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John 6:44,65 

The two verses, John 6:44 and John 6:65 are often used as “proof” of the correctness of Calvinist theology (see Calvinism).

The verses are these:

John 6:44 “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 6:65 “And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

Inasmuch as Scripture should determine our theology, rather than allowing our theology to determine what the Scriptures say and mean, we suggest that by reviewing these two verses IN their immediate context AND by then comparing them to the preponderance of other Scriptures that make it clear that God wants ALL people to come to Him, we can see that the message of these verses is NOT to teach us Calvinist theology, but rather to reveal that God offers salvation to all, but not all accept the offer. This really seems quite clear from John 1:11-12 “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:”

It would be problematic indeed if verse 44, for instance, were to be in disagreement with other verses uttered by our Lord at the very same time as the words found in verse 44. Read verse 44 above again. Now look at verse 40: “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

In Hebrews 11:6 we read: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” God desires people to “come to Him”.

Jesus told  the Samaritan woman the same in John 4:23 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” Once again, God wants everyone to worship Him, to come to Him, but not everyone will do so.

Furthermore, God gets to set the rules! HE has determined the Way in which He will allow anyone to come to Him. Jesus revealed that in John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Let’s get back to John chapter 6. Verse 44 says “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”  This is not so difficult to sort out. In John 12:32-33 Jesus tells His disciples: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die.”

Jesus had already made this clear in John 3:14-19 where we read this important text: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

The reference (the analogy) in John 3:14 to Moses goes back to the events we find recorded in Numbers 21:4-9 “Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.”

Returning then to John 6:44, Scripture is true! God draws all people to Himself by sending Jesus to pay sin’s price for you and for me. Without holiness, NO man can see God! God makes us “holy” through Jesus’ blood atonement.

What about John 6:65? Again, we read: “And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” Attempting to restate it simply, it was the Father’s plan to redeem sinful mankind and it was the Father’s plan to offer salvation to everyone who believes Him* – had the Father not granted the means and the opportunity, NO person COULD ever be saved! But we read in John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God,…”God grants the privilege of becoming a child of His if, and only if, one comes to God, God’s Way – through Jesus Christ. Stated another way, no one could ever come to Jesus for forgiveness if the Father had not granted that anyone who does come to Him would in fact be forgiven.

*Abraham believed God! And it was counted to him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6, James 2:28)

It seems that are so many verses that could be helpful here, but let us add just one. In Matthew 23:37, Jesus laments over Jerusalem with these words: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”

The issue boils down, once again, to people being unwilling and unbelieving. Israel was miraculously delivered from Egypt, yet they did not enter into the promised land. Why not? Hebrews 3:19 says “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” But Simon Peter got it right when he said in John 6:68 “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

The issue is NOT that only certain people whom God selects are able to come, the issue is that God grants eternal life only to those who come to Him in His Way, and many, if not most, WILL not come – it’s not that they CANNOT come.

One final reminder: “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

Have YOU repented and found forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ – the ONLY means by which God WILL forgive you?
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