Tag Archives: crucifixion

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“I Will Draw All Men”…Are You Sure About That?

KD Jesus Christ dying on the cross Sticker Poster|Christian Posters ...“I Will Draw All Men”…Are You Sure About That?

James R. Aist

“One may infer that saving faith is the result of the elect being taught by and learning from the Father, rather than by deciding to believe in Jesus after being drawn to Him.”

In this article, I will use various scripture passages to connect the dots, so to speak, concerning the mechanics of salvation as described in the Bible. My focus will be on a few passages that deal specifically with people being drawn to Jesus, one way or another. In doing so, I will challenge a very commonly held interpretation of one key verse that is all too often taken out of context to arrive at a conclusion that is not warranted by the text.

What is the result of being “drawn to Jesus?”

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 6, Jesus answers this question repeatedly, clearly and to the point:

John 6:40 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (Here we can see that when Jesus says “I will raise him up on the last day”, He means that He will raise him up to eternal life.)

John 6:44-45  “No one can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘They shall all be taught by God.’  Therefore everyone who has heard and has learned of the Father comes to Me.” (There are three pertinent points to see here: 1) No one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him; 2) Those whom the Father draws to Jesus will be taught by God; and 3) Everyone whom the Father has drawn to Jesus will be raised up to eternal life on the last day.)

John 6:54 “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. (Everyone who has eternal life will be raised up on the last day.)

What, then, does it mean to be “drawn to Jesus?” What John 6 is saying is that only those who are drawn to Jesus by the Father can be saved, and everyone who is drawn to Jesus is taught by God and will be raised up by Jesus to eternal life on the last day. Note that there is not even a hint here that, in this process, we are invited to make a choice whether or not to believe in Jesus.

Thus, the path to salvation, according to Jesus, goes like this: an elect person is drawn to Jesus by the Father, then taught by the Father, learns from the Father, and is raised up to eternal life by Jesus on the last day. One may infer, then, that saving faith is the result of the elect being taught by and learning from the Father, rather than by deciding to believe in Jesus after being drawn to Him.

Does the Bible say that all men are drawn to Jesus?

That said, let us now turn our attention to the main thrust of this article, starting with a comprehensive understanding of the meaning of the word “all” in the Bible and elsewhere. If you look up “all” in most any dictionary, you will find not one, but two, alternative meanings. Perhaps the most familiar meaning is inclusive, as in “all have sinned,” where “all” refers to all of humanity. Another meaning is exclusive, as in “all Israel will be saved”, where “all” refers only to those Jews who will believe in Jesus. To discern which of these two alternative meanings applies, one must consider the context of the passage in question.

Now we are ready to examine a well-known utterance of Jesus that is commonly misconstrued: “And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself.” He said this to signify by what kind of death He would die.” (John 12:32-33). The second verse is usually ignored, leaving only “And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself”, and is then cited as biblical proof that all of mankind is drawn to Jesus. But, there are at least two reasons why that interpretation cannot be correct. First, the meaning of verse 32 is explained in the very next verse: “He said this to signify by what kind of death He would die,” not “how many would be drawn to Him if He were to be crucified!” And second, if verse 32 was meant to say that all of mankind would be drawn to Him, then this would mean that all people will be saved, because, as we learned above, all who are drawn to Jesus will believe in Jesus and inherit eternal life. Thus, to cite John 12:32 as biblical proof that everyone is drawn to Jesus is tantamount to endorsing universalism, a well-known heresy!  A correct understanding of John 12:32, then, may be to see “all” in this verse to be the exclusive “all”, most likely referring only to God’s elect.

Are we drawn to Jesus to be given a choice to either accept or reject the offer of salvation?

Some say that all people are drawn to Jesus, and then they are given a choice whether or not to accept His offer of salvation. They receive eternal life if they say yes, or so the story goes. There are several reasons why this storyline cannot be true. First, it does not square with what Jesus says about it in John 6, as mentioned above. Second, the Bible does not say, clearly and directly to the point, that anyone chooses to believe in Jesus. Saving faith is a gift of God, given only to His elect. Whenever the Bible speaks clearly to this matter, it is God, not us, who does the choosing. And third, in Romans 8:29-30, the Apostle Paul traces the path to salvation as follows: God foreknew, predestined, called, justified and glorified those He saves. What is missing from this path to salvation is any step at which God presents to us an opportunity to accept  or reject God’s offer of salvation.

Why is it important to know how God saves us, if all He saves will be with Him in heaven anyway?

There is no solid, biblical basis for believing that the Father draws us to Jesus to then, give us an opportunity to accept or reject God’s offer of salvation; it is nothing more than a human construct designed to give the impression that the free will of men is sovereign over God’s will in the matter of salvation. This idea may be attractive and appealing  to the ego and easy to believe, but it robs God of the full measure of glory in saving us. God is not willing to share His gory with anyone (Isaiah 42:8). My Bible says that salvation belongs to the Lord (Psalm 3:8), not us!

You can read more of my articles on biblical topics by clicking (HERE).

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A Sinless Life and a Sacrificial Death: The Works of Jesus

Jesus H. ChristA Sinless Life and a Sacrificial Death: The Works of Jesus

 James R. Aist

“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:27-29)

Introduction

Salvation is free to us, but it cost Jesus His life. Is there a special relationship of the life that Jesus lived to the death that He died? It seems to me that, in the Christian church, we put major and primary emphasis on the fact that Jesus suffered and then died on a cruel cross to pay the penalty for our sins. And, that’s as it should be, for, apart from that, none of us would have any valid hope of escaping an eternity in hell and spending our forever with God in heaven. But, lately, I have been pondering the fact that Jesus managed to live for 21 years as a morally responsible adult in a terribly fallen world – a world not all that different from ours today, where sin and evil abound – without even once committing a sin. So, one day an interesting question occurred to me: Which was the more difficult thing that Jesus did for us: being tempted in every way as we are for 21 years without sinning, or dying on the cross to pay for our sins? Let’s take a few moments to explore the two aspects of this question a little further and see where it leads us.

The Sinless Life of Jesus

The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are, but was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m not convinced that I have been able to live even one day without sinning! So, it’s hard for me to imagine how hard it must have been for Jesus, who was fully man (and fully God), to live 21 years (that’s 7,665 straight days) without sinning even once, when He was being tempted in every way as I have been. Add to that the facts that 1) Jesus was hated and hunted by His own people, and 2) as the Son of God, He was tempted in three ways that neither you nor I even could be tempted (Matthew 4:1-11), and it’s easy to see that His sin-free life was truly remarkable and extraordinary.

The Sacrificial Death of Jesus

After Jesus was arrested, He was shamelessly and publicly mocked and brutally beaten before He was convicted of a capital crime and taken away to be put to death on a cross (John 19:1-3). Much has been said and written about the intense pain and agony inflicted by the beating and the cruel invention referred to as “crucifixion” (click HERE). Now, a literal lamb that was led to slaughter in those days had no idea what awaited him, and his demise was relatively quick and painless. But Jesus, the very human Lamb of God, would have been well aware of the kinds and intensity of pain and agony inflicted by crucifixion, as the Jews were given many opportunities by the Romans to witness this public display of punishment, as a means to dissuade other would-be law-breakers. Yet He willingly subjected Himself to this slow and unspeakably painful and undeserved death, in order to pay the price for our sins. The difficulty of actually bringing oneself to submit to such a cruel and painful death cannot be overstated.

So, His Life or His Death: Which Was the More Difficult Accomplishment?

By this time you may be thinking that, perhaps, I have posed a moot question, and you would be right. But I did so to make a couple of critical points. First, we should be quick to remember and appreciate the difficulty of the sinless life that Jesus lived, and not just the difficulty of His willfully enduring death on a cross for our sake. And second, let us remember that both His sinless life and His sacrificial death were necessary in order for Him be the Savior of the world. If Jesus had committed even one sin during those 21 years, then His death on a cross would have been payment for His own sin, not ours. That would have left us with no hope of escaping hell and qualifying for heaven. In other words, Jesus’ sinless life wasn’t just an amazing accomplishment that we all can and should admire from a distance; it was an absolute necessity in God’s one-and-only plan for our salvation that powerfully impacts our lives “up close and personal”, forever.

As the saying goes, “He lived the life we could not live to pay the ransom we could not pay.”

Addendum

Some would say that the most difficult thing that Jesus did for us was to allow the full  weight of the evil of all of our sins to fall upon His shoulders, and that’s why He said in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39). Still others suggest that it was the separation from His Father that was the worst part of it all, causing Him to cry out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). In any case, we know that all of these things had to happen in order for His salvation to be complete and effective. And finally, what we can be absolutely sure of is this: in Jesus, we have a truly awesome Redeemer!

(For more articles on biblical teachings, click HERE)