An Analysis of John 6:37-45, from an
Arminian Perspective
Divinity
of the Son of God and union with the Father in purpose of salvation
Is
being drawn and being given to Christ the same act?
Will
all that in any moment in their lives believe be finally saved?
Who
does the Father give to the Son?
John 6 records a discussion between Christ and the Jewish leadership. They were challenging His union with the Father. He responded that they were rejecting Him, because they were rejecting the Father. They have not reached the point that they could receive salvation through Him. They had rejected the Father’s revelation of Himself through the Law and Prophets and the Father was under no obligation to reward their obstinacy with the greater revelation of His dear Son. The Father and Son are so united in purpose of salvation, that the fact that the Jews had already rejected the Father meant that they could not now accept the Son.
John 6:28-66: Then said they unto
him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of
God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the
work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 30 They said therefore
unto him, What sign shewest
thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what
dost thou work? 31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written,
He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that
bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true
bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven,
and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they
unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth
on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That
ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For
I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me. 39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 41 The Jews then murmured at
him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42 And they
said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose
father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? 43 Jesus therefore answered
and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me,
except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the
last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, And they
shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath
learned of the Father, cometh unto me. 46 Not that any man hath seen the
Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. 47 Verily, verily, I
say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48 I am that bread
of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This
is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not
die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread
that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52
The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How
can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the
Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my
flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living
Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he
that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is
that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and
are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for
ever. 59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in
60 Many therefore of his disciples,
when they had heard this, said, This is an hard
saying; who can hear it? 61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples
murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend
you? 62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth
nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the
beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 65 And he
said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come
unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 66 From that time many
of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Looking at the broad context we have to go back to chapter 5 to get the full flow of the passage. Christ preaches three messages but the same crowd follows Christ around. Christ's primary message is His own Divinity. He is establishing His union with the Father. His message is from His Father and His purpose is the same as the Father's. Anything we learn about soteriology from this text is clearly within the context of Christ’s union with the Father.
Looking at the audience, we have mostly Jews who are interested and are at least willing to follow Christ around and listen. We see two groups, those who don't believe in God and Moses and those that do. Those that believe God and Moses are confused, and they try to make Christ a King on earth. They seem somewhat new to His ministry and mission. Those that didn't believe in God and Moses are rejecting Christ. In the end, the one group departs, and the other continues following Christ.
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Christ |
Jews |
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I am from the Father. |
That makes you equal with the Father. No way! |
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You reject me because you rejected the Father. |
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Christ crosses the |
Jews follow Christ |
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The Father sent me, I am on His mission of salvation |
And what does God want us to do in order to be saved? |
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Believe on me. |
Prove you’re from the Father with another miracle. Give us food. |
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I am from the Father. I am spiritual food. |
Give us the food. |
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You are not getting the food, because you don’t believe in me. You don’t believe in me because the Father hasn’t given you to me. I save those that believe in me. |
You’re not really from the Father. |
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You can’t come to me without the Father’s first drawing you. I have a special relationship with the Father. And our purpose is united in saving those that believe in me. I am the spiritual bread providing salvation. |
How can you be bread? |
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I am. And I save those who feast on me. |
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The Jews who are rejecting Christ are challenging His union with the Father. They attempted to kill Christ, when He claimed He was equal with the Father. The Jewish leadership was accepting those who didn’t come in the name of the Father, but rejecting Christ who came in the name of the Father. They ignored Christ’s miracle of feeding the multitude, but simply wanted the food. They question Christ’s union with the Father and His divinity and virgin birth, by claiming Joseph was His father.
Christ responds they never knew the Father.
John 5:37-38: And the Father that
sent me, he hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any
time, nor seen his form. 38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom
he sent, him ye believe not.
They are rejecting Christ, because they rejected the Father.
John 5:46-47: "For if you
believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote
about Me. 47 "But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe
My words?"
The Father sent Christ on His mission of salvation.
John 6:27: Work not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth
unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him the
Father, even God, hath sealed.
Christ is doing the Father’s will in salvation.
John 6:38: For I am come down from heaven, not to do
mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
Christ’s response to the Jewish argument that He is not from the Father is that the Jews don’t know the Father. He and the Father are united in purpose in salvation and are working together in salvation, a salvation the Jewish leadership is not experiencing because they first rejected the Father.
Calvinist soteriology has been summarized into five points, Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints (TULIP). TULIP in no way is the sum total of Calvinist views, or even Calvinist soteriology, but it does provide a concise summary of their beliefs. Calvinist’s find support for at least four, if not all five doctrines in John 6.
Total Depravity is the view that man cannot save himself, or of himself think, will or do anything that pleases God. Calvinist’s hold that John 6 supports this view with verse 44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” and verse 63 ”It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing” and verse 65 “Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.” This view is correct and John 6 does support it. The controversy between Calvinist’s and Arminians centers around the function of grace, not what man can do without grace.
Unconditional election is the view that God, before the
foundation of the world, chose certain individuals for salvation, passing by
the rest, not based on any merits in those chosen or based on foresight of
faith, but based solely on God’s good pleasure.
Calvinist find support for this view based on verse 37 “All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out”. The giving by the Father precedes and
results in believing in Christ cannot be based on a prior belief in
Christ. Additionally,
Calvinist find support for unconditional election as a natural result of
irresistible grace. Irresistible
grace is the logical result of unconditional election, and vice versa.
Irresistible grace is view that God effectively converts the
elect to Himself. Nothing can stop
Him. Not that the elect person is
resisting and being converted by coercion, but they will not ever resist. Calvinist find support for this view from
John 6 in verse 37 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I
will in no wise cast out” as well as verses
44-45 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:
and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore
that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” Those that are given by the Father,
those that are draw and those that learn of the Father will be saved.
Perseverance of the Saints is the view that all that come to faith in Christ will persevere in that faith and finally be saved. Since the elect alone come to faith, and God alone gave them the faith and keeps them in it, none of them will ever perish. This view does not permit one to fall from the faith and remain saved. Rather it ensures that none will ever finally fall from true faith. Calvinists find support for this view in verses 39-40 ”And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” All that are given are raised up, and everyone that believeth are raised up. No room is left for any to fall away.
We will explore each point in detail while we examine the text. Broadly, total depravity is true. Those given to Christ are not the unconditionally elect. A careful examination of the text does not prove that drawing is irresistible. It’s true that those given to Christ will not resist Him, but the giving process is not the entirety of conversion. Also, the text does not teach that all that start in the faith will in fact finish. Each of these points will be examined as we proceed.
Here’s verses 36-45:
36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.37 All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to
do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father's
will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will
of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the
Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up
at the last day. 41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the
bread which came down from heaven. 42 And they said, Is
not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I
came down from heaven? 43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur
not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath
sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in
the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God.
Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh
unto me.
Here we have several groups: those given, drawn, those who come, those who are hear, those who learn, those who see the Son, those who are never cast out, those who believe and unbelievers. The passage can be quite confusing. Let’s see if we can collapse some of these groups.
Based on comparing verse 37 and verse 40, it’s fair to say that those who come are those who believe. The excerpts “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (verse 37) and “that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day” (verse 40) show this is the case. Both groups, believers and those who come, are united to Christ and both are saved.
It’s also fair to group the phrases which talk about salvation:
I will in no wise cast out (verse
37)
I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up again at the last day (verse 39)
may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last
day (verse 40)
I will raise him up at the last day
(verse 44)
So here is the text with these groupings inserted in red:
36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37 All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me (believe in me); and him that
cometh to me (believes in me) I will in no wise cast out (will
save). 38 For I came down from heaven, not to
do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father's
will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day (save). 40 And this is the
will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth
the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him
up at the last day (save). 41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am
the bread which came down from heaven. 42 And they said, Is
not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I
came down from heaven? 43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur
not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me (believe
in me), except the Father which hath sent me
draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day (save). 45 It is written in
the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God.
Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh
unto me (believes in me).
So what groups are left? Those given, drawn, those who are hear, those who learn, and those who see the Son.
All these thing precede believing in Christ. From the text we can conclude that two groups, those who are given as well as those who learn from the Father, will certainly believe and be saved. (verse 37 & verse 45) However, we can also conclude that not all in the group of those who see the Son will believe and be saved. (verse 36) Some see the Son, but do not believe.
The two remaining groups, those drawn and those who hear will not necessarily believe and be saved. If those who are drawn and who hear, also believe, they will in fact be saved. But the passage does not say all drawn will be saved, or all who hear will be saved. It might be tempting to say that because the passage says those who believe and are drawn will be saved, all drawn will be saved. It might also be tempting to say that all who hear will be saved, because the passage says all that hear and learn will be saved. But it would be equally tempting to say all that see the Son will be saved, because the passage says every one that sees the Son and believes will be saved. But not all that see the Son will be saved. Verse 36 clearly states that some will see the Son and not believe.
The passage teaches that if you see and believe you will be saved. It teaches is that you are drawn and come you will be saved. It teaches that if you hear and learn you will be saved. But we cannot separate the seeing from believing, the drawing from coming, the hearing from learning and maintain the certainty of salvation. Assuming that would be the syllogistic fallacy of an undistributed middle. (For example: All students carry backpacks. My grandfather carries a backpack. Therefore, my grandfather is a student.) Nor can we conclude that all that see will believe, all that are drawn will come, or all that hear will learn.
The balance of the commentary will center around that the text has to say about three questions. What is the drawing process? Will all that in any moment in their lives believe be finally saved? Who is given to Christ?
44 No man can come to me, except
the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last
day.
The word draw in Greek is helkuo. The Strong entry under number 1670 is:
The verb is in third person, singular, in the active voice, subjunctive mood, and aorist (past) tense.
Helkuo is typically translated draw or drag. It’s used in the drawing of fish in a net (John 21:6,11), the drawing of a sword (John 18:10), forcibly dragging the apostles through the streets (Acts 16:19, 21:30) and being drug into court (James 2:6). It’s a word used for compulsion, against the will.
Should we conclude that those drawn must come, due to the force of the word? No. Not even Calvinists claim that we are converted against our will. They teach that God changes our depraved wills so that we want to believe. They do not teach that we are forced or compelled to believe despite our continued resistance.
So why the force of the word? It’s my view that the force of the word highlights the extent of our depravity. The first part of the verse states no man can come to me. We are simply unable to come to Christ until the Father draws us. Calvinists call this truth total depravity. Though I shy away from the term to avoid confusion, this view is biblical. The controversy relates to the nature of converting grace, not our ability to believe without grace. We love the world and ourselves so much, we are not just ignorant of Christ before grace, we are also openly hostile to Christ. God teaches us a truth we do not want.
Before grace we do not want Christ. By the time we believe we do want Christ. Drawing can only relate to the time and state we do not want Christ. We cannot be drawn all the way to salvation because at some point we want salvation. Drawing takes us to the point were we are able to believe, but no further. No man can come before they are drawn. After they are drawn, the can come. The passage does not say they will in fact always come.
Some argue that the Fathers act of "giving to Christ" is the act of drawing. They support that claim based on verse 65. Here are the three texts in question.
37 All that the Father giveth me shall
come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
44 No man can come to me, except
the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last
day.
65 And he said, Therefore
said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
They rightly note that verse 65 is a paraphrase of verse 44. So they fairly understand verse 37 and 44 as:
37 All that the Father giveth me shall
come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
44 No man can come to me, except
the Father which hath sent me draw him (given unto him by the Father): and I will raise him up at the last day.
The giver is the same, the Father. But the receiver is different. In verse 44 and 65 the receiver is man. In verse 37 the receiver is Christ. The gift is also different. The gift in verse 37 is the people. In verses 44 and 65 the gift is grace that enables coming to Christ. Because the receiver and gift are different it's a bit hasty to conclude that being drawn and being given to Christ is the same action of the Father.
37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I
will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own
will, but the will of him that sent me.39 And this is the Father's will which
hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but
should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that
sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and
believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the
last day.
Both cometh in verse 37 and believeth in verse 40 are present participles. They denote continues action and do not allow one time action. This passage is clearly not saying someone could believe for a short time, then stop believing, but remain saved. Such an understanding violates the grammar of the text.
Does this passage teach that anyone that believes at any moment, will always believe and finally be saved? That certainly is the will of the Father. But it is also the will of the Father that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. God does want us to persevere in faith. It is His will that we obey His commands. But God’s will is often disobeyed. What He wants us to do, is not always done.
Looking at the phrase, "all that the Father gives to me" we see the Father as the Giver. The Father gives what He has, not what He does not have. In a general sense, by way of creation, we are all His possession. But the context makes a distinction between those given and those not given, so this possession is not the general way all of creation is the Father’s. Now the elect are also the Father’s possession in a special sense. This sense would in fact account for the fact that some are the Father’s and some are not. But the elect that are not yet converted are not yet justified or forgiven. We were the enemies of Christ, before conversion. However, the Jews who believed in God and Moses and were waiting for the Messiah were in fact His. They were the Fathers in every sense. They believed in God and they believed Moses' prophesy about the Messiah. They were given to Christ.
Some of the Jews in the audience, believed in the Father. They did not yet know who Christ was, but they were waiting for the Messiah. This was somewhat of a unique time in history. Those who were waiting on the Messiah were transitioning to those who walked with Jesus Christ. God was revealing more and more of Himself through His Son. The Father gave all that believed in Him, and awaited the Messiah to Christ.
The preceding context drives this understanding. Christ’s Jewish opponents have been arguing that Christ is not from the Father. Christ response that He is from the Father. He is united to the Father in essence and purpose. In fact it’s the Jews that are rejecting Him that are not united to the Father. Thought Jewish history, there are two groups. Those that believed in the Father and Moses and awaited the Messiah and those that didn’t.
Here are a few key quotes that precede 6:37:
5:23 so that all
will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who
sent Him.
5:37 "And the Father who sent
Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor
seen His form.
5:39 "You search the
Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these
that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to
come to Me so that you may have life.
5:44 "How
can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek
the glory that is from the one and only God?
5:46 "For if you believed
Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. 47
"But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My
words?"
6:14 Therefore when the people saw
the sign which He had performed, they said, "This is truly the Prophet who
is to come into the world."
6:29 Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him
whom he hath sent.
Christ is saying that the Jews that are rejecting Him, do so, because they first rejected the Father. The Father gives those that believe in Him, to the Son.
This passage, more than any other, explains why some people believe in Christ and some don’t. The answer is that some people have a preexisting relationship with the Father and some don’t. The Jews at Christ’s time were undergoing a unique transition from awaiting the Messiah to walking with Christ. Though this transition was unique to them, the same general principle applies to us today. The Father reveals Himself through nature and conscience first, before we come to know the Gospel. We become aware of our sins, before we know we need Christ the Savior. If we reject God’s initial revelation of Himself, which He has enabled us by grace to see, He is under no obligation to provide greater light. This passage basically teaches us that true Theism precedes and results in Christianity, or as John 7:17 puts it: "If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself."