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On Drawing and Grace

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Few things today inspire as much controversy as the teachings of Jesus Christ. So debated are His teachings today that it will come as little surprise that they were equally as dividing on the day they were first delivered. Into one such instance, the apostle John gives us exclusive insight. Early in His Galilean ministry, following His feeding of the five thousand, Jesus engaged the Jews in a discourse which resulted in many of His followers rejecting Him, returning to their homes. This passage is found in John 6 beginning in verse 35 and extending to the end of the chapter. For the purposes of this essay, we will focus on Christ's concluding statement and the response of the crowd which John records for us in verses 65-66:


In examining these verses we must keep in mind that they come at the end of an extended discourse. While all the themes and subjects of Jesus' discourse are beyond the scope of this essay, we will discuss elements of them. To begin the discussion, we turn to verse 65.

It is immediately evident that Jesus here is quoting Himself in concluding His teaching. Specifically, He is repeating what He said moments earlier which John records in verse 44: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” The source of contention is immediately apparent; this verse is often used in the debate between Arminians and Predestinarians to support a reading of Scripture that ultimately attributes the belief of an individual Christian to the sovereignty of God. In the following pages we shall discuss several objections to this reading and shall examine Scripture to arrive at a proper understanding of Christ's teaching on this point.

Reformationally understood, the verse states that no one may come to the Son unless the Father has first drawn him. In other words, belief in the Son (the only way to the Father), is first ordained by the Father, giving the historical view of predestination. Understandably, this view has its detractors. The main objection surrounds the meaning of the word “draw” in verse 44. Samuel Fisk makes the case that “draw” does not refer to a positive and irrevocable inclination of the heart toward Christ but instead refers to any sort of encouragement, be it emotional, intellectual, or mental.² Years earlier, John Wesley commented that God “draws us first, by good desires. Not compulsion, not by laying the will under any necessity; but by the strong and sweet, yet still resistible, motions of his heavenly grace.”³ The noted Wesleyan commentator Adam Clarke offered this understanding of God's drawing of John 6:44:

Show green herbage to a sheep, he is drawn by it: show nuts to a child, and he is drawn by them. They run wherever the person runs who shows these things: they run after him, but they are not forced to follow; they run, through the desire they feel to get the things they delight in. So God draws man: he shows him his wants-he shows the Saviour whom he has provided for him: the man feels himself a lost sinner; and, through the desire which he finds to escape hell, and get to heaven, he comes unto Christ, that he may be justified by his blood. Unless God thus draw, no man will ever come to Christ; because none could, without this drawing, ever feel the need of a Saviour.⁴

An extension of this understanding is seen in Romans 10:14 where Paul rhetorically asks, “How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?” So then the drawing of the Father as Jesus describes in John 6:44 is present whenever the gospel is preached. Indeed, Fisk asserts that it is this drawing to which Christ refers in John 12:32 where He says: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself.” As understood by Arminians, the “drawing” of John 6:44 and John 12:32 is and has been at work in every human heart for the past two thousand years and can be illustrated in the 19^th century hymn text:

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

Come home, come home,
You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!⁵

Another objection to the predestinarian reading of John 6:44 is based in the following verse, verse 45 which reads: “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.” As understood by Jacques More, Jesus here is explaining what He said in verse 44 and is relating the idea that all men are taught by God. As More explains it:

Here we find Jesus explaining what He has just stated [in verse 44]. God is in the business of teaching about spiritual truths and those who learn these things come to Jesus. Jesus did not say everyone who has heard from the Father come to Him, but everyone who has heard and learned come to Him. The implication exists therefore that you can hear, but reject and refuse to learn. This is Jesus' own explanation and there is no idea implied of a fixed number of people being taught by God. In fact Jesus' quote says 'they shall all be taught by God'; hardly a limited number here. The context therefore of [John 6:44] does not warrant use for the idea of individual predestination excluding others.”⁶

To evaluate these dissensions we must examine the larger context of the chapter. The beginning of John 6 describes the feeding of the five thousand, an event which has parallels elsewhere in the New Testament. Following this miracle, John relates to us that the disciples sailed (and for part of the journey, Jesus walked) to Capernaum. When the crowds caught up with them, they were perplexed by His presence with the disciples in Capernaum since He had not left in the boat with them. Jesus then criticizes the people because they came in search of more food rather than signs from heaven. During this dialogue Jesus draws out the message in the miracle of the loaves and fishes the previous day: the people are to long for the bread of heaven, the Son of God, and believe in Him. It is at this point that we join the discourse:


Jesus then continues, drawing out the symbolism of His body and blood, which serve as the basis for the church's observance of the Eucharist. With the immediate context of the chapter in mind, let us now turn toward the Arminian argument presented by Wesley, Clarke, and Fisk. At the crux of this reading lies the word “draws” itself. The Arminian contends that this is a gentle encouragement or subtle, universal influence. In contrast to this idea is the actual word John used, the Greek helkuo which more accurately means “to draw, drag off.” Understood metaphorically, as it is in this sense, it means “to draw by inward power, lead, impel.”⁷ To make the point even less subtle, the Strong's Dictionary recognizes a relationship between helkuo and haireomai which means, “to take for oneself, to prefer, choose, to choose by vote, elect to office.”⁸ The picture presented here is one of deliberate and sovereign choice which is manifested in a specific, inward pulling, not a gentle, universal encouragement from without. This idea, along with beautiful covenant language is illustrated in Samuel Stone's famous hymn:

The Church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord,
She is His new creation
By water and the Word.
From heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her
And for her life He died.

Elect from every nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth;
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.⁹

Turning next to More's argument, we must look closer at what it is he asserts. He begins with the Arminian assumption that John's word helkuo refers to an outward enticement by which the Father tries to attract sinners. He then offers support by way of John 6:45. As More understands it, Jesus is here saying that all men are taught (or drawn) by the Father but it is only those who learn that come to Him. So then it is possible to be taught of God and not learn subsequently. In order to see the fallacy of this argument we must do what More failed to do: examine the passage in context.

Jesus' address to the Jews in verses 35-47 contains elements critical to understanding what Jesus means; to understand verse 44 we need to look further than verse 45 but our starting point may be found right in verse 44 itself. Note the final clause of the verse: “...I will raise him up on the last day.” Raise who up? Verse 44 in its entirety answers the question: On the last day, Christ will raise up whom the Father draws, for one cannot come to Christ if the Father has not drawn him. An even stronger context for this reading can be found in verses 39, 40, and 54. In them, Jesus offers the following properties of he who will be raised on the last day:

• He is given to Christ by the Father
• Christ will lose none
• He beholds the Son and believes in Him
• He has everlasting life
• He eats and drinks the body and blood of Christ [and he who does not has no life in himself (vs. 53)].

Clearly, we cannot but limit the number of those who meet these qualifications. The superficiality of More's argument can also be seen in his understanding of John 6:45 and his distinction between hearing and learning. He uses verse 45 to support the idea that all men without exception are taught by God. In this verse, Jesus is quoting from “the prophets” a passage which is most likely Isaiah 54:13: “All your sons will be taught of the LORD; And the well-being of your sons will be great.” Isaiah does us the service of identifying the “they” Jesus mentions: the sons of Israel. In other words, the children of the covenant shall all be taught of God and it is he who comes to Christ.

Even so, More's argument fails on its own premises. In a discourse two chapters later, Jesus goes into more detail on why it is that some do not hear, learn, and believe. Addressing the skeptical Jews, Jesus said in John chapter 8:


Jesus clearly agrees that a person cannot believe in Him if he does not first hear. However, He explicitly states that being “of God” is requisite to hearing, which (in the sense Jesus is using) means hearing, learning, and believing. In other words, only he who is of God believes, not the other way around. Consequently, when More asserts that “the context therefore of [John 6:44] does not warrant use for the idea of individual predestination excluding others,” he is neglecting the larger context of the argument he presents.

Having sufficiently (for our purposes) explored a biblical understanding of the Father's drawing, let us now turn our attention to the end of Jesus' discourse. John 6:65-66 says:


As mentioned above, this is the close of Jesus' discourse. He quotes Himself, this time describing the Father's action as “granting” rather than “drawing.” The grammar clearly points to “coming to Christ” as the object of the “granting”, an understanding that logically follows the above discussion of “drawing.” Armed with this understanding, let us examine what is happening here. Jesus says, “For this reason I have said to you...” For what reason? Verse 64 provides the answer: “'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.” We can see that it is in response to the unbelief of the people that Jesus repeats His teaching on the Father drawing men unto Christ. In fact, it is the unbelief of the people that prompted His initial statement on the subject (cf. vs. 41-43). In response to Jesus' teaching, John tells us in verse 66 that “many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.” It is here that we note the real effect of Jesus' teaching: people turned away from Him. People who followed Him to the other side of the Sea of Chinnereth turned and left Him because His teaching did not appeal to them. Matthew Henry offers the following comment on the apostasy of these followers:

The corrupt and wicked heart of man often makes that an occasion of offence which is indeed matter of the greatest comfort. Christ foresaw that they would thus take offence at what he said, and yet he said it. That which is the undoubted word and truth of Christ must be faithfully delivered, whoever may be offended at it. Men's humours must be captivated to God's word, and not God's word accommodated to men's humours.¹⁰

Yet still, knowing full well the hearts of the people and the nature of their response, Jesus proceeded to make His teaching clear. He was unwilling to alter, amend, change, edit, reshape, rewrite, revise, or otherwise pervert the truth of the Word of God in order to make it more palpable to sinful men.

Jesus came to earth to bring a gospel of peace between God and man, but He did not come to bring peace on earth (cf. Matt. 10:43). His very message was one of division; division of wheat from tares, wheat from chaff, sheep from goats, light from dark, and the children of God from the children of the devil. The great reformer Martin Luther perhaps said it best in 1528:

Should one imagine he is able to do anything good of his own strength, be does no less than make Christ the Lord a liar; he would rudely and defiantly come to the Father and in all rashness ascend to heaven. Therefore, where the pure and plain Word of God goes, it breaks into pieces everything that is exalted of man, it makes valleys of all their mountains, and all their hills it makes low, as the prophet Isaiah (40, 4) says. Every heart that hears this Word must lose faith in itself, else it will not be able to come to Christ. God's works do nothing but destroy and make alive, condemn and minister salvation... Hence, a person who is thus smitten in his heart, by God, to confess that he is one who, on account of his sins, must be condemned, is like the righteous man whom with the first words of this Gospel God wounds, and because of that wound fixes upon him the band or cord of his divine grace, by which he draws him, so that he must seek help and counsel for his soul. Before he could not obtain any help or counsel from God, nor did he ever desire it; but now he finds the first comfort and promise of God...¹¹

In John 6 we see Jesus preaching the gospel of truth at the expense of His fame. But Jesus knew that the power of the Word of God far surpasses that of human wisdom. Jesus knew that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes... (cf. Rom. 1:16)” But the power of the gospel is the power of the truth of the Word of God and it is that truth which we are called to preach to the nations. “And this we will do, if God permits (Heb. 6:3).”

Amen.


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Works Cited
Adam Clarke, "Clarke's Commentary - John 6," Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible, 1810/1825, [http://www.godrules.net/library/clarke/clarkejoh6.htm] (26 November 2002).

Jacques More, “Out of Context: John 6:65, John 15:16, Acts 18:27, Acts 13:48,” [http://www.jarom.net/outofcontext.htm] (25 November 2002).

James Strong, Strong's Greek Bible Dictionary, 1890 [http://www.bju.edu/bible/g/1650.html#1670], [http://www.bju.edu/bible/g/100.html#138] (25 November 2002).

John Wesley, "Commentary on John 6," John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, 1765 [http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/wen/view.cgi?book=joh&chapter=006] (26 November 2002).

Luther, Martin, and John Nicholas Lenker, ed. The Sermons of Martin Luther (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1992), 397-398.

Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Exhaustive Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1721 [http://www.ccel.org/h/henry/mhc2/MHC43006.HTM] Christ's Discourse with His Disciples; The Effect of Christ's Discourse; The Character of Judas, (25 November 2002).

Samuel Fisk, Calvinistic Paths Retraced (Murfreesboro, TN: Biblical Evangelism Press, 1985), 52.

Samuel J. Stone, “The Church's One Foundation,” Lyra Fidelium; Twelve Hymns of the Twelve Articles of the Apostle’s Creed (London: Messrs. Parker and Co., 1866).

Will L. Thompson, “Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling,” Sparkling Gems, Nos. 1 and 2 (Chicago, Illinois: Will L. Thompson & Company, 1880).

Endnotes
1. All Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible^®, Copyright © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

2. Samuel Fisk, Calvinistic Paths Retraced (Murfreesboro, TN: Biblical Evangelism Press, 1985), 52.

3. John Wesley, "Commentary on John 6," John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, 1765 [http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/wen/view.cgi?book=joh&chapter=006] (26 November 2002).

4. Adam Clarke, "Clarke's Commentary - John 6," Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible, 1810/1825, [http://www.godrules.net/library/clarke/clarkejoh6.htm] (26 November 2002).

5. Will L. Thompson, “Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling,” Sparkling Gems, Nos. 1 and 2 (Chicago, Illinois: Will L. Thompson & Company, 1880).

6. Jacques More, “Out of Context: John 6:65, John 15:16, Acts 18:27, Acts 13:48,” emphasis and grammar in original [http://www.jarom.net/outofcontext.htm] (25 November 2002).

7. James Strong, Strong's Greek Bible Dictionary, 1890 [http://www.bju.edu/bible/g/1650.html#1670] (25 November 2002).

8. Strong, Strong's Greek Bible Dictionary, [http://www.bju.edu/bible/g/100.html#138]

9. Samuel J. Stone, “The Church's One Foundation,” Lyra Fidelium; Twelve Hymns of the Twelve Articles of the Apostle’s Creed (London: Messrs. Parker and Co., 1866).

10. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Exhaustive Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1721 [http://www.ccel.org/h/henry/mhc2/MHC43006.HTM] Christ's Discourse with His Disciples; The Effect of Christ's Discourse; The Character of Judas, (25 November 2002).

11. Luther, Martin, and John Nicholas Lenker, ed. The Sermons of Martin Luther (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1992), 397-398.

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