No One Can (Examining John 6:44)
Last Update: 2024, August 21
I have written on Verse 45. Have a look there.
Today, I would like to begin by reminding us all of Romans 3:4,
“…let God be true but every man a liar…”
There is no exception there. Not “some men” but “every man” is a liar. This includes your favourite teacher(s), preacher(s), philosopher(s), scholar(s), YouTuber(s) and those with PhD. It also includes me. We’re all deceivers and deceiving, either knowingly or unknowingly (2 Timothy 3:13) when we reason according to the flesh.
They Say vs. God Says
In this informational age, with YouTube and everything, I would say that the majority of Christians today are heavily influenced by man-made analogies and emotionalism when they come to the text of Scripture. A perfect example of that is the verse we’re looking at today. The voices and opinions of men will say “you can” but Scripture says “you can’t.” Which will it be? Feeling or Scripture? For the majority of Christians, feeling reigns supreme.
James White and others have tackled John 6:44 scholarly, ad-nauseam. As a layman, I don’t know Greek and there’s absolutely no need for me to go there because nothing speaks better than the Scripture interpreting itself, and I’ll put them together in a way that others haven’t done before with John 6:44, to my knowledge. You’ll have to pick between what They say and what God says.
The “Unless”
When Scripture is this clear, “no one can come” unless something happens first, you can be sure that the flesh will find ways to complicate it to assert man’s natural ability to come. Plenty of that on YouTube right now.
If we apply the categories of logic and the laws of immediate inference and so on to the first two words in this statement, “no one” (some translations read “no man” or “no person”), we see that this statement is what we call a universal negative. That is, it is all-inclusive. Jesus is saying that, without exception, there is no human being who can come to Him unless it is given to him of the Father. This is an absolute—a negative absolute—and we have to understand that.
…
What is it that Jesus is talking about that no one has the ability to do? No one has the ability to “come to Me,” He says. Now let me ask this question: According to Jesus, does man in and of himself have the ability to come to Jesus? No. Do some men have the ability to come to Jesus in and of themselves? No. No man can come to Jesus. He says, “No man can come to Me, unless …” Now we see a clause that follows which we call an exceptive clause. “Unless” introduces an exception and points to what we call in philosophy a necessary condition. [1]
This same truth is taught in John 3, where Jesus says, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (v.3). Again in v.5, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” The New Birth is brought about by the Holy Spirit (John 3:8 cf. 6:63). We’ll look more at this in another post, but for now we’re focusing on what it means that “no one can.” The point here is that something must happen first before a person can come, see or enter.
No One Can
To understand why something must happen first, such as being drawn by the Father, we must understand why “no one can” and what it means by “no one can.” The LEB puts it this way: “No one is able to come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…” Years ago, someone told me that Jesus meant in this verse that no one can physically walk to Him. This demonstrates the lengths people will go to deny the moral inability of sinners.
There are many ways for me to go about explaining this. I can start with 1 John 1:5, for example, which at first seems to be unrelated. But in my opinion, the best place to start is Joshua 24. Sure, anyone can come to Christ and follow Him. And many do (cf. John 2:23-25; Matthew 7:13-14,21-23). But this kind of coming is not from a renewed heart, and it’s a coming that serves God not in sincerity and in truth. Which is one of the reasons why Jesus didn’t commit Himself to them (John 2:24).
The true and holy God of Scripture can only be served with a renewed heart. This is why no one can come to the Father through the Son unless s/he is drawn by the Father. For apart from the work of the Spirit in the heart, no one can serve the true God in sincerity and in truth. Note what’s being emphasized here. Joshua makes this clear in 24:14, “…fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth…” because God is Spirit, and “those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24).
That’s the kind of coming or worship that the natural man can not do. It doesn’t mean others can’t come to Christ for non-salvific reason(s). It doesn’t mean they can’t be religious and do good deeds in the name of Christ (cf. Matthew 7:22). It doesn’t mean they can’t keep some of God’s commandments (cf. Rich Young Ruler). God looks at the heart and knows the kind of their coming (cf. John 2:23-25). The coming that serves God in spirit and in truth, according to Jesus’ own words, is “impossible with men” (Matthew 19:22-26)! You can’t get any clearer than that! But with God it’s possible because He is the one who can grant repentance and faith. This is why Reformed Soteriology makes a distinction between true and false conversion, and why there’s Saving-Faith.
Joshua was right when he said that they cannot serve the LORD in v.19. Despite what they said in v.16-18!
16 The people replied, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! 17 For the LORD our God brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and performed these great signs before our eyes. He also protected us throughout our journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 18 And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because He is our God!”
This is where you have to pause and ask yourself. Do you believe what they say in v.16-18, and plenty of others on YouTube saying that people have the natural ability to come and that they do desire to worship God from the heart? Or do you believe the testimony of God regarding the heart condition of fallen men? Which will it be? As for me, what God says has more weight than all of the “They say” combined.
In Deuteronomy 5:26-29 we see a similar proclamation, “we will hear and do it.” But God saw right through, “Who shall give them to have such a mind…”? In other words, where would they get such a heart to do so? The answer is: God. The people in Joshua 24:16-18 saw with their own eyes what God did, but Moses says in Deuteronomy 29:2-4 that it wasn’t enough. They needed a new heart. Who would give sinners this new heart? God (cf. Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 24:7). And does God give it to everyone without exception? No. See here, and here. If He did then all would come and be saved.
Lydia heard Paul, but she still needed her heart to be opened by God. Otherwise, the Gospel would have come off as foolishness to her darkened heart and mind. It is by God’s doing that she was in Christ Jesus.
No one can come because the flesh is the problem (cf. John 3:6,6:63)
No one can come because the heart has no room for His word (cf. John 8:37)
No one can come because they’re in active rebellion (cf. Matthew 7:23; John 8:44; Acts 7:51)
No one can come because they love darkness (cf. John 3:19)
No one can come because they follow the dictates of their evil hearts
Left on their own, there would be no desire to come to Christ in spirit and in truth, as is the case with Paul.
The Unregenerate aren’t seekers of God, but of gods. People don’t become Atheists when the true God is rejected. They become idolaters because the void of the heart has to be filled with something, if not the true God. Idolaters have plenty of gods to choose from. Which is why the gate to destruction is wide and many go through it (Matthew 7:13-14).
Over the years I have seen Joshua 24:15 being thrown around to say that we have freewill, but people fail to see what’s plainly there. The irony here is that this passage is precisely about those rejecting the Sovereign God of Scripture. Since they can’t worship this true and holy God, they turn to gods. God that respects free-will and choices, god that died for everyone but saves no one, god of Oprah Winfrey, of Joel Osteen etc… but not the God of Joshua.
It is with that backdrop that we see what Jesus had in mind. No one can come to the Son in a salvific sense unless the Father first draws. The reason why they can’t come is because they have no desire to do so. Don’t buy into the painting that sinners desperately want to come but are unable because God didn’t allow them to. The biblical painting is that God is stretching out His arms calling everyone to Himself, but they’re unwilling and have no desire. In mercy, He saves this one and that one by doing a good work in their hearts.
What about Cornelius?
If no one can come, then naturally eyes would be on Cornelius. This is to be expected, and it’s not hard to answer biblically. If Scripture says no one can, and you see examples of people such as Cornelius, then there can only be one conclusion: God drew him/her to Himself. There’s nothing complicated about this. Cornelius got saved the same way everyone else got saved. I’ll have a post on Cornelius in the future, but in the meantime you can look at how Noah got saved, or even Abraham or Paul, also here.
Still think or believe Calvinists follow and worship John Calvin?