The Necessity of Being Drawn by the Father

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John 6:35–47 (ESV)

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

Opening Prayer

Setting the Stage

Last week, we looked at two specific verses…v.37 & v.44

These two verses teach us important doctrines that are taught throughout Scripture.

We see Total Depravity & Preservation of the Saints in…

John 6:44 (ESV)

44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

We see Unconditional Election, Irresistible Grace, & Preservation of the Saints in…

John 6:37 (ESV)

37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

And, I’ve stated that I feel the importance to slow down in this section of the discourse and focus in on these doctrines…

As they are central to the gospel, salvation in Christ, and the New Covenant that Christ is the Federal Head of.

As I’ve stated in previous weeks, we will continue to run into these doctrines as we move through John’s gospel…

And, really any study of any book of the Bible will disclose these doctrines.

So, it’s important that we understand them, correctly.

It’s also very important that our understanding of Scripture stays within the confines of Scripture…

And, that we do not venture off into man’s invented philosophies.

That is our tendency.

We want everything nice and clean and figured out.

And, God’s Word sometimes leaves us without a full understanding of the doctrine.

None of us can completely comprehend the hypostatic union of Christ…

—> Meaning that Christ is very Man and very God.

—> Truly and fully Man and truly and fully God.

None of us can completely comprehend the verbal-plenary inspiration of Scripture…

—> In which we say that Paul is 100% the author of Romans…

—> And, the HS is 100% the author of Romans.

We comprehend it in as much as we can…

And, where our comprehension ends, our trust in the character of God takes over.

Does that make sense?

So, we can rest in the truth of…

Deuteronomy 29:29 (ESV)

29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

But, this does not mean that God has left us groping in the dark.

What the Scriptures reveal are completely sufficient.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV)

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

So, although we cannot know with perfection as God knows…

Because He is God.

We can know sufficiently and accurately.

And to maintain that accuracy, we must not step outside of what Scripture teaches when dealing with biblical doctrines.

As I stated already, its tempting for us to do so because we don’t like loose ends.

So, we see the doctrine of God’s sovereignty and the human minds says if God is sovereign and has decreed the end from the beginning…

Then how can man be responsible…

And, so many will throw out the doctrine of man’s responsibility out the window…

And, sort of hash out a live and let God type of life.

Well, that’s unbiblical.

Or some will see the teaching of man’s responsibility and negate God’s sovereignty…

And, God becomes some sort of Grampa figure rocking on the porch wishing He could do more…

But must restrain Himself due to the sovereignty of man.

Well, that is unbiblical, as well.

Spurgeon was asked once how he reconciled God’s sovereignty and Man’s responsibility…

And, he responded I do not need to reconcile best friends.

They’re both taught in Scripture and they’re both to be believed.

So, we need to be careful not to take doctrines to their human, logical conclusions…

If those conclusions cannot be supported by Scripture.

Now, with that in mind, I want to continue in this discourse and continue to look at what the Bible teaches regarding these biblical doctrines that Jesus is teaching here.

So, look with me in…

John 6:44 (ESV)

44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

Last week we looked at Romans 3:10-18 to expound upon this inability within man to come to Christ.

When Jesus says here in John 6:44, no on can come…

He is speaking of ability not permission.

—> Everyone has permission to come to Christ.

But no one has the ability to come to Christ outside of a work of God’s grace.

And, that inability is within us, we are unable because of our:

—> Hatred for God.

—> Obsession with sin.

So that our inability cannot be blamed on anyone else other than our self and leaves all mankind, like the Apostle Paul says…

Standing before God with no excuse for not coming to Him.

So, here is a question regarding what Jesus is teaching here about Man’s inability…

Doesn’t Man’s Inability take Away Free Will?

#1 - It depends on what someone means by free will.

If one means do we make choices, then yes we are free to make choices.

You chose to wear the shoes that you are wearing.

If you drove here you were actually using the sterring wheel, choosing when to turn left or right.

We make decisions all day every day based on what seems best to us in the moment.

In that regard we are free to choose.

And, we always choose what we think is best for us in the moment.

However, if one means by free will that we have the ability to choose righteousness without the work of God in the new birth, then no we do not have a free will.

That is explicitly taught in the Bible.

As fallen human beings, unbelievers have the natural freedom to choose…

But, they do not have the moral freedom to choose.

We have the natural faculties to make moral choices.

We just do not possess the desire/disposition to make moral choices.

As, I’ve stated before we are obsessed with sin and hate God.

So, here is the most important thing:

What kind of freedom does the Bible teach?

Does the Bible teach what I just said about lacking the desire/disposition to make moral choices?

We don’t care about worldly philosophies.

We don’t want to bring our emotions into this as the foundational and deciding factor.

We want the Bible to teach us what kind of freedom we have.

And, that should teach us why we are unable to come to Christ outside of an internal work of God’s grace upon the heart.

So, I want to give us a synopsis of how the Bible describes our disposition before conversion, which is also a description of the disposition of all unbelievers.

And, I want to read different passage and make a few comments on each one…

You will remember looking at Romans 3 last Sunday…

No one understands, no not one.

No one seeks after God.

None are righteous, no not one.

That is a summary indictment of the entire human race.

But scripture says more…

Ephesians 2:1–3 (ESV)

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Dead men cannot do anything.

Unless, like Lazarus, a power that can raise the dead commands and enables one to overcome that death.

This gives us a picture of our life before we were made alive by God.

The passions of the flesh were what drove our every decision.

The fleshly sinful desires of the body and the mind drove our speech and actions.

And because of our willing, preferred and indulgent obsession with sin and God, who commands against our indulgences…

We were by our very sinful nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

Unbelievers are still in that condition.

Under condemnation for their living against God.

Romans 6:6–7 (ESV)

6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.

Our condition before Christ, was a condition of being enslaved to sin.

That word enslaved = to be under the control of.

Our disposition and inclination in every way is towards sin.

Romans 6:14 (ESV)

14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Sin did have dominion, but in Christ the dominion of sin is broken.

Romans 8:7–8 (ESV)

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Again, in the sate of being an unbeliever, we hate God…

And, we cannot submit to God’s law.

Those who are outside of Christ, natural not spiritual, cannot please God.

There’s nothing they can do, on their own, that pleases God so that He can respond positively towards them.

1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

The natural person is a biblical term for a person who is spiritually dead…

Not born again.

Spiritual truth is foolishness to the unbeliever.

One must be spiritually alive in order to receive/accept/rejoice in spiritual truths

Galatians 5:1 (ESV)

1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

We were once hitched to a yoke of slavery to sin.

As Christians, Christ has set us free.

Romans 6:17–18 (ESV)

17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

What does God do?

What is the work of God upon all those the Father has given to the Son?

To change the disposition of our hearts/minds.

To free us from the slavery/dominion of sin.

Making us new creatures in Christ with new affections, a new disposition.

To give us eyes to see the beauty of spiritual truths…

And, cling to the beautiful truths of God.

John 3:19–20 (ESV)

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

The bondage of the human heart that keeps it from coming to Christ is not that light is lacking, but that darkness is loved, and light is hated.

This is a real bondage.

You cannot embrace as bright and beautiful what you hate.

—> You cannot.

And you cannot denounce as dark and ugly what you love.

—> You cannot.

So, what kind of freedom of the will do unbelievers have?

Biblically, the freedom that one has as a natural person…

An unbeliever…

Is a freedom that is within the boundaries of transgression.

No one does good, no not one.

But the unrighteous decisions that we make, we make willingly and freely.

So, we are free to choose, but we always freely choose sin and against God.

The freedom of the unbeliever…

It’s like a man jumping out of an airplane.

He can move N, E, S, W…

But, no matter what direction he moves…

He’s still going down.

And, it takes a force outside of himself to put him back into the plane.

What must happen is a person must be born anew.

—> Which is what happens at the new birth.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Someone must be born again, made anew by the HS…

In order to delight in righteousness.

In order to understand spiritual truths.

In order to come to Christ.

The bondage to sin has been removed.

The chains have been broken.

The shackles have fallen off.

The yoke of sin has been removed.

The truth has set us free.

Now, I want us to think, biblically, about our…

Freedom After the New Birth

Without re-reading all the passages we’ve just read…

What the Bible teaches is that in Christ…

We have been freed from the dominion/slavery/yoke of sin.

We’ve put on the yoke of Christ, which is grace not law.

We now have a new heart w/new affections for God.

We have a new disposition that desires righteousness.

We now have the desire to love God and obey God.

A desire wrought in us by the HS…

Based on the person and finished work of Christ.

Drawn to Christ by the Father.

And, we have new inclinations towards obedience to Christ out of gratitude in our hearts.

Something that is called Compatibilist Freedom is that the Bible teaches…

Both Unbelievers and Believers Have a Freedom that is Compatible to their Nature.

The unbeliever having a fallen nature has a freedom that desires sin and is against God.

The believer, being made new by the HS, has a new nature that has the freedom to choose righteousness.

The Freedom matches the Nature.

Now, we need to remember…

We’re not Home Yet

Although we now have a new nature with new inclinations.

As Christians we have the desire to make good moral decisions…

We have not obtained moral perfection.

So, there is a battle within us.

In which we still obey the old nature.

But, we also want to obey the new nature.

We obey differently at different times.

We have sorrow to the Lord when we give into temptation.

We have joy to the Lord when we avoid it.

It is the power of God working in us.

And, dear Christian, rejoice in that work of God going on within you.

Because that battle doesn’t exist in the natural, unbeliever.

Let’s think about this...

Praise God for His grace to save.

Praise God for His promises of a future in which we will be made morally perfect…

So that we can no longer sin because every desire to do so will be removed.

Oh, let us long for that day when we will be made completely obedient to the Lord.

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Closing Prayer