Drawn By the Father

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.  And I will raise him up on the last day.”  John 6:44

Two key truths of our salvation are taught in this passage.  This first is the moral inability of a sinner to come to Christ in his own power.  The second is that the only way for any sinner to come to Christ is by the effective drawing of the Father. 

We see the first point in the phrase, “No one can come to me.”  The word “can” is a word of ability.  The word “may” is a word of permission.  We may remember our childhood teachers telling us that we should ask, “May I use the restroom?” and not, “Can I use the restroom?”  To say that no one can come to Christ means that no one is able to come to Christ.  All people are certainly permitted to come to Christ, but what Jesus is saying here is that they are devoid of the power to come to Christ.  They are morally and spiritually incapable of coming to Christ in their own power.  They are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1). 

All Christians readily affirm that sinners cannot save themselves.  Yet many Christians are uncomfortable affirming the equally biblical truth that sinners cannot cooperate in their salvation.  They are unable to do anything to come to Christ in their own power.  They are entirely dependent on Christ.  They are like crippled Mephibosheth who must be carried before King David (See 2 Samuel 9). 

Total depravity means total inability.  We are not only ruined in the totality of our being (intellect, emotions, and will), but we are also rendered unable to act in any way that is spiritually pleasing to God.  Our righteous deeds are filthy rags in his sight because they are tainted by the unrighteous motivations of our sinful hearts (Isaiah 64:6). 

So what must happen in order for us to obtain salvation in Christ?  We must be drawn by the Father.  The Father who sent Jesus to be our Savior must bring us to himself.  We must underline that the Father’s drawing in this passage is an effective drawing.  We can see this by the repetition of the pronoun “him” in both sentences.  The Father draws “him” to Christ and raises “him” up on the last day.  So all who are drawn to Christ are raised up on the last day.

 Many people have a false idea that the Father draws all people to Christ, and then they choose whether they will have him or not.  That is not what is being taught in this verse.  This is saying that the Father draws these sinners to Christ, and they are raised to spiritual life.  It is an effectual calling. 

The word for "draw" means "to drag."  It is used in the Greek New Testament for dragging in a net of fish.  The fish that are caught in the net are effectively dragged aboard the ship.  In the same way, when God catches his elect with the gospel of Jesus, he effectively drags them aboard the ship of salvation. 

The good news is that it is impossible for God to fail in bringing salvation to his people.  All those who are drawn by the Father will be raised up by the Son.  What a glorious gospel!  Salvation is not accomplished by the cooperation of the sinner with God but by the cooperation of the Father with the Son.  Jesus will not fail to save any of those people who have been given to him by his Father (John 6:37).  He will never cast them out.  He will raise them on the last day. 

The Seed Promise

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and your shall bruise his heel.” 

Genesis 3:15

These words were spoken by God to the serpent shortly after Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit.  God speaks of both judgment and salvation.  On the one hand, God pronounces judgment on the serpent, but, on the other hand, he announces salvation to the human race.  Christian theologians have recognized from the beginning of the Church that this is the first promise of the gospel in the Bible.  In Latin they called it the Protoevangelium (first gospel).  It is the seed promise that contains all the other gospel promises in the Old Testament.  Here God promises an offspring (older versions translated this as ‘seed’) who shall bruise the head of the serpent.  Although Genesis never identifies the serpent as Satan, context makes it clear that he is the Evil One who first seduced Eve.  And if we doubt that the serpent is Satan, John later tells us in Revelation 12:9 that he is indeed “that ancient serpent.”  Unfortunately, many Christians simply skip over this seed promise not realizing that it is the promise that God seeks to clarify throughout his redemptive story beginning in Genesis and climaxing in Revelation.  In the verse God teaches us that there will be a continual conflict between the offspring of the woman and the offspring of the serpent.  The Hebrew word ‘offspring’ always appears in singular grammatical form (never ‘offsprings’ when the plural is intended), and the context determines whether the meaning is collective (offsprings) or individual (offspring).  So the struggle between the woman’s offspring and the serpent’s offspring may simply mean that there will be a struggle between two races: the offspring of the woman (the children of God) and the offspring of the serpent (the children of the devil).  The verse divides humanity into two spiritual classifications and promises that these two groups will engage in spiritual war.  This fits well with the context because the next chapter reveals an example of this spiritual struggle.  Cain, the offspring of the serpent, kills Abel, the offspring of the woman.  God then appoints Seth as a replacement for Abel.  Keep in mind that this is a spiritual conflict.  From a biological point of view both Cain and Abel were the offspring of the woman.  But the point is that by seducing the woman the serpent has secured an offspring from the race of men.  Humanity is now fallen and in rebellion against God.  And yet the only hope for humanity is for a righteous offspring to bruise Satan’s head as Adam should have done in the first place.  Now even though there is a collective idea in the battle between the two offsprings, we can see that there is an individual referent in the singular offspring who actually bruises the serpent’s head.  We can see this on account of the use of the personal pronoun ‘he.’  In Hebrew there are singular and plural pronoun forms; so this is the way that Moses shows us that he intends a singular offspring.  And this means that Genesis 3:15 envisions a singular offspring who shall come to bruise the head of the serpent.  And how shall he do this?  He shall do this by bruising his own heal.  In other words, he shall wound the serpent by being wounded.  Crushing the head of Satan will require his own suffering.  So God is promising hope of deliverance.  On the one hand, God pronounces judgment on the serpent who is the incarnation of Satan, but, on the other hand, God promises salvation for the offspring of the woman in a singular offspring who shall defeat the devil.  We should think about this verse during the Christmas season because it means that the ultimate triumph over the devil comes through a human being, the offspring of the woman.  This should be understood in light of the Incarnation.  Adam failed in the Garden.  He failed to crush the serpent’s head.  He was silent and sinned.  But the last Adam, Jesus Christ, must prevail where the first Adam failed.  He must do what Adam should have done.  And when he does, there will be redemption.  This, of course, is why Genesis (and a great deal of the Bible) is concerned with genealogies (tracing offspring from one generation to another).  In chapter 5 we have the genealogy from Seth (the righteous offspring as Abel’s replacement) to Noah.  In chapters 10 and 11 we can follow Noah’s genealogy through Shem to Terah.  And Terah fathered Abram.  So by the time we come to the call of Abram in Genesis 12 we should be thinking in light of God’s original seed promise.  For God shall also make a promise about Abraham’s offspring that further clarifies what the offspring of the woman shall accomplish.  In Abraham’s offspring all nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3; 22:18; Galatians 3:8, 11).    

The Exclusivity of Jesus

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.’”  John 14:6

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  Acts 4:12

Nothing is more repugnant to the offspring of postmodernism than the proclamation of an exclusive gospel.  The children of tolerance desire truth to be inclusive.  “Let us not divide humanity into sinners and saints.  Let us include and affirm everyone equally,” says their creed.  Yet they never seem to consider the stubborn fact that truth is necessarily exclusive.  Whenever we say that something is true, we also exclude an indefinite number of other propositions that must be false.  For example, when I say that two plus two equals four, I also mean that it is not five or six or a whole list of other numbers that are not four.  Truth claims always exclude counterclaims; for that is the essence of a truth claim.  This even applies to the ridiculous claim that truth is inclusive; for it excludes the notion that truth is exclusive.  Therefore, we can see that the denial of exclusive truth claims necessarily assumes agnosticism about truth itself.  No one knows the truth; so we dare not assert it with confidence.  This explains why people now speak of “epistemic humility” (translation: humility about what you claim to know).  The postmodern world has made us skeptical about the possibility of knowing anything.  And we are no better for it because if this were so, then we could not know that we cannot know anything.  Thus we see that postmodernism has contained within it the seeds of its own destruction.  Enter the Lord Jesus Christ who claims to be the truth.  The proleptically postmodern sensibilities of Pilate may cause him to query, “What is truth?”  Regardless, Jesus proclaims to be the way, the truth, and the life.  We should observe that Jesus did not claim to be a truth or a way or a life.  He claimed to be the truth, the way, and the life.  He intended to communicate that he was the exclusive truth, way, and life.  This means that the other ways are false ways.  With these words our Lord excludes all other philosophies and religions as false.  The language of the apostles is a lucid negation: “There is no other name under heaven.”  His name is the only name.  Salvation from sin and death are found in him alone.  Despite the clarity of Jesus and his apostles on this matter, ivory tower theologues have sought to adjust teaching in order to accommodate postmodern sensibilities.  They have argued for a universalism that teaches that all people will eventually be saved.  “Love wins,” they say.  Obviously, this is appealing because it conveniently discards the just wrath of God and the unspeakable thought of an eternal hell.  Many American already believe that all people go to heaven.  After all, “God is a loving God who would never send a good person to hell.”  The Christian scratches his head and wonders where he might find this hypothetical good person.  Another corruption of the simple truth of Scripture on this matter is inclusivism.  This is sneakier than universalism as it claims that Jesus will save some good people out of other religions and philosophies without their knowing it.  Some inclusivists refer to “anonymous Christians.”  So in their minds they are able to maintain that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  A person may benefit from this truth yet not know it.  Now this is a distortion of the biblical gospel that calls for repentance and faith.  But they overlook the obvious and stubborn fact that the Bible tells us that Jesus must be acknowledged.  There are no “anonymous Christians.”  Those who are Christians know that they are Christians.  They know Jesus by faith.  No Muslim is saved by being a follower of Muhammad.  No Jew is saved by obeying the works of Moses.  No Buddhist is saved by applying the principles of Buddha.  There is no other name.  The name is the means by which Jesus is known.  A bold person will ask, “Does this mean that those who have never heard the good news of Jesus are perishing in their sins?”  Absolutely.  Let me ask you, “Why would we send missionaries if they were going to heaven for not knowing?  If not knowing means heaven, then why would we give them the possibility of knowing and rejecting and then reversing their blessed condition?”  The first three chapters of Romans teach us that God’s creation and their conscience reveal enough truth to condemn them.  General revelation is to damn them, not enough to save them.  We have the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.  The gospel alone is the hope of those who have never heard.  So let us take them the gospel!  Let us pray for their salvation!  Let us support missionaries!  If we are called, let us go to the place where they have never heard and lay down our lives for the gospel!  To be sure, this is not an easy doctrine, but it is the truth; and if it is the truth, we should respond to it accordingly.  We may not like the truth, but the truth is a stubborn thing.  The exclusivity of Jesus is a stubborn reality and a glorious one.  Jesus Christ alone suffered and died on the cross for the sins of the world.  He alone rose again and ascended to the right hand of his Father in heaven.  He alone rules the universe as the Lord of heaven and earth.  He alone shall return to judge the living and the dead.   This truth may be denied, but it cannot be changed.  So who dare deny it?  It is truth.  Let us keep this great truth in mind today.  Your co-workers, classmates, and neighbors cannot find their way to God in any other way but Jesus.  They cannot be good enough for God.  They cannot be ignorant enough to excuse their sin.  Their only hope is the name of Jesus.  You know his name.  Shall you be silent?  Dare you be silent?  “There is no other name under heaven.”  “There is salvation in no one else.”     

The Great Exchange

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  2 Corinthians 5:21

Martin Luther called this truth “the great exchange.”  It is the instantaneous transaction that takes place when we first believe in Jesus.  God transfers our sin to Jesus and his righteousness to us.  Our sin and death are exchanged for Christ’s righteousness and life!  This means that God the Father made his Son to be sin for us even though he was “without sin” (Hebrews 4:14).  The Father treated his Son as if he was a sinner.  He did this because he had imputed our sin and guilt to him.  God essentially made his Son a sin offering as in the prophet Isaiah, “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).  When the Father punished his beloved Son on the cross, he condemned him for our sin, not his own.  On the cross Jesus was bearing all our sin.  This is why he cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)  Ponder the sinless Son of God on the cross.  See him as he is made the idolater, the blasphemer, the liar, the thief, the prostitute, the adulterer, the whore, the murderer!  He is innocent yet by imputation he becomes guilty.  He is judged as if he committed our crimes; for he dies for our treason against our God and King.  We may ask, “Why did God the Father do this to his Son?”  Our text tells us the answer: “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  Behold the entire gospel in a single verse!  Christ is made our sin; we are made his righteousness.  Christ is condemned; we are justified.  “Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned he stood, sealed my pardon with his blood: Hallelujah!  What a Savior!”  Our justification before God consists not only in the forgiveness of our sins but in the imputation of the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.  His perfect obedience is imputed to us.  “For as by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).  He perfectly fulfilled the law for us.  “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.  By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:2).  When he obeyed, he fulfilled the law’s precept; when he died he fulfilled the law’s penalty.  His righteousness includes his whole life of obedience which culminated in his death on the cross.  He became “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).  This is how our God has made his beloved Son to be our righteousness.  The best biblical illustration of this truth is the third chapter of Zechariah’s prophecy where we find Joshua the high priest standing before the Lord in filthy garments.  There we see this great exchange in action.  On the one hand, God removes Joshua’s filthy garments; and, on the other hand, he clothes him with clean garments.  This reveals the double blessing of our justification in Christ.  God exchanges the filthy garments of our sin for the clean garments of the righteousness of Jesus.  What a glorious exchange!  This is cause for great rejoicing!  “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10).  Today let us sing of this spiritual transaction that has taken place in our lives!  “Jesus, thy blood and righteousness my beauty are, my glorious dress; ‘midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed, with joy shall I lift up my head.”  Christian, be assured today that all your sins are forgiven through the blood of Jesus and all his righteousness has been imputed to you!  “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).