Living for Eternity
Who are the True Believers?
John 6:35-71
Turn to John 4. This is not necessarily a heart-to-heart this morning. But definitely more of a teaching session, a head-to-head. Maybe not even understand better, but to know what the Bible teaches. Two terms that sometimes get tossed around in Bible teaching are systematic theology and biblical theology. Systematic theology is taking a theme of the Bible and searching the Scriptures to discover what the Bible says about it. We might do this with a topic of say forgiveness, and discover what the entire Bible says about it to be able to come up with some biblical truths about forgiveness. Whereas biblical theology is a more focused understanding of a topic from one passage or one book. We might do a study of forgiveness in say 1 John. Both types of studies are good and needed, but biblical theology is a little more of a lost art.
John 6 is a popular chapter as it is often used by Calvinists to teach of God’s election and sovereignty in the area of salvation, and I would agree with this. What I do find, however, is that many times teachers and preachers will not just teach from the text, but will have us looking at many passages to support their argument. Yet what I would like to do this morning is to let the text of John 6 speak for itself, in other words, biblical theology. I tend not to use the words Calvinism or Arminianism a lot, though I would definitely lean toward Calvinism. Yet I also understand that the labels can bring confusion. One, they are not used in the Bible. How could they, for John Calvin and Jacob Arminius lived in the fifteen hundreds? Two, many of you do not know anything about them, though we may do, Lord willing, a Sunday night series sometime on their teaching, But three, some of you may have grown up in a very vibrant church that was very Arminian, while others of you have a negative view of Calvinism, as you grew up in a very dead Calvinist church. I happen to grow up as a young Dad under two pastors that were both very strong in their teaching of the sovereignty of God, certainly more Calvinist, and at the same time, it was a great thriving ministry. What I likely refer to far more than Calvinism is to the sovereign work of God. That God is Mover and Shaker in salvation, in all things. That God uses both believers and unbelievers, he uses Satan, he uses all His creation to accomplish all His purposes.
Now to John 6. What is happening as we go deeper into John’s Gospel is that there is more division developing in response to the teaching of Jesus. Look at:
“From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who bore witness, ‘He told me all the things that I have done.’ And many more believed because of His word.”
John 4:39, 41 (LSB)
Now this group seems to be true believers. For those of you taking notes, I will give you this list in a moment. Then remember that Jesus healed the man at the pool yet:
“And for this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”
John 5:16, 18 (LSB)
We might call these the clear opposers. Then Jesus feeds the 5,000.
“Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had done, they were saying, ‘This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ So Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. Jesus answered them and said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.’”
John 6:14-15; 26 (LSB)
We might call these the Jesus profiters or the fair-weather crowd. Then Jesus teaches that he is the bread of life.
“Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’”
John 6:41-42 (LSB)
These might be the doubters. I suppose we could also add to this list those who are not even mentioned. In other words, those who do not take any notice of Christ. Maybe those who feel they are above all this, or just so engulfed in their own lives, that Jesus had no influence good or bad on them. The uninterested. So, we have five groups of people, five responses to Christ very much represented today.
- The Uninterested
Last week we addressed the question, why are people not following Christ? The answer to this question best fits this group, they don’t want to because they are uninterested. I am sure you know of many in your lives that could be described as uninterested. And these folks likely could make up the full gamut of those who may be struggling with sin or those who have good marriages, some wealthy, some on their death-bed, some kind, some hateful. But they just have no interest in Christ or spiritual things.
- The Doubters
The doubters in our culture I would suggest are not necessarily those who are outside of Christianity, for our culture today knows very little about the Bible and Christ. But doubters today are likely those who either sit in church or at one time were connected with the church. And some have so questioned the faith that they have chosen to leave the church. Or they continue to sit in church week after week and yet inside they truly do not believe.
- The Opposers
We must understand that in our struggles today, those who oppose the church of Jesus Christ, do so, not only because they might disagree or are uninterested. As people do not reject Christ because they do not believe the facts of Christ, or believe that Christ cannot be the only way. No, there is a deep spiritual opposition in the heart of man against Christ that must be overcome. As we said last week, people do not want Christ, as this is a deep sinful depraved part of our being. It is not just that people must understand what Jesus did. No, they must get beyond their sinful unwillingness to believe. And when some people take this very seriously, it is not that they become indifferent toward Christianity; no, they defiantly oppose Christianity, and we see that today.
- The Fair-Weather Followers
These make up a large percentage of the visual church, yet may not be truly saved. Many of these may be part of the prosperity crowd, in other words, they are around when things are going right. They are looking for the free Big Mac coupons.
- The True Believers
These are those who have received Christ. They have realized their own sin and asked the Lord for forgiveness, and have chosen to serve Christ as their Saviour and Lord. These are those whom the Lord has redeemed, and these are those who love Christ’s church and His people. So, the Gospel of John speaks of various reactions to Jesus, and in John 6, Jesus will make clear to us who are the true believers. Look with me at verse 35:
“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.’”
John 6:35 (LSB)
So, if we wish to be clear from the get-go in what Jesus is saying, it is this:
Truth #1 – The true believer is one who truly believes.
And we say truly believes because we cannot just leave the word belief out there without any kind of explanation, for James said that even the demons believe. James also spoke about a dead faith. James 2:17, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself.” Now we do not have time to get into James’ theology, but we do need to understand here that when we say belief, we mean more than just words without change, without conviction, without transformation. True belief must be from the very heart of the believer. Jesus used the word believe many times. In John 12, He said that some believed but they fell away. But true belief is always associated with the transforming work of God in a life. As John H. Armstrong wrote, that belief is a living faith. It is a vital union with Christ, where Christ is daily transforming the believer. And that is part the simple gospel, that a person must come to Christ, and that by true belief in Christ he is united with Christ, and therefore, his life begins to change into the likeness of Christ.
“But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.”
John 6:36 (LSB)
Because many even today will be around Christ, many will associate with Christ, many will witness the work of Christ, and many will know much about Him, yet will still not truly believe. Truth #1 – The true believer is one who truly believes.
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out.”
John 6:37 (LSB)
Truth #2 – The true believer is one given to Christ by the Father.
Truth #3 – The true believer will never be cast out by Christ.
This is confirmed in verses 38-39:
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. Now 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.”
John 6:38-39 (LSB)
Now I want to pause here for a moment, and think about the three truths we have stated which have come directly from John 6. Truth #1 – The true believer is one who truly believes. Truth #2 – The true believer is one given to Christ by the Father. Truth #3 – The true believer will never be cast out by Christ. Now on one hand (truth #1) we might conclude that being a Christian is a decision I need to make, that I need to receive Christ. I would suggest that John would agree with this, for He has already written in John 1:12, for as many as received Him were given the right to become children of God. Yet in truth #2 and #3, we see this sovereign work of God, that the true believer is given to Christ by God, and that this person’s salvation is secured by Christ, in other words, he will never be cast out. So, a question that might come to mind at this point is this, are all people given to Christ by the Father? Well, let’s stay with the text.
“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
John 6:40 (LSB)
This verse is almost a summary statement of what has already been said. He has already said (vs 36) that some had seen but not believed, yet the Father’s will is that they would see Christ and believe in Christ, and the result is that they would have eternal life. Now verse 41:
“Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Stop grumbling among yourselves.’”
John 6:41-43 (LSB)
I think we need to pause here and take this as a warning as often grumbling is a form of unbelief. It’s hard to find a strong, vibrant, excited Christian, who loves the Lord, and who grumbles. A great example is Derrick Hiscox. As much as Derrick loves the Lord, it would seem contradictory if he grumbled. As most strong Christians I have ever known over the years were able to rejoice even through struggles. Think about that.
“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 (LSB)
Now this verse does not answer everything for us, but it does give us some help with our question, are all people given to Christ by the Father? This verse starts to clarify those who come to Christ as did verse 37, all that the Father gave to Christ. Yet this verse defines another group as the what I call the “no one can come group” unless the Father draws them. I would say that we can at least make one truth conclusion that is easy:
Truth #4 – The true believer must be drawn by the Father.
No one can come to Me unless the Father draws him. Yet a more difficult conclusion to make here is to answer the question along with are all people given to Christ by the Father? Are all people drawn to Christ by the Father? Well let’s stay with the text. End of verse 45, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. End of verse 47, he who believes has eternal life. In verse 48, Jesus says, I am the bread of life; and will go on to explain about the manna that the Jews ate in the wilderness, yet they died. Yet in verse 50, He refers to Himself as the bread from heaven that gives eternal life. In verses 51-58, He goes on to teach that it must be Christ that is eaten to gain eternal life, and by this time many whom He was teaching were confused and it tells us they were grumbling (vs 61).
“The Spirit is the One who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”
John 6:62-63 (LSB)
In these two verses, Jesus gives a powerful sovereignty statement, that salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit and not the flesh, and then right away states that some of them did not believe. We can now add:
Truth #5 – The believer is given life by the Spirit and his flesh does not assist the believer in this.
“And He was saying, ‘For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.’”
John 6:65 (LSB)
Jesus goes on to say something very similar as he did in verse 44, that no one can come unless he is drawn by the Father. And here (vs 65) no one can come unless it is granted him by the Father. So, let’s add truth #6, similar to #4, and then we will summarize.
Truth #6 – The true believer’s coming must be granted by the Father.
So, we have Truth #1 – The true believer is one who truly believes. Truth #2 – The true believer is one given to Christ by the Father. Truth #3 – The true believer will never be cast out by Christ. Truth #4 – The true believer must be drawn by the Father. Truth #5 – The believer is given life by the Spirit and his flesh does not assist the believer in this. Truth #6 – The true believer’s coming must be granted by the Father. I would suggest that of the six truth statements we have discovered from this passage, there is one which stands a little more on its own, and the other five are in a group. The one which stands alone is Truth #1 – The true believer is one who believes. This makes the salvation message really simple to share with people doesn’t it? For if someone comes to us and asks, what must I do to be saved? We can confidently answer as Peter answered, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. While the remaining five truths speak to the sovereign work of God.
Now to go back to the question which was asked earlier (vs 37), are all people given to Christ by the Father? And (vs 44), are all people drawn by the Father? And we could ask from (vs 65), are all people granted to come to Christ from the Father? In other words, if all people are given to Christ, all people are drawn by the Father, and all people are granted to come by the Father, and yet all people do not come, in fact, most do not; then my conclusion must be that most people refuse to come though they are given to Christ, drawn by the Father, and granted to come. Or is this passage teaching that only some are given to Christ by the Father, only some are drawn by Christ, and only some are granted to come by the Father. The key passage here is verse 37:
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out.”
John 6:37 (LSB)
It would be hard to conclude here that everyone has been given to Christ by the Father. For if everyone was given to Christ, then the conclusion would be (vs 37) that everyone would come, for all the Father gives to Christ will come. Therefore, my conclusion would be that (vs 44) is teaching the same truth:
“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 (LSB)
As well as verse 65:
“And He was saying, ‘For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.’”
John 6:65 (LSB)
So, verse 66:
“As a result of this many of His disciples went away and were not walking with Him anymore.”
John 6:66 (LSB)
This must be the group that was not given to Christ (vs 37), not drawn by the Father (vs 44), and not granted to come (vs 65), because everyone the Father has given to Christ (vs 37) will come to Christ. This is the difficult teaching of the Bible: the responsibility for people to believe versus the sovereign call of God on a life. Remember I said when we started this study in John, that there would be some tension created. To me John 6 is the pinnacle of that tension. Picture this, you have Jesus teaching a large group of people. A few were truly following Him, while most were bailing on Him. And Jesus begins to teach and says to the crowds (vs 35). Whoever comes! Whoever believes! So come and believe! Clearly placing responsibility on man to come. But then He says (vs 37), all that the Father gives to Me will come; and (vs 44), no one comes unless the Father draws him. God’s sovereign work. But then (vs 47), whoever believes has eternal life. So just believe! And (vs 57) whoever feeds on Me. So just come and believe and feed on Me! Man’s responsibility. Yet verse 63, it is the Holy Spirit that gives you life, your flesh profits nothing in this. God’s sovereign work. But then right after saying that the Lord must do something for you to believe, Jesus says (vs 64): here is the problem with you people, you do not believe. Man’s responsibility. And then the very next verse (vs 65) Jesus says, no one can come unless it is granted by the Father. God’s sovereignty.
Now I am not sure what I would do if I was there, would I have the nerve to put up my hand and say, Lord, I am confused here. Yet this classic passage is satisfied to leave a tension. John knows there is a tension here. Now this could have been a time when Jesus could have said, now let Me sort this all out for you. But in such a classic way it simply ends with some believing and some not. Let me conclude with two thoughts:
- The sovereign work of God in salvation.
Never steal from God something that the flesh cannot do, but only the Spirit of God can do. For John’s gospel certainly emphasizes the unwillingness of a soul to come, unless the Lord resurrects that soul. Remember what Jesus had told Nicodemus:
“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”
John 3:8 (LSB)
Praise God for His mercy in resurrecting dead souls to salvation. And understand at least this, that the only reason I believed was because of the mercy of God towards me.
- The sovereign work of God does not negate our responsibility to come.
You might be sitting here this morning, and you know inside you are not a believer. And you might be thinking, how can I ever believe unless the Lord works in me? Notice what our Lord said to Peter when most were walking away (vs 67), “Do you also want to go?”
“Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.’”
John 6:67 (LSB)
Jesus in His sermon, and John in his gospel never quiets the tension between these two truths, as some have called them twin truths. And even the most gifted theologians are content to leave this as a paradox. Twin truths that run parallel like train tracks and never seem to meet or be reconciled in the human mind, something that is only reconcilable in the mind of God. D. A. Carson teaches in this passage that though it clearly teaches that God must act on behalf of the sinner for him to believe. The sinner’s responsibility is never eliminated or lessened (D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary 291). And that is a truth that we cannot understand and may never understand, for we will never have the mind of God. And this paradox has troubled studiers of the Bible for centuries, yet may we marvel and be amazed and say with Paul:
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”
Rom 11:33 (LSB)
If you are uncertain about your salvation this morning, then come, receive Christ, ask Him to forgive you. Let’s pray. Lord, we praise You for Your Word this morning. Might we marvel at the work and mind of God, that your thoughts are not our thoughts and Your ways are not our ways. For You are great and mighty. You are above all things. And no one can say to You, what have You done? And all God’s people said, amen.