Anchor My Faith

Those Given Will Come!

Scripture: John 6:37

We ended the previous lesson with Jesus claiming to be the bread of life that came down from heaven. Those who eat of this bread shall not hunger and shall never thirst. To eat of that bread, one must first come to Jesus and then in humility, believe in him. Despite the teaching of Jesus with authority and his demonstrations of great power, they still do not believe. Why?

We open this lesson with a possible reason why they don’t believe. Jesus said, ^{Jn 6:37} “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” “All that the Father gives” indicates that he is the provider of those given as gifts to Jesus, and those he gives “will come.” As a teen I knew God was influencing me, causing me to think more about my sin and need of salvation. Then one evening I was taken to see a Christian film and as the plan of salvation began to unfold, God gave me understanding of what I needed to do and as he did he also gave me a relentless desire to do it. For personal reasons, I did not go forward that evening, but went home and knelt beside my bed and surrendered myself to Jesus in belief. I know that the Father prepared me and gave me to Jesus and filled me with the urgency that I could not resist, resulting in me going to Jesus.

All that come to Jesus, which are those given by the Father, will be accepted with love and the promise of security. Each one of us given by the Father will come, without exception, and will be received with great love and joy, never to be cast out. There is not a single person that comes to Jesus, seeking salvation, who will be rejected. All are accepted. But that opens the question, “Does the Father choose some and reject others, thus preventing their salvation?”

God would never prevent one’s salvation. Consider 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV): “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” God does not wish “that any should perish.” It is his desire “that all should reach repentance.” That is the key, because it tells us that all enter this physical life without eternal life, for all need to repent. Does everyone desire to repent and come to Jesus?

Consider Romans 3:10 – 12 (ESV): “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” On their own, “no one seeks for God.” Unless the Father chooses one, that one on his own would not come to Jesus. Only those prepared and given by the Father will come. Is it fair for God to choose one and not another?

Paul answers this in Romans 9:20 – 21 (ESV): “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?” God said to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Romans 9:15 ESV). In the beginning, God could see everyone who would eventually populate the earth and he knew they would choose sin and not seek him, but because of his love he sent Jesus to die for our sin, giving him the ability, under the law, to show mercy to those he desired on his team. Every day we select people to do certain things for us or to give something to. God chose Moses to lead his people out of Egypt and he chose Paul to reach the Gentile. Can he not choose us for salvation as he did Paul?

There much more we will be writing about this as we work through this section of narrative.

Conclusion

Once we come to Jesus and grow in our salvation, we will realize that behind our willing decision to come and believe lies the mysterious, invisible work of the Father who all along was drawing us to Jesus. Without that draw, we would not come on our own.