John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father draw him
John 6:44 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.
The word “come” simply means to move from one place to another. Whether you move from point A to point B or a letter is carried carried across country transported by trucks. You have come from point A to point B and the letter has come from one side of the country to here. The meaning of this passage is easily defined by looking at related passages. When we do so, we find that certain people are delivered to Christ by the Father.
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Only those who are given to Christ by the Father will be delivered to Him. If they are delivered to Christ then they are moved from one place to another, referring to regeneration. Notice that this refers to a particular group of people, “All that the Father gives”, the whole group that is given will be delivered. They are translated from the power of darkness into the kingdom of Christ. Now notice that it says, “Him that cometh”, referring to any individual from the group. Those individuals that come to Christ by conversion, will not be cast out. That is to say, they will not be rejected. This is in accordance with the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If a person will confess their sins and obey His commandments, He will establish His covenant with them.
Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Again we find a passage that supports the previous passages stating that the children of God are translated, meaning to be moved from one place to another, or transfered from the power of darkness into the dominion of Christ.
An example for the word draw is that of John 21:6 when the fishermen were not able to draw in their net for the multitude of fish. Therefore, no man can come to Christ unless the Father uses great strength and power to pick him up out of the darkness of the waters and place him into the boat of Christ.
Jesus states that no man can come unless the Father draws him. No person can convert to Christ unless the Father first intervenes with regeneration, the second birth.
The word draw simply means to draw or drag. To drag something does not have to be against the objects will. It could simply indicate that much effort or strength is required to move it. To draw something can be as simple as causing something to move in a particular direction or, to bring, take, or pull out such as drawing water from a well. Again, by examining other passages we find supporting evidence for this definition.
Matthew 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father…
The word delivered above means to give into the hands of another. Thus we come into Christ’s possession by being delivered into His care by the Father and not by our own means.
Therefore, Jesus was in fact stating that no man can come to Him, no one can convert, unless the Father first delivers the person into Christ’s care by rescuing him from the power of darkness, which is the second birth or regeneration.
Thank you for taking the time to read this study. I hope you found this study to be a blessing, and that it has in some way increased your knowledge of our Lord and Savior. If you have questions, or would like to leave a comment, please do not hesitate to do so.
You may also email questions to barry@baptistcommentary.com
Grace to you,
Barry Laminack
Topical References: Adoption, Conversion, Free Grace, John, New Testament, Predestination, Regeneration, Scripture Comment, Two Natures |
