410 likes | 575 Views
Anchors for our Faith (6:37-40). JOHN 6:37-40.
E N D
Anchors for our Faith (6:37-40)
JOHN 6:37-40 • All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day…
JOHN 6:37-40 • …For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
JOHN 3:16-17 • For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Conversion The willing response to the gospel call, in which we sincerely repent of sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation (Grudem)
Conversion • (1:12) – …to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God • (3:15)– … whoever believes in him may have eternal life • (3:16)– … whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life • (3:18)– Whoever believes in him is not condemned • (3:36)– Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life… • (5:24)– …whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life
JOHN 6:40 • For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life
JOHN 6:26 • Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves
JOHN 6:35 • Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
2 Anchors thatEstablish, Explain, Ensure our Conversion • ELECTION • (6:37a) – All that the Father gives me will come to me,… • God’s Decree in the PAST… • CONVERSION • (6:37b) – …whoever comes to me I will never cast out. • (6:40) – …everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life • Becomes a Reality in the PRESENT… • SECURITY • (6:40) – everyone who looks on the Son and believes…I will raise him up on the last day. • Secures an Ultimate Fulfillment in the FUTURE…
Leon Morris Both of these truths receive emphasis, but nowhere, I think, do the Bible writers attempt to bring them together. That is not one of the things that has been revealed. And Christian theologians have not been conspicuously successful when they try to harmonize them. They usually emphasize one group of passages at the expense of the other. I suspect that the problem is too big for our little minds.
JOHN 6:37a • All that the Father gives me will come to me,…
JOHN 10:28-29 • I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand
JOHN 10:24-27 • The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
Election The act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any forseen merit in them, but only because of his sovereign good pleasure.
2 Peter 1:10 • Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure
Ephesians 1:11 • In him we were also chosen, having been predestinedaccording to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will
Colossians 3:12 • Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience
1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 • For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake
2 Timothy 1:8-9 • Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began
Revelation 17:14 • They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."
Revelation 13:8 • and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
Acts 13:42 • …as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed
James 2:5 • Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
Matthew 13:20 • If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them
Daniel 4:35 • All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?"
Isaiah 14:26-27 • This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?
Psalm 139:16 • your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be
Deuteronomy 7:6 • For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you…
Romans 9:10-16 • Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls--she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.“…
Romans 9:10-16 • … What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy
Ephesian1:4 • For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
JOHN 6:37 • All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out
JOHN 6:40 • … that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life
The Pattern • The Father… • Chooses in Eternity Past • Draws the Elect to Christ (6:44) • The Believer… • Willingly Looks to Christ • Willingly Believes in Him • The Son… • Receives the Believer • Secures the Believer
Election(God’s choosing) Gospel Call(preaching of the gospel) Regeneration(being born again) Conversion(faith & repentance) Justification(right legal standing) Adoption(admission into God’s family) Sanctification(increasing purity) Perseverance(remaining faithful) Glorification(made perfectly complete) Order of Salvation • Numbers 3-6take place simultaneously when someone “becomes a Christian” • Numbers 7-8work themselves out in this life • Number 10occurs after death
Background Theology God is Sovereign People make Willing Choices, which have Real Effects in the world, and for which they are Morally Responsible to God God Owes us Nothing – Except Judgement
Our Response Deep Humility Amazement at His Grace Heartfelt Worship Life of Obedience
Spurgeon • I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I should never have chosen him; and I am sure he chose me before I was born, or else he never would have chosen me afterwards; and he must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why he should have looked upon me with special love
Implications We can Be Sure that What God has Decided WLL Come to Pass We can be Encouraged to Endure Persecution & Trouble We need Not Beat Ourselves Up When Some People Reject Christ We Should Be More Emboldened than ever to engage in Evangelism & Missions
Spurgeon • Election in the Christians should make him very FEARLESS and BOLD. No man will be so bold as he who believes that he is elect of God. What worry does he have about man, if he is chosen of his Maker? What will he care for the pitiful chirpings of some tiny sparrows when he knows that he is an eagle of the royal race? Will he care when the beggar makes fun of him, when the royal blood of heaven runs in his veins? Will he fear if all the world stands against him? If all the earth is at war, he dwells in perfect peace, for he is in the secret place of the tabernacle of the Most High, in the great pavilion of the Almighty