Three Truths in Tension - John 6:35-46

©Copyright January 31, 2021 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

In Isaiah 55:8-9 we read these words:

My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.’

This is perhaps never so clearly seen than in the relationship between the sovereignty (or absolute rule) of God and human freedom. This tension is seen clearly in the text we look at today: John 6:37-40. Our three truths in tension are together in verse 37,

37 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.

Truth One: We Are Responsible for Our Decisions

Jesus says we need to come to Him. Jesus told Nicodemus that whoever would believe in Him would have everlasting life. The mandate from Jesus is to Go into all the world to preach the gospel. The disciples and followers after them have worked tirelessly to present the gospel clearly to all people. There is a decision that needs to be made about how we will respond to Jesus.

The Bible consistently teaches that we are responsible for the decision we make regarding Christ. You will be able to blame no one but yourself if you turn away from Him. You cannot blame your church, your social surrounding, your ethnic background or anything or anyone else. You made choices, and you are responsible for those choices.

The idea of free will is a big concept in our society. We believe we are somewhat in control of our own destiny. But this is where it gets “sticky.” In Romans 3: we read:

“No one is righteous—

not even one.

11 No one is truly wise;

no one is seeking God.

12 All have turned away;

all have become useless.

No one does good,

not a single one.” (3:10-12)

This raises a question: if no one seeks God, who will choose to follow Him? This is why in Ephesians 2 Paul says,

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

The Bible says we have a strong bias toward sin. And we know our free choices are always according to that which we most strongly desire. You chose your seat today because of your preferences (it is where you always sit, it is near certain family members, it is the best place for you to hear, it is near (or not near certain people)). We choose what we desire most strongly.

According to the Bible, our sinful nature is such that we will not choose God unless we can do so on our terms. In other words, we are happy to serve God as long as we don’t have to actually do what He tells us to do! In reality, we are not willing to serve Him at all.

So, how does anyone ever come to trust in Christ? That leads us to the second essential truth: “those the Father has given me will come to me.”

Essential Truth No. 2: God Sovereignly Brings us to Faith

Jesus said “those the Father has given me will come to me.” He does not say, “those who change their mind” will come to me. Verse 44 takes this even further,

44 For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.

The Holy Spirit must draw us to Christ. He must change our appetite, our bias. When He does, we freely choose Christ (because we will always “freely” choose what we most desire). So, why doesn’t everyone become a follower of Christ? This is where it gets difficult . . . because God has not drawn everyone. He has chosen to bring some to faith and not others.

In Ephesians 1 we read,

we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. (Ephesians 1:11)

Some people sidestep what seems to be said here by saying, “What happens is God looks down the corridors of time and knows who is going to choose Him and then He chooses to save those people.” The problem is: that is not what the Bible says! In fact, we have already seen that unless our desires somehow change (or someone changes them), we will NEVER choose Him unless He first does something in us!

In Acts 13:48 after Paul told the Gentiles that salvation was available to them we are told,

48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.

Before you turn me off because you don’t like this, let’s look at what the Bible says. Romans 9 is a passage that troubles many,

10 When he (Isaac) married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. 11 But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; 12 he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” 13 In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”

14 Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! 15 For God said to Moses,

“I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”

16 So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

(Romans 9:10-16)

Even the familiar passage from John 3 when Jesus talks with Nicodemus. Jesus told Nicodemus he could not see the Kingdom of God unless he was born again. (3:3). He said we must be born of water and the Spirit (which I think refers to physical birth and a spiritual birth).

Nicodemus wanted to know how this worked. How are we born of the Spirit? Is there something we are supposed to do? Jesus told him this spiritual birth is like the wind, you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.”(8) In other words, coming to life spiritually is a supernatural work of God. It is not something we can make happen. It is not something you earn or deserve. It is a gift from God!

This is not about liking this concept. I’m saying this is what I believe the Bible is teaching. So, does this just make us puppets? This is where your brain may start to smoke or catch on fire!

If you go back to the conversation with Nicodemus Jesus also said “For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life.” He says we must choose to respond to Christ.

How do you reconcile the command to believe and the reality of God’s sovereign choosing? We can’t reconcile them without diminishing one or the other. God sovereignly chooses to change our heart and we will not believe unless He does so, but we are responsible if we do not come to Him. Whew!

So, how do you know if you have been “chosen” by God? We will know we are chosen if we truly put our trust in and follow Christ. If we see and understand our need for forgiveness and grace and then act upon that by following Him, it is evidence that we have been chosen by God.

Is this difficult to understand? Absolutely. If you say you don’t believe in one or the other of these two things you are not listening to the Word of God. In fact, I believe it is accurate to say you are distorting the Word of God. But, this is exactly what many do. They don’t like being dependent on God (for anything) and want salvation to hinge on what we do.

If you are really wrestling with this . . . then I think it shows you understand what the Bible teaches! We see this tension in the book of Romans. In Romans 9 Paul strongly emphasizes the sovereignty of God in choosing those who will be saved. In chapter 10 he talks about the importance choosing Christ and proclaiming the gospel to other people. And in chapter 11 Paul ends with these words,

33 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

34 For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?

Who knows enough to give him advice?

35 And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?

36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

Paul understood the tension between these truths. He doesn’t despair or discard one or the other. He concludes God’s ways are more majestic than our minds can grasp. And it’s fair to ask, “Isn’t that what you would expect from God?

The Third Essential Truth: He will NEVER reject us

The third essential (and glorious truth) in these words is that “He will never reject those who come to Him” If God is the One who brings us to salvation, He will not cast us away. Many Christians believe (and teach) we are saved because we chose to be saved so, we can change our mind and renounce our salvation. So, you are never really sure you are going to Heaven until you get there. I only plead with you to listen to the text.

Jesus doesn’t just say this in verse 37 we see it again in 38-40

38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. 39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. 40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.” . . .

Jump back down to verse 44

“For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.

We can be confident of Heaven because God has chosen us to be saved. Is that arrogant? It is arrogant (and false) to say, “I know I am going to Heaven when I die because I am a good person.” However, it is not arrogant to say, “I know I am going to Heaven when I die because God has saved me by His grace, due to nothing I have done.” Our confidence is anchored to God’s promise.

Of course, this is not the only place where this truth is found either. Let me give you just a sampling of the other places this is found:

“whoever believes in Him will not perish but HAVE (not MAY have) everlasting life” Jn. 3.16

In John 10 we read,

27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. (John 10:27-29)

In the prayer of Jesus in John 17 Jesus speaks of himself,

For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. (17.2)

In Ephesians 1 we read,

And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him. (1:13-14)

In 1 Peter we read,

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. (1 Peter 1:3-5)

But we all know some people who seem to walk away from their faith. I believe the answer to this is one of two things:

1. Their faith was not genuine. They became religious, they conformed to expectations, but they did not truly turn their life over to Christ. When the novelty faded they turned away. This seems to be what John concluded in 1 John 2:19

These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.

2. They are currently drifting but will return. We can’t make final judgments about people until the journey is over and even then, we don’t fully know what is in a person’s heart.

Conclusions

These three truths all tie together. They are profound, yet essential truths. They are not easy truths. We look at them today because this is what the Bible teaches. Whether you realize it or not, this is the good news of the gospel. Once you begin to see this, you will see this reflected everywhere in the Bible. There are profound implications here for our lives.

First, there is no room for arrogance. We are not saved because we are better, smarter, or more spiritual than anyone else. We are saved ONLY by the grace and mercy of God. We don’t know why God chose to save us. This is humbling. It is a profound gift which provokes the deepest of gratitude. We find ourselves saying at times, “Why me, Lord?” There is a softness that comes upon you when you understand your salvation is an undeserved gift.

Second, this leads us into deeper God-centered worship. We no longer sing about the grace of God without emotion. We read the Scriptures with new wonder and fascination. We know our only hope rests in Him, so we abandon me-centered worship and often find ourselves lost in wonder and praise. Words cannot express our gratitude.

Third, we share our faith urgently. God tells that somehow, He works through the witness of His children. We are under no illusion that our witnessing will “save” anyone. But we want to do whatever we can to bring about God’s transformation in the lives of people. It is a privilege.

Finally we live with confidence and without fear. Because we know our salvation does not depend on us, we no longer have to keep looking over our shoulder, or live afraid that we will mess things up. Instead, we can keep our eyes ahead and live joyfully for the Lord with eager anticipation for what God has promised is ahead of us. We can also Face death without fear.

If you believe you understand all this today then you likely don’t understand it. We are left with a sense of wonder and awe. I want you to dig into your Bible and see if this is what God is telling us. I have been wrestling with this for over 30 years. I did not change how I viewed salvation without great resistance. But I will tell you this. Once I saw this . . . I discovered a God who is bigger and more gracious than I ever imagined before. It has led to joy, worship, rest, and profound and unending gratitude. I covet the same for you.