The Father's Work of Drawing

By Mark Wright

John 6:44

 
 

I am not a cat lover. I am not a dog lover for that matter, but I will have to give dogs credit for one thing: they at least come when you call them! You can call cats until the cows come home and they never respond.

Sinners by nature are like cats. They just won't come when you call them to repent and to put their trust in Christ for their salvation unless, that is, God does a special work in their hearts to enable them to come to Christ. This is what Jesus means when He says in 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.
This is the doctrine that is commonly known as "Effectual Calling". There are several other terms used to describe this wonderful and mysterious working of God: Efficacious Grace, Invincible Calling, or Irresistible Grace.

In Scripture there are two callings: The outward, general call of the gospel, and the inward, effectual call of the Holy Spirit. The outward call goes out indiscriminately to all who hear the gospel, while the inward call by the Father through the Holy Spirit goes out only to those God has chosen before time to save. Referring to the difference between the two, the Lord says in Matthew 22:14: "For many are called, but few are chosen."

Totally depraved. God calls many outwardly by preaching to them the gospel. But no one can come to Christ unless God draws him, calling him inwardly by His Spirit. There are no exceptions. Why can no one come? Answer: The word "can" is one of ability, and sinners simply do not have the ability (nor the desire) to come to Christ on their own. This is due to another important doctrine of Scripture: the Total Depravity of man.

What is Total Depravity? The fact that man is so thoroughly infected by sin that he is unable to do anything that is of any spiritual good in God's sight. That includes turning to Jesus Christ in faith. There is no good in any man, woman, boy or girl until and unless God makes them alive by His Spirit. Before that, man is dead in sin and has no power to turn to God for salvation.

I know that someone will say, "But what about our free will? Doesn't the Bible say 'whosoever will'?" Yes, the Bible says "whosoever will, let him come," but that does not prove that man has a free will. The notion that man has a free will to decide on his own when or if he wants to turn to God is a mistaken idea that can be traced to man's pride. But as Jesus declares flatly in our text, the truth is no one can come to Him on his own free will.

God's choice. You see, the Bible teaches that it is not what man pleases, but what God pleases that determines whether or not any given sinner will come to Christ. Romans 9:16 says, "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."

The will of man is not at all free, though it is usually thought to be so. In actuality, it is a slave of sin. Jesus says, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do" (John 8:44). Yes, sinful unsaved people can make choices, but because their sinful hearts are enslaved to the devil, all the choices they make will necessarily be tinted by sin. Listen to what Genesis 6:5 says about the fallen mankind: "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

Left to himself, not a single person in this world would ever turn to Jesus Christ for salvation. Jeremiah says, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil" (13:23). A person cannot change his or her own sinful heart and decide to choose Christ any more than a leopard can change his spots. Doing so would go against his sinful nature.

Not even one. God underscores this in Romans 3:10,11: "There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." No one seeks God. Why don't we seek God? John 3:19 explains, "Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light." Jesus is the light of the world, but because men love darkness they simply will not love Him.

Ephesians 2:1 puts it even more graphically, declaring that men are "dead in trespasses and sins". By nature, we were spiritually dead. A dead person cannot respond to the gospel call. A dead person can't believe in Christunless, of course, he is resurrected! But a dead person cannot resurrect himself either physically
or spiritually.

God Does the Saving

Are you a Christian? Have you come to Christ and put your trust in Him for salvation? Is Jesus your Lord and Savior? Then let me ask you these questions:

What was it that made you all of a sudden want to come to Christ, when before you didn't? What made you choose Christ while your neighbor remains in his unbelief? Was it because you were more intelligent? Was it because you were more spiritual or holy? Was it because you had more willpower or courage?

If you say "yes" to any of these questions or if you give some other reason that lies within yourself, then you are in trouble, because then you would have some reason to brag or boast before God. But the Bible explicitly states that no one will boast before Him. "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (I Cor. 1:30,31).

Irresistible grace. No, if you have come to Christ, then it is only because God made the difference and gave you the desire and the ability to come. You came because God drew you!

What does the word "draw" mean? Well, this Greek word is used several other times in the New Testamentwhen referring to drawing water from a well, dragging fish onto shore in a net, and the rich dragging the poor into court! It is a verb that involves a strong force. So, it is not that God simply calls us by whispering for us to come. If you draw water from a well, you don't stand over it and say, "Here water, water!" No, you pull it up by force. God draws us by His irresistible grace and power, so that we come to Christ.

When God saves a person, He sets his will free from Satan and from his own sinful nature and He also gives him the irresistible desire to come. God makes us alive, He regenerates us and then He gives us the will and ability to come. Regeneration, or the new birth, precedes our repentance and faith, because otherwise we would never repent or believe.

In fact, the Bible speaks of repentance and faith as the gifts of God. We read in Acts 5:31: "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." And Acts 11:18: "When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."

We read further in Acts 16:14: "And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul." If the Lord had not opened her heart, would she have responded to the gospel? No.

The elect. God does not draw all people to Christ by His Spirit. If He did, they would all come. Why then does God call some and not others? For that matter, why did He call you and not others? Because He chose to. And when did He do that? From all eternity. This is the doctrine of Predestination. Effectual calling is simply the outworking of God's plan to save you.

So, who does God call? The ones He chooses to. Who are these people? They are the elect of God, the ones who repent and believe in Christ. God calls or draws by His Holy Spirit, and He does it through the Word of God. The gospel message is the instrument. The Bible says in Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Preaching the gospel alone does not cause anyone to come. Only when the Holy Spirit applies it to the elect, they come. A good Old Testament example of this is when Ezekiel was commanded to preach to dry bones. As Ezekiel prophesied to the dry bones, the Lord put flesh on them and made them come alive. That is what the Holy Spirit does when He applies the gospel to the elect, making them spiritually alive.

No one can come to Jesus unless God the Father draws him. Now, if God does draw a person, then it is certain that he or she will come. Hence, we find the same truth in Matthew 11:27 as in John 6:44: "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."

Practical implications. What is the point of saying all this? Of what practical use is it to us to know this doctrine of "Effectual Calling"?

First of all, it should teach us believers to give God all the glory for our salvation. If you have been holding onto even a tiny bit of pride or self in thinking about your salvation, then let it go. The Bible teaches that salvation is of the Lord from start to finish. Yes, you repented and you believed, but you did so only because God gave you the will and the ability to do so. Your salvation is all of grace.

God predestined your salvation from all eternity; from the foundation of the world, He then sent His Son to die on the cross for your sins, caused you to hear the gospel message some time in your life, and called you by His Spirit to apply salvation to your heart.

Rejoice in the Lord! Great things He hath done! Praise God that He drew you with cords of love and mercy to embrace His Son and be saved.

Second, if ever anyone comes to know Christ, it is certainly not because of the piety, eloquence, or persuasiveness of the preacher or witness. It is the power of God that makes the difference, not impressive preaching, or any gimmick or arm twisting that we might do. Therefore, if we are going to reach people for Christ, we must pray fervently for God to draw sinners to Christ. That is why it is so important that you pray for the preacher and his sermons, no matter who he is.

C. H. Spurgeon was mightily used of God to preach and lead thousands of souls to Christ. But he would always point to the large group of people who met in the basement during the services and prayed during the entire service for souls to be saved, and he would say that there was where the power came from.

When we begin to grasp how dependent we are on God's power and His drawing, then we will take prayer far more seriously than we do. There are so many techniques and methods being taught today in the name of church growth that promise great results. But we don't really need any of that. All we need is the promise of God in His Word, and the power of God released through believing prayer.

The Bible says, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power" (Psalm 110:3) and "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zec. 4:6).

May we abandon all trust in ourselves, and get down on our knees to beseech the God of all power to turn the hearts of sinners toward Him. And to God be the glory. o

Rev. Mark Wright is pastor at Unity Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, 2215 Highway 86, Piedmont, SC 29673
 

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