This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
Teaching Notes:
The Perfect Savior
John 6:37-45
Is.9:6-7 teaches us that God invaded human history in the Person of Jesus Christ. Well, this morning we want to ask the question, “Why did He come?” Whenever someone gets up and goes somewhere, they have a reason. When I drive somewhere, I have a purpose. You had a reason why you came here this morning. Well, why did Jesus come from heaven?
There are many correct answers we could give to that question: to seek and save that which was lost; to serve and give His life a ransom for many; that we might have life and that more abundantly; to call sinners to repentance. But this text teaches that Jesus came to do the will of Him who sent Him. What was that will? Jesus answers that in vs.39. “That He would lose nothing of all that He has given Him, but raise it up on the last day.”
Now that’s an amazing statement! Jesus claims that He will lose None of those the Father gave Him! That’s like a prize fighter claiming he will never lose a fight, or a baseball pitcher saying that no one will ever reach base. We call that a perfect game (27 up, 27 down). That’s only happened 20 times in the history of major league baseball! Well, Jesus is a Perfect Savior! Every single person the Father gave Him will reach heaven safely! Jesus won’t lose any, but raise all on the last day!
This morning I want to show you from John 6 three things God does in the perfect salvation He has accomplished:
- The Father gives a people to The Son (unconditional election)
- The Father draws these people to The Son (irresistible calling)
- The Son Raises All Of These People On The Last Day (preservation).
1. The Father Gives A People To The Son: Jn.6:37-39.
Notice 6:37,39. In vs. 37 Jesus says, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me.” Vs.39 says, “of all that He has given Me, I lose nothing.” There was a specific, definite group of people given by the Father to the Son. They would be a Bride for the Son. In many countries marriages are arranged from the time the children are infants. Notice that these people don’t give themselves to Jesus. The Father gives them to Jesus. It is not an act of their will – it is an act of the Father’s will.
Is Every Person Given To the Son? No. How do I know? Because every one that the Father gave to the Son, receives eternal life (vs.40). Since we know that not all people will receive eternal salvation, all people were not given to Jesus. Jesus teaches that there will some raised to a resurrection of life, others to a resurrection of judgment (Jn.5:28-29). One portion of the human race will end up in heaven, another portion will end up in hell. Those that go to heaven are the ones given to the Son.
When were these people given to the Son? Vs.39 puts it in the past tense “has given.” But when in the past were they given to the Son.
Eph.1:4 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world”
2 Thess.2:13 “God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation”
2Tim.1:9 “who saved us and called us…according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.”
In What Sense Does the Father Give Them to the Son?
They are His Reward. Is.53:10-12. Notice that those verses are framed in the form of a conditional covenant – If…then. If Jesus would render Himself as a guilt offering, then God would do certain things for Him. He would see His offspring. Remember, that one of the names in Is.9:6 for Jesus is “Everlasting Father.” He has an offspring. They are “all that He has given Me.” They are called by a different word in vs.11 & 12 – “many.” These are the ones He will justify, and bear their sin.
Mt.20:28 “I did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life a ransom for many.
Mt.26:28 Jesus said “this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”
Heb.9:28 “so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many.”
These “many” are the Reward of His obedience and sufferings. They are the Joy set before Him enabling Him to endure the cross, despising the shame.
They Are His Responsibility: He came as their representative. Jesus came as a public person, not an individual person. Just as President Obama represents the people of the United States when he makes decisions, so Jesus represents “the many.” From the divine perspective there have only been 2 public persons, 2 Representative Heads since the creation of the world: Adam and Christ. Jesus came into the world, not for Himself, but for His people. He came on a mission to become responsible for them, save them, and bring them to glory. He became our Surety (one who becomes legally responsible for the debts of another). God entrusted these people to the Son to save. Jesus becomes responsible to pay their debts, watch over them, take care of them, and bring them safely home to heaven.
2. The Father Draws These People to The Son: Jn.6:44.
Although the Father gave them to His Son in eternity, He still must draw them to His Son in time.
Why must the Father draw us? Because we will never come to Christ unless He does! Our own wicked hearts are so depraved that we don’t have the ability or inclination to come! The Bible teaches that the natural man is a slave to sin (Rom.6:20), and is dead in sins (Eph.2:1). He is spiritually blind (2 Cor.4:4) and deaf (Jn.8:47). As such He does not seek God (Rom.3:11).
C.S. Lewis: “Agnostics talk cheerfully of man seeking God. They might as well talk about the mouse’s search for a cat!”
We never read of the sheep seeking the shepherd. No, the shepherd must seek them out, put them on his shoulder, and bring them home.
But What About Free Will? The term “free will” is not found in your Bible, except for “free will offerings” in the OT. Sinners have a free will in only 1 sense: they are free to choose according to their nature. A mother is free to take the knife and plunge it into her child, but she doesn’t have the nature. The cow is free to eat raw meat or grass, but its nature ensures it will never eat the raw meat. Even God Himself is free only to choose according to His nature. He cannot lie or sin. So a sinner is free to choose any number of sins. He’s just not free to choose contrary to his nature. That’s why a sinner, until he is regenerated, will never come to Christ.
Spurgeon once quipped, “Free will has carried many souls to hell, but never a soul to heaven yet. It will be hell to a man to have his own voluntary choice confirmed and made unchangeable. O sirs, I dread above all things that throughout eternity you will be left to your own free wills.”
How have Christians historically understood this drawing? There are 2 schools of thought on this.
The Arminian View: this drawing is nothing more than God wooing, beckoning, and attracting. They say God does this for everyone (Jn.12:32). However, this drawing is not decisive and irresistible. Most men resist it and end up in hell. In order for this drawing to prove effective, the sinner must exercise his “free will” to cooperate with it. In order to broaden the Extent of this drawing to include all men, they must diminish its Power. It doesn’t have the power to actually save all men.
The Reformed View: this drawing is irresistible and effectual. It always results in the sinner coming to Christ and being saved. How do they understand Jn.12:32 “If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men to Myself”? This is not all men without exception; it is all men without distinction. God will draw some from every tribe, tongue, people and nation. The Greek says, “I will draw all to Myself.” All of whom? The same group He has been speaking of throughout the gospel of John – all of the sheep (10:26-27); all of the children of God (11:52); all of those who are “of God” (Jn.8:47); all those who are given to Jesus (6:37).
Which view has more Biblical evidence? Jn.6:44. Those who are drawn are raised up on the last day. The expression “raised up on the last day” refers to eternal salvation (vs.40). According to this verse, if a person is drawn, he is saved. This drawing is irresistible, effective.
What does the Greek word for “draw” mean in the rest of the NT? Jn.18:10 – Peter draws a sword from its scabbard. Jn.21:6,11 – Peter drew the net full of fish to land. Acts 16:19 – slave girl’s masters seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities. Acts 21:30 – the Jews dragged Paul out of the temple. James 2:6 – the rich drag you into court. The word is often translated “haul, drag, or draw.” That’s every NT usage of this Greek word. Yes, there is resistance in every case, but not a single case where the resistance was successful. Always the drawing power is triumphant. The sword gets out of the scabbard, the fish get to shore, Paul & Silas are dragged before the magistrates, Paul is dragged out of the temple, the poor are dragged into court.
Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of NT Words defines it as: “to compel by irresistible superiority.”
J.I. Packer: “Grace proves irresistible because it destroys the disposition to resist.”
Puritan John Flavel: “to powerfully and effectually incline the will to come to Christ.”
Westminister Confession of Faith: “All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power, determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace. This effectual call is of God’s free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man, who is altogether passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it.”
How Does God Draw Sinners? 6:45 – God teaches them. Sinners hear and learn from the Father – NOT the preacher or a friend. God Himself supernaturally opens up their hearts and minds to see their lostness and the grace of the gospel. In other words, God doesn’t force sinners from without, but makes them willing from within. God doesn’t force anyone to be saved against their will. He just changes their will. In order to change their will, He must change their heart and their nature. That’s what this drawing is. We sometimes call it Regeneration or Irresistible Grace. Ezek.36:25-27 tells us that in this work, God takes out our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. God doesn’t take anyone to heaven by the hair of their head kicking and screaming. No one is forced into heaven with a gun to their head. Neither does he force anyone to go to hell that wants to be saved.
What Does the Sinner Do When God Draws Him? He comes! He can’t come unless God draws him, but if God draws him he will come. The Father gives the sinner to Jesus. Then God draws the sinner. Then the sinner comes to Jesus.
What does it mean to come to Jesus (vs.35,37,44,45,64)? It is explained in 6:35. Coming is parallel to believing, just as not hungering is parallel to not thirsting. So, coming to Jesus is to savingly believe in Jesus.
3. The Son Raises All Of These People On The Last Day: Jn.6:37,39,40. Jesus will never cast him out, loses nothing, but raises all of them up on the last day. But what if he falls into sin, or makes a mess of his life, or fails Jesus? Jesus will never cast him out! But can’t he be lost to the world, or to the devil? No. He will lose nothing! Now, I’m not talking about a person who says they believe in Jesus but never born again. That’s the doctrine of Once Professed Saved, Always Saved. I’m talking about a person who does believe in Jesus but follows him imperfectly. That’s the doctrine of Once Saved, Always Being Saved! We hear a lot about the Preservation of the Saints (eternal security), but it must never be divorced from its companion doctrine, the Perseverance of the Saints. They are like the hand in the glove. How do you know if a sinner is being preserved by God? He perseveres. If there is no perseverance, there is no preservation. But the order is God preserves, therefore we persevere. Jeremiah 32:40 says this beautifully, “I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.”
Can a true believer ever be lost? Only if Jesus can fail in His mission! Only if God can give someone to the Son, and draw that person to the Son, and then the Son fail to keep him and raise him on the last day. It is inconceivable!
Canons of the Synod of Dort: “Thus it is not in consequence of their own merits or strength, but of God’s free mercy, that they neither totally fall from faith and grace nor continue and perish finally in their backslidings; which, with respect to themselves is not only possible, but would undoubtedly happen; but with respect to God, it is utterly impossible, since His counsel cannot be changed nor His promise fail; neither can the call according to His purpose be revoked, nor the merit, intercession, and preservation of Christ be rendered ineffectual, nor the sealing of the Holy Spirit be frustrated or obliterated.”
In this passage in John, we have seen 3 of the wonderful Doctrines of Grace: Unconditional Election, Irresistible Calling, and Preservation of the Saints. At this Christmas season, what should these truths produce in us?
- Humility: I did not initiate my salvation or even cooperate with God in it. God had to lay hold of me and incline my will and change my heart and give me life and sight, else I would never have come to Christ. My salvation is all of Him and none of me. If this truth doesn’t humble me nothing will!
- Gratitude: My faith, was a gift. Oh how thankful we should be for God’s choosing, drawing, and preserving of us! 2Thess.2:13.
- Assurance: If the Father drew me to Christ, He will keep me and raise me! If it wasn’t my choice that got me into a state of salvation, then I don’t see how it can be my will that gets me out. Rom.8:30 is the great ground of our assurance of ultimate triumph. Those whom He called He justified and glorified! Phil.1:6.
- Hope: These precious doctrines of God’s sovereign grace give me hope for the worst and most hardened sinners. Nothing is too difficult for God. If our conversion were dependant on our feeble and fickle wills, I would have no hope at all. But our God is able to even raise the dead!
- Worship: Why did God devise this plan of salvation? Because all glory will go to Him, and God is jealous for His own glory. In fact that is the ultimate reason God does everything – to the praise of His glory (Eph.1:6,12,14). “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory” (Ps.115:1).
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