of that and everything in between we would have no choice but to but to blurt out, “My Lord and my God! How great are You and all You have created! I am but dust.”
God the Father draws us to God the Son through the visible creation in which we live.
3) God the Father draws us to God the Son through the Word of God!
Hebrews 4:12 NIV
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
When you open the Word of God and the Holy Spirit starts revealing spiritual truth to you it draws you to Jesus.
I remember reading the testimony of a former Muslim who became a Christian. This former Muslim had a Christian friend and they agreed that they would read each other’s scriptures. The Muslim would read through the Bible and Christian would read through the Koran. The Muslim gave his life to Jesus and the Christian remained firm in his faith in Jesus.
Later on the new Christian “complained” that it was not a fair contest because “the Word of God is alive and active”! God the Father drew him to Jesus through the Holy Bible!
God the Father draws us to God the Son through the Word of God!
4) God the Father draws us to God the Son through the testimony of Christians.
Matthew 4:19 NASB
“And [Jesus] said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’”
Acts 2:37 NIV
“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’”
2 Corinthians 5:20 NIV
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”
Wow! God the Father certainly does use the testimony of those who are saved to draw non-Christians to Jesus for salvation!
Wow! (again …) I think that 2 Corinthians 5:20 is going to be our next memory Scripture; what a GREAT verse! PTL!!
God the Father draws us to God the Son through the testimony of Christians.
5) God the Father draws us to God the Son through prayer for the salvation of the lost.
In the mornings when Pastor Karenlee and I are doing our devotions and we are reading from the Reflecting God devotional there is a prayer request for one of the world areas in which the Church of The Nazarene has a presence. And, every other day the request is that many in that area will come to faith in Jesus and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Is that a waste of time?
Does the Lord want us to be praying for the salvation of people in other countries? How about for people in our neighborhoods or people at work or family members?
Of course He does.
The Lord has such a great desire for people to be saved that He sent His One and only Son to make provision for that salvation!
2 Peter 3:9 says;
“The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Yes, it is our duty as those who have been raised to new life in Christ to struggle in prayer for those who are still lost.
Our prayers will never force anyone to receive the offer of salvation but that doesn’t excuse us from having the same desire for all to come to salvation just like God does.
OK, so, just to bring us back around … all of this is because Jesus’ body was broken for our spiritual healing and Jesus’ blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sins.
Many in our society have become immune to the thoughts of someone bleeding and dying because it is so prevalent and graphically presented in our “entertainment.”
Imagine your hand holding the nail and pounding it through the flesh of a criminal. It would be sickening. Now, what if instead of a criminal it was Jesus and He’s looking at you and saying, “Father, forgive him for he doesn’t know what he is doing.” And then He says, “Steve, I’m dying for you. I’m taking your place. I’m making a way for you to have eternal life.”
John 6:44, 65 NIV
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them …”
“No one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled him …”
Is the Father drawing you now???
