Jesus Teaches Election
JESUS TEACHES ELECTION
The sixth chapter of John relates a discourse which Jesus gave at Capernaum by the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He speaks to those who have seen His miracles. There are many who are now listening who had been present when He fed the five thousand (compare John 6:5-11 with John 6:26). They had seen an obvious miracle. They had tasted the bread and eaten the fish which He miraculously produced. And yet, they had not recognized that this One is the Son of God. They have been following Him merely for the sake of benefitting from His miracles. They have seen, but they still have not believed. There has been no commitment on their part. It is in this context that Jesus now introduces His teaching on election.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you, that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.” (John 6:35-36).
Jesus begins with the simple declaration that He is the “Bread of life.” This is seen in contrast to the bread that He had recently produced to feed the multitude. They sought only to satisfy their physical hunger and thirst. Jesus offers much more. In John 6:36, Jesus points out the root of their problem. They have seen the miracles, heard the teachings, but they still have not believed. Why had they not believed? The answer is given in the following verses.
“All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.” (John 6:37-39).
Jesus says that certain people have been given to Him by the Father. All of those who have been given to Him will come to Him. He does not say that all men have been given to Him. This would be universalism and Jesus never taught that. He does say that those which the Father had given to Him would eventually come to Him. This means that there are not any who have been given to Him by the Father who will not come. Now this is not speaking of some higher level of spirituality. The issue is not the super-spiritual. The issue concerns the converted versus the non-converted. This is speaking of salvation. Jesus is speaking to the unbelieving multitude. Many of them shall not come to Him. Why? From their point of view, it is because they refuse to commit themselves to Him. But there is a deeper, more underlying reason. The deeper reason that they will not come to Him will be because they are not among those whom the Father has given to the Son. On the other hand, those who do come will never be cast out. No man ever need worry that he might come to Jesus and then find that he has not been chosen. All who come to Him in faith will be saved. At first this seems to be contradictory. On the one hand, those who have been chosen to be given to the Son are the ones who come to Him. On the other hand, anyone who comes to Him will not be cast out. Does this mean that there will be others who come to Him who were not chosen to be given to the Son? Not at all. The truth is that no man will come to the Son unless the Father draws him. This will be pointed out by Jesus in John 6:44.
You might be reading this and beginning to seethe. How dare that I suggest that such a thing is so! You are in some interesting company. As Jesus said these things, the Jews who are listening to Him also began to seethe and to grumble. They were ready to believe that Jesus is a miracle-worker. But they could not believe that He is the Son of God who came down from heaven. They will come to Him to eat the food as He feeds the five thousand, but they will not come to Him to receive the bread of life. Why won't they come? Jesus answers in John 6:43-44. It is because there is a sense in which they are unable to come.
Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws Him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:43-44).
Jesus said that the only people who are able to come to Him are those whom the Father draws to Him. Unless a man has been drawn by God, he simply will not come. Why? Why is it that men cannot come to God on their own initiative? Why will they not come unless they are first drawn by God? It is because man is inherently sinful and rebellious against God. Man's will has been corrupted by sin. As it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God.” (Romans 3:10-11).
It has been said that the man who chokes on the doctrine of election has not yet swallowed the truth of his own depravity. As a sinner, man is totally helpless to turn to God for help. It is God who first turns him toward Himself so that he will even begin to seek a cure. Therefore it is only when a man is drawn by God that he will come to Jesus and be saved. This is not a new teaching that Jesus was giving to the multitude on that day. It was a teaching that went all the way back to the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus Himself quotes from the prophet Isaiah to show that it is God who initiates His work in the hearts of men so that they come to Him.
“It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.” (John 6:45).
Jesus is not talking about the entrance of Christians into some higher level of Christian service. He says these things to unbelieving Jews. The implications are obvious. The reason that they have not come to Him in faith is because they have not been drawn by God.
If you are having problems with these sayings of Jesus, then I want you to know that you are not alone. There were many of the disciples of Jesus who also found these teachings to be difficult. The reason that they were difficult was not because of their lack of exposure to the truth. Rather it was because they had not really believed. At this point, you might be saying, “Ah, I knew that in the end it would be a matter of whether you believe or not!” Before you get too excited, look at what Jesus said to His disciples.
“But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted Him from the Father.” (John 6:64-65). The words of Jesus could not be more clear. The reason that these pseudo-disciples did not believe was because it had not been granted to them from the Father to believe. In conclusion we see that salvation is a free gift which is offered to all men. Any man who comes to Jesus Christ in faith shall be saved. No man who places his faith in Christ shall ever find that he has been cast out because he was not one of the elect. However it is also true that none but those who have been chosen and drawn by the Father is able to come to Jesus. It is only when God intervenes in a man's will and accomplishes His work in a man's heart that such a man will come and believe in Christ.
I have often heard it argued that Jesus claimed that He would draw all men to Himself - that He draws all men and only those who believe in Him out of their own free will actually come. The passage which is used to prove this teaching is John 12:32 where Jesus says:
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” (John 12:32).
How are we to understand this verse? Does it teach a universal drawing of all men to Christ? If it does, then it teaches too much, since Jesus has already used this very same term to describe the drawing of certain men in John 6:44 and, within that context, He has explained that all who are drawn to Him will be raised up on the last day (John 6:44), will be taught of God (John 6:45), and will certainly not be cast out (John 6:37). Unless one is willing to adopt the doctrine of universalism - that all men everywhere will be saved and that none will ever be condemned - then one cannot take this reference in John 12:32 to describe a universal drawing of the same sense described in chapter 6.
How are we to understand this drawing of “all men”? Once again, it is the context that explains the passage. When Jesus speaks of “drawing all men” to Himself, He does so in a situation in which some Greeks had just been brought to Him. He responds by speaking of His impending crucifixion, the result of which will be to draw all men. Up to this point, the ministry of Jesus had been almost exclusively directed toward the Jews. But this will now change. Once Christ has gone to the cross, He will gather into one body both Jews and Gentiles. There will be no distinction between races or sexes or social strata. He will draw all types and races and people.