“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”- John 6:37
John chapter 6 is full of so much “good stuff” for struggling Christians. In the midst of declaring Himself the bread of life, Jesus says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” There is a mountain of wonderful comforting theology packed into this single verse.
Think with me a moment as to what Jesus says, “All that the Father gives me…” not most but all! Jesus says that before the foundations of the world the Father determined “all” of those who would be His and at the same time he determined that not one of them would be lost. This being true then He gives them to Christ by ordaining our deliverance through the work of Christ. . (Eph. 1:4-5- “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ…” For those before Christ, in time and space, their salvation was based on the work to be completed in Christ and those of us who are on this side of Jesus death and resurrection our salvation is based in the completed work of Christ. God, the Father, took the initiative and He gave His children to Christ…past, present and future…to ensure our salvation through His sacrifice, resurrection and ascension.
Another piece of good news is that “all” the Father gives to Christ “will come” to Christ. We cannot reject His grace if we are His…and we won’t hence the force of the word “will come”. When the Father calls us too respond we will come to Christ. His grace and his call is irresistible.
But there is even more good news for those struggling today, “…whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” This tells us quite plainly that once God has changed our heart that we come willingly and that the gift to us and the promise of Jesus is that He will not cast us out…EVER. This all by itself answers the question that often gets stuck in our mind about whether we are saved or not because of on-going sin or affliction in our life (which by the way, if you are asking that question, the question alone tells you that you are a Christian because if you weren’t a believer you wouldn’t bother to ask. Does this sound too simplistic…well that is grace!).
Jesus never breaks a promise because the Godhead never breaks a promise …it is not in God’s nature to ever break a promise so given the fact that He never breaks a promise…we can be assured that we are always His. The Greek here places this last phrase in an emphatic mode when it literally reads, “…the one coming to me I will not- not- cast out.” The Greek often piles up negatives for literary force…so it could be translated in our vernacular, “I will most certainly never, ever cast out the one coming to me.” Jesus’ message cannot be any clearer…We are always His…whether you feel it or not. Your feelings on this subject our irrelevant… for the truth from Jesus own words is that He will never ever cast us out. John Bunyan (from Pilgrim’s Progress fame) says this about the text “This promise was provided to answer all objections and confusions, and it does answer them.” (John Bunyan- Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ)
Rest in this truth today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
“Iesus est Via et Veritas et Vita”-John 14:6
