The Sword Room

Yesterday we established that in the context of John Chapter Six coming to Jesus and believing in Jesus are synonymous; and it is possible to “seek Jesus” without coming to Him in saving faith. Some people come to Jesus in saving faith and some do not. Why?

Probably the most common answer given for why people do not come to Jesus in saving faith is that they do not want to, or choose not to. No argument there. The unregenerate sinner is dead and trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1) and thus incapable of wanting or choosing to come to Christ in faith. He lacks the ability to understand who Christ is, to want Christ, or to trust Christ. Driven by the flesh the unbeliever always chooses that which gratifies the sin within. This commitment to the flesh might manifest itself in “seeking Jesus” through some kind of religious activity; or it might take the form of wanton license. There is no qualitative difference between the two. The difference between a muddy pig and a clean pig is purely cosmetic.

In John 6:35 Jesus promises that those who come to Him in faith will never hunger or thirst. It is clear from the context that he is not talking about physical hunger and thirst, and that He is speaking of his body and blood as food and drink metaphorically. So who are those who come to Jesus in saving faith?

Those who are given to Christ by God the Father (vv. 37-40). All of these will come and Christ will raise all on the last day without exception. Since it is clear that not all will come to Christ in saving faith it follows that not all are given to Christ by the Father. In other words you are not given to Christ because you come and believe; to the converse, you come and believe because you have been given. Christ puts it this way in John 10:26: But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. Jesus could have told these Jews, You are not my sheep because you do not believe; but instead He tells them just the opposite. Coming to Jesus in faith is not the prerequisite to becoming one of the sheep. The primary reason anyone ever comes to Jesus and believes in Him is because he has been given by God to Christ. In other words you have to be one of the sheep to believe.

All this presupposes election and predestination, one of the clearest doctrines in the New Testament. God the Father has from eternity chosen His sheep from the mass of fallen humanity. These elect are given to Jesus and they alone–without exception–will come to Jesus in faith and will persevere to the end and be resurrected by the Saviour on the last day. It is a sure thing. A done deal.

But there is more to this story. Being given to Jesus by the Father is but one prerequisite to coming to Jesus in faith. Stop by the room tomorrow for the full meal deal.

OK, here is the stuff I promised from John Chapter Six. There is a lot to share, so this might become a serial blog post. Two-part minimum for sure. I am calling it Coming to Jesus because the Lord uses this expression as a synonym for believing in Him.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me shall never hunger, and the one who believes in Me shall never thirst,” (v. 35).

Having defined coming to Him as believing in Him the Lord mentions this kind of coming four more times in the context: vv. 37, 44, 45, and 65. I will not quote these verses here but will talk about them in the next blog post. Read and familiarize yourself with them as well as the general context.

Having shown that coming to Jesus=believing in Jesus in this context, I will talk today about what coming to Jesus is not. Then in the next blog post I will get into the prerequisites–what has to happen for a sinner to come to Jesus.

Seeking Jesus is not coming to Jesus in this context. After having their bellies filled, the multitude concluded that Jesus was “the prophet coming into the world,” and they wanted to make Him their king (vv. 14-15). The Jews of Jesus day misinterpreted the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:18, which predicted that one day God would raise up a prophet like Moses. They were looking for a military leader who would free them from the Romans just as Moses had led the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. You might remember that in John 1:21 the Jewish leaders asked John the Baptist if he was “the prophet.” In asking this question they were thinking in terms of a political military leader. WRONG!

In response to their desire to make him a king, Jesus withdraws and joins the disciples later. The next day on the other side of the lake the multitude is said to have been seeking Jesus (v. 24). But what does this mean? Jesus gives the answer in verse 26: Truly, truly I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

This kind of “seeking” is not spiritually genuine because it is based on a desire to meet one’s fleshly felt needs with no understanding of who Jesus really is or desire for what He offers. For in the natural unregenerate state there is none who seeks after God (Rom. 3:11).

And yet there are entire churches and movements built upon the premise that as a starting point of ministry to the lost you must find out what the felt needs are of the masses and then tailor your methodology to meeting these felt needs as a means of wooing the lost into the Kingdom of God. The assumption is that folks are really seeking the Lord, and we need to loosen up and quit acting like stuffy Christians. If they want puppet shows, then give them puppet shows. Or hip-hop worship music. Or latte’ and muffins. Or 12-step groups. Or oil changes and tune-ups. Or stand-up comedy. Do your homework and find out where the seekers itch and then scratch like crazy! Oh, and while you’re at it, shorten the sermons and go light on sin. Emphasize the love of God and focus on our victim-hood and need for healing of hurts and increased self-esteem.

Seriously. Read the book of Acts and show me where the apostles ever took a survey to find out what the felt needs of the community were. Or when they put their heads together to find out what style of worship music would attract seekers. Or where they watered down the Gospel to make it sound less offensive.

Read all of John Chapter Six. You will see that all these seekers turned away and left when Jesus told them the truth about their spiritual needs. They had absolutely no interest in that. All of the meeting of their felt needs in the world would not bring them or any other so-called seeker a fraction of a millimeter closer to God.

So what has to happen before someone really comes to Jesus in faith as described in this text by the Lord? Stay tuned and we will pick it up here tomorrow. And I will give you fair warning: What Jesus has to say will rub your flesh the wrong way. Guaranteed!