The Drawing Power of God

On the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus had fed a great multitude, likely more than ten thousand (cf. Jn. 6:10b) with only five small barley cakes and two fish.

The crowd was awed tremendously by this sign, perceiving the Lord to be the prophet they had long anticipated (cf. Deut. 18:15-17). They wanted to enthrone him as their king. And they would have had he not withdrawn himself alone to a nearby mountain (Jn. 6:15).

At this point, the disciples’ understanding of the Lord’s mission was still limited. Probably very discouraged that Jesus had ignored the misguided overture, they entered a boat at evening time and made their way westward across the lake — a journey of about a dozen miles at its widest point.

When they were three or four miles out, sometime between three and six in the morning (Mk. 6:48), Christ approached the boat, walking on the face of the “distressed” waters (Mt. 14:24). This miracle, in their presence alone, certainly must have been designed to lift their troubled spirits.

That the sign stirred them is clear, because they “worshipped him,” acknowledging him as the Son of God (Mt. 14:33). And yet, their faith in him was far from complete. The miracle of the loaves and fish still had not made its full impact upon their understanding. Mark forcefully describes their hearts as, in a sense, hardened (Mk. 6:52).

On the following day, the multitude discovered that Christ was no longer in the region. They boarded boats for Capernaum, seeking him.

When they tracked him down, Jesus gave them a kindly rebuke because he perceived that many were interested primarily in more bread to satiate their hunger (Jn. 6:26b). Others, however, apparently fathomed the Lord’s supernatural ability and they brought their sick for healing. And so many were made whole (Mk. 6:54ff).

Working for the Food of Eternal Life

It was on this occasion that the Savior gave sobering instruction about the need to work for the food that results in eternal life. This spiritual food would be that which would be given by the Son of Man.

Note that “work” (i.e., due diligence and obedience) is not antagonistic to the idea of a “gift,” as many sincere religionists contend (see Jn. 6:27-29). In this very context, even belief is designated as a work (Jn. 6:29).

Still focusing upon their hunger, the multitude appealed to Old Testament Scripture, suggesting that Moses provided bread for Israel in the wilderness. The obvious inference was that they wanted more free bread from the miracle-worker.

Presently, however, Christ directed the exchange to the nature of true bread (Jn. 6:32). Several times the expression “out of heaven” (vv. 31-33) was employed. Finally, employing strong metaphorical language, the Savior declared: “I am the bread of life” (v. 35), and then, “I am come down from heaven” (vv. 38, 41).

When the Jews heard that “down-out-of-heaven” language, it caused a vigorous commotion. They caught the drift of what he said about having come down out of heaven, but surmised they had the perfect rebuttal. They replied, in effect: “You did not come out of heaven. Your parents are Joseph and Mary. How can you possibly claim a pre-earthly existence in heaven?”

Christ might well have refuted their logic and argued the case for his virginal conception and birth. But he did not. The evidence for that would be amply woven into the sacred record for documentation at the appropriate time. They were not ready for this disclosure at the moment.

Time and again the careful student notes that Jesus did not respond to insincere quibbles in the course of his teaching. Such would have been a waste of precious time. Rather there were crucial issues pressing and these were to be developed at present. Modern Bible teachers would do well to take note of this wise teaching procedure.

The Divine Drawing

With a most emphatic thrust of truth, the Master Teacher said:

No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draws him: and I will raise him up in the last day. It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught of God. Every one that has heard from the Father, and has learned, comes unto me” (Jn. 6:44-45).

It is upon this passage that we pause to focus our attention. The following points are worthy of serious reflection.

It is important to note first of all that Jesus appeals to the Old Testament (Isa. 54:13) to buttress his argument.

The term “prophets” is a general reference, similar to how we say, “The Bible says ...”

The expression “it is written” (found eighty-two times in the New Testament, including parallels) always refers to a divine document, the validity of which is unequivocally affirmed.

The first clause of this sentence, “No man can come unto me, except the Father that sent me draw him,” has been one of the most abused texts of the New Testament for many centuries.

For example, John Calvin taught that man is “so enslaved by the yoke of sin, that he cannot of his own nature aim at good either in wish or actual pursuit” (1975a, 265). Thus, one “cannot possibly come to Christ unless drawn by the Spirit.” He is drawn “both in mind and spirit exalted far above [his] own understanding” (Ibid., 500). The drawing is not indirectly through the Scriptures, but “inwardly by the Spirit” (Ibid., 277). God works in the elect so as to “guide, turn, and govern [their] heart by his Spirit” (Ibid., 269). The “grace of God is insipid to men, until the Holy Spirit gives it its savor” (1975b, 253).

A careful examination of the passage, however, reveals the following facts.

The statement, “No man can come to me [Christ], except the Father that sent me draw him,” is explicit.

The only route to Christ is by means of the drawing of God. But that does not completely explain the issue.

Two questions are paramount:

• Is the “drawing” by God irresistible. In other words, is the divine drawing an appeal to man’s mind (intellect and emotion) or is it a force so strong as to bypass man’s free will?
• Is the drawing miraculous by the direct impulse of the Holy Spirit? Or is it indirectly exerted through a divinely appointed means?

In his commentary on The Gospel According to John, the late Leon Morris argued that it is utterly impossible for a man to come to Christ on “his own volition”. Rather God himself must initiate the action. He repudiated the idea that choice is “the free decision of man.”

Calvin is quoted to the effect that the Spirit moves upon some, to turn them from unwilling to willing. It is alleged that God’s drawing power is always triumphant. It simply cannot be resisted (1995, 328-329).

While this view is popular among some, in fact, it is antagonistic to the teaching of the New Testament.

God’s Drawing Not By Force

First, the drawing is not by a force that is “irresistible,” as some claim (Sproul 1994, 69). Sproul cites Kittel on the word “draw” as meaning “an irresistible and supernatural force” (1964, 503), but this descriptive does not fit the biblical evidence. It is commentary, not a definition. For a discussion of the distinction between “draw” and “drag,” see Trench (1890, section xxi; cf. Vine 1991, on “drag”).

If “draw” means an “irresistible force,” then all would be saved. Why? Because later in this same Gospel narrative the Lord says: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself” (Jn. 12:32).

The drawing is a beneficent pull. The Lord said to ancient Israel: “I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you” (Jer. 31:3; cf. Song of Sol. 1:4).

How Does God Draw Men to Christ?

In verse forty-five, Jesus reveals precisely how God draws people to Christ. Quoting from the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 54:13) and possibly alluding to Jeremiah 31:34, the Lord employs four verbs to stress the personal volition of human beings and the method employed in their being drawn to him. They must be taught, hear, learn, and come.

To ignore these inspired words is exegetically dishonest.

Taught

The term “taught” is from the adjective didaktos. It’s found only twice in the Greek New Testament. The word has to do with “being taught, instructed” (Danker et al. 2000, 240).

In 1 Corinthians 2:13 it is employed of the teaching that ultimately originates with the Holy Spirit but is made known by means of words through men who convey the message — either those inspired originally or now by means of their words as recorded in Scripture.

Professor Merrill Tenney wrote: “Verse 45 indicates that God would do his drawing through the Scriptures and that those who were obedient to God’s will as revealed in the Scriptures would come to Jesus” (1981, 76; emphasis added). Bernard observed that the “drawing” was by “being taught” (1928, 205).

Some appeal to 1 Thessalonians 4:9 in an attempt to establish the theory that the teaching is in an internal, subjective instruction by the Holy Spirit (Hiebert 1971, 178).

“[Y]ou have no need to have any one write to you, for your yourselves have been taught of God.”

But the actual point here being made is that the teaching regarding brotherly love had been done previously. In fact, since their conversion, they had already understood that they all were family by virtue of a common new birth. Paul was simply reminding them that such an elementary matter did not need to be rehearsed in the present letter.

Hearing

The word “heard” is important because it is preliminary to coming to Christ.

The verb is a past tense form of akouo. Mounce notes that there are at least five senses in which akouo is used in the New Testament. In this case, it is a hearing with a view to learning (2007, 327). In other words, it involves receiving information about something (cf. Danker et al. 2000, 38).

Learning

“Learn” derives from manthano, “to gain knowledge or skill by instruction” (Danker et al. 2000, 615). It involves more than mere exposure to information. It embraces the idea of grasping the significance of what has been taught (Mt. 13:23). As Mounce observes, it “involves not only exposure to information but also comprehension” (2007, 397). It conveys the sense of “understanding” (cf. Mt. 9:13).

No one is qualified to “come to” Christ, or even needs to if he is incompetent to understand the rudiments of the gospel (Rom. 1:16). Paul’s statement in Romans 6:17 that gospel obedience is “from the heart” shows, among other things, “that our decision to surrender to God was our own choice and was not coerced or irresistibly imposed upon us” (Cottrell 1996, 413; emphasis added).

This nullifies Calvinism’s dogma of predestination, and denominationalism’s practice of infant sprinkling.

Coming to Jesus

The fourth verb is “comes.” Only those who are taught the truth, listen intently with the motive of learning, and who understand the foundational elements of the gospel are qualified to come to Christ.

While coming is the result of God’s drawing by means of revealed truth, the term contains the implication that one has the ability when the preliminary requisites are satisfied to come to the Lord.

Coming is not the result of divine compulsion. It derives from an intellectual and emotional decision to surrender to the Savior. Simple logic provides a clear picture of the process.

• God draws. People come.
• Those who come, however, are those who have been taught, who have heard and learned.
• Hence it is perfectly transparent that God draws sincere people by means of gospel instruction by which people are taught, hear, and learn.

Jesus invited the people of certain cities in Galilee to “come unto me” (Mt. 11:28), and that invitation had resident within it the implied ability to obey. Why invite those to come, who simply cannot, because of an alleged depravity that holds them incapacitated by sin?

In the final days prior to his crucifixion, Christ wept over the city of Jerusalem, lamenting the fact that though he had longed to gather them under his protective care, they would not (Mt. 23:37). There is a vast difference between “would not” and “could not.” However, if a stubborn person practices “I won’t” long enough, it can become “I can’t” (Jn. 12:39). See also John 5:40 and Revelation 22:17 for the matter of free will.

Conclusion

When John 6:44-45 is rescued from the morass of sectarian theology, it becomes thrillingly fresh invigorating the soul with instructive principles that guide one through the correct processes to the redemption that is through Christ.

Let us study this methodology, exhort our contemporaries to pursue it. And let us rejoice when they become our kinsmen in the Lord.