Wednesday, June 26, 2024

The Father GIVETH me... HATH GIVEN me


John 6:44 KJV — No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

"... hath sent... draw him... will raise him up..." Note the tenses. 

Drawn to Christ by the Father in the effectual call out of the native state of sin and death to that of grace and salvation in Christ, and drawn to Christ by the gospel call out of ignorance to faith in Christ are two separate and distinct matters. The former is the cause and makes possible the latter. The former relates to eternal salvation; the latter to temporal salvation.

John 6:37 KJV — All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

"... the Father GIVETH me..." (simple present tense)

The Father effectually calls and gives them to Christ; the effectually called are enabled to respond to the gospel call to come to Christ; everyone that comes to Christ through the gospel call, Christ will most certainly receive. The former relates to eternal salvation; the latter to temporal salvation.

The effectual call out of the native state of sin and death to that of grace and salvation in Jesus Christ requires these distinct and sovereign activities of God - justification, regeneration, and adoption - in that logical order but simultaneously at the effectual call; without these divine activities, a man is not in a state of grace and salvation. An elect is drawn to Christ when God effectually calls him; this drawing to Christ makes an elect wholly fit for eternal glory.

Total depravity and its effect is a biblical truth; it's another perspective of a natural man being spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, i.e. completely incapable of any spiritual activities, like coming to Christ. "Except a man be born again, he cannot..." The good news is God Himself freely and sovereignly draws him to Christ by His effectual call.

John 6:39 KJV — And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

"... He (the Father) hath given me..." (present perfect tense)

God the Father elected a people before the foundation of the world and has given them to Christ to redeem them; they were given to Him, and remain given to Him. Christ secured their eternal redemption through His substitutionary life and atoning death for them.