“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44).
When the Jews murmured against Him, Jesus did not enter into a useless debate with them. He simply called them to account by stressing their responsibility to act appropriately before God: “Do not murmur among yourselves.” And then, placing divine predestination and human responsibility side by side, He reminded them that they could do nothing unless the Father enabled them to do it. It is as if Jesus were saying, “There is plenty of evidence concerning my divine nature, and still you murmur among yourselves concerning who I really am. Stop your foolish complaining and believe. But, alas, such ability is beyond your grasp. You cannot be persuaded into the Kingdom. The Father must draw you or else you will never come to Me.”
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” Notice Jesus says, “no one can come.” The stress is on our inability. It’s not that we are not allowed to come, but that we are unable to come. The only way that we can come to Christ is by the power of God, by His “drawing” us to Jesus. “When Jesus refers to the divine drawing activity, He employs a term which clearly indicates that more than moral influence is indicated,” Hendriksen wrote. “The Father does not merely beckon or advise, He draws! The same verb occurs also in 12:32, where the drawing activity is ascribed to the Son; and further, in 18:10; 21:6, 11; Acts 16:19, 21:30; and James 2:6. The drawing of which these passages speak indicates a very powerful—we may even say, an irresistible—activity. To be sure, man resists, but his resistance is ineffective. It is in that sense that we speak of God’s grace as being irresistible. The net full of big fishes is actually drawn or dragged ashore (21:6, 11).… To be sure, there is a difference between the drawing of a net or a sword, on the one hand, and of a sinner, on the other. With the latter, God deals with a responsible being. He powerfully influences the mind, will, heart, the entire personality. These, too, begin to function in their own right, so that Christ is accepted by a living faith.” At the beginning of our redemption and throughout the entire process, the power is ever from above—real, strong, effective, and wielded by God Himself.
What promise is attached to Jesus’ teaching on divine sovereignty in salvation? What is the ground of your assurance? Does Jesus say that only some of those whom the Father has drawn will be raised again? If you struggle with assurance, remember Jesus’ promise. If you have been drawn, you will be saved.
