THOSE WHOM THE FATHER HAS “GIVEN” TO JESUS

Let’s look at John 6:37, a statement from Jesus that many contend teaches that God arbitrarily “elected” some to be saved, and these will come to Jesus no matter what. They are the only ones who will, according to this dogma. The others are “left out” by God (“Tough luck,” teaches the Calvinist. “God just doesn’t love you.”).

The verse says, “Every one of those whom the Father gives me will come to me; and the one who comes to me I will in no way cast out.”

It certainly needs to be explained to the new convert to Christ that since the Bible is the inspired word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17), it does not contradict itself. God does not tell you, for example, that you have the freedom and responsibility to make up your own mind about Jesus and then tell you that God made that decision for you. God is not the author of confusion. His message to humanity was not given to confuse. Calvinism’s convoluted view of the “will of God” and all of these different ways that we have to look at things just to try to make sense of what they’re saying are not good. What we need are people who love Jesus and want to share the simple message of the Gospel, rather than sit around and debate things that only make Christianity complicated, when it is supposed to be simple. We need mature people who are taught by Christ in His word and not by the “systematic theologies“ of men.

We should strive to be responsible Bible students. Mature Bible students. Those who handle the word of God correctly (2 Timothy 2:15). We have been “trusted with the Gospel.” It is a valuable gift, more valuable than anything in the world because it leads us to Jesus. He is what life is all about, so be diligent to present yourself approved to God by handling the word of God correctly. And the way to do that is to take passages that may seem obscure or difficult at first, and compare them with plain passages throughout the rest of the Bible. You do not have the truth on any Bible subject until you have considered all that the Bible says about that subject. And if a statement or a passage seems to contradict clear statements, then you must look at the context of the “controversial” passage to see the ways in which it harmonizes with other, clear passages. And it always will.

So, to go at it from another angle, there are certain established, indisputable facts that have been established by the word of God and the truth of the Gospel. They are settled and they cannot be changed. They represent the truth. Those established facts must influence our interpretation of this verse before us. And here are some of those facts.

First, humanity has been bestowed by God with the freedom to make our own choices regarding our eternal destiny (Matthew 23:37; John 5:39; 7:17; Revelation 22:17).

If the Bible teaches anything, it teaches that each individual must decide for themselves what they are going to do about Jesus. Will we receive Him and be saved? Everyone is free to do so. Or will we reject Him and be lost? You are free to do that, as well. God will knock on the door of your heart, but He will not break down the door. He will not make the decision for you. He has not made the decision for you before you were born. How anyone could view the matter in any other way is amazing to me. And very sad. What the Bible teaches, it teaches. Why would you want to take “difficult” passages and make them contradict what the Bible establishes from beginning to end?

Second, salvation is a free gift of grace offered to all who will receive Jesus, but it is offered on the terms laid down by the giver—God Himself. We must accept salvation on the giver’s terms. His terms are trusting in Christ as Savior and receiving Him as Lord. Salvation is by grace through faith, and the way that we demonstrate our faith is that we seek to obey Him as our Lord (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Hebrews 5:8-9; 1 Peter 4:17). No one can make that decision for you. Even God is not going to make that decision for you. Salvation is a personal matter. You decide whether or not you’re going to be saved. Anyone who would argue with that basic Gospel proposition should never be taken seriously as a Gospel preacher.

There are many sincere people who love Jesus who hold to erroneous ideas that contradict what we have just stated. But no matter how sincere they may be, what they believe and teach is wrong. And while their love for Christ in their personal relationship should be taken seriously, their teaching should not. I am not attacking the people and I’m not the judge of anyone’s heart. But I can judge doctrines by the authority of the word of God. These teachings are wrong and misguided. They are spiritually devastating to people seeking Jesus. And taking it a step further, they are absolutely ridiculous.

When we consider a statement like the one Jesus made in John 6:37, we must look at the terms that are used, how they are used, to whom Jesus was speaking, and what point He was trying to make. To just quote this statement, which virtually all Calvinists I have encountered do, with no consideration for the context or its relationship to other statements Jesus made—EVEN IN THE VERY SAME CONVERSATION that is recorded in the context—is an exegetical nightmare. A terrible way to interpret the Bible, in other words. No one, by just reading the context and the statement, would walk away believing that only those whom God has “selected” in eternity will be saved. No one would come to the conclusion that if you choose Jesus, it is only because God made that choice for you before that. God “chose” that you would “choose,” Calvinism teaches. But that is no choice at all. If He chose for you, then you didn’t really choose. And you don’t have to choose. It is not you making the choice. Something more foreign to the New Testament concept of faith could hardly be considered or found.   

If you are going to teach John 6:37, at least be responsible enough to take the time to consider that the Bible speaks in different senses at times. In other words, in what sense were the people of Christ “given” to Him? And another very important consideration, ignored completely, it seems, by those who just quote the verse rather than studying the verse, is the fact of WHEN all of this happens. When, in other words, did God “give to Jesus” the people to whom He is referring? God gives certain ones to Jesus. But in what sense? Choosing an individual unconditionally by “giving them” to Jesus to be saved is but one way of viewing this. There is another way that people could be “given to Christ” without God making the decision concerning their personal salvation for them.

We must consider carefully the connection between “coming to Christ” and being “given to Christ.” Are these synonymous expressions? Should we interpret “given to Christ” as another way of saying “coming to Christ” and making the decision to do so? If not, then you have a horrible contradiction. Any interpretation that causes the Bible to contradict itself is an incorrect and irresponsible interpretation. Consider also that Jesus said, “The one who comes to me, I will never cast out.” He will never turn away, in other words, the one who comes to Him for salvation. Why is this second part of the statement not as important to our Calvinist friends as the first part? Because it does not support their doctrine. And whether intentionally or not, they are more dedicated to a human system than they are to the Gospel of Christ.

To imply, much less state outright, that God willfully elected some individuals to be given to Jesus, while others were willfully NOT given to Jesus, is from the devil. Jesus is clearly saying that those who come to Him have been given to Him in some sense by the Father. But the question is, in what sense?

To answer that, we must simply ask WHEN they were given to Jesus.

As we have said before, you do not have to know Greek to go to heaven. You can learn everything you need to know about how to love Jesus and go to heaven from an English translation of the Bible, for example, with absolutely no knowledge of Greek, in which the New Testament was written. But if you are going to be a teacher, especially if you are going to teach things that are an offense to the Gospel, you need to at least know how to look up words. That will go a long way in keeping you from making such immature mistakes. The idea that God determines your salvation for you is not taught by the passage under consideration.

The Greek word translated “gives” is a present tense form. In simple terms, what that means is that what Jesus was talking about was happening at the very moment He was speaking about it. They were not given to Christ in eternity past before they were born. They were being given at that moment. Every time a sinner accepts the free gift of salvation, making his or her own decision to do so, is being given to Christ by the Father. The Father does not have to give them to Jesus and Jesus does not have to accept them. Trusting in Christ does not merit being given by the Father or being received by Jesus. This happens because He is a God of grace.  

So whether you like it or not, what it really means is that AT THAT TIME the Father was giving people to Jesus who came to Him, as He said in the second part of the passage. Yes, there is far more to salvation and the depths of God’s scheme of redemption cannot be fully explored by the mind of humanity. But unfortunately, that does not justify what Calvinists say Jesus was teaching in that verse. He wasn’t.

Your salvation is not a “settled fact” before you even hear the Gospel, based on some mysterious “election” of God. It is not a forgone conclusion. It is a matter of trusting in Jesus and making the decision to follow Him. If you do that, you are given to Jesus by the Father. Your decision to receive and trust Christ has no merit in and of itself. Faith accomplishes nothing by itself. It is faith in Christ that matters. Christ is salvation. Therefore, it is not just the fact that you are believing, but that the Father has decided that if you believe, He will give you to Jesus. It is the Father’s grace and goodness that causes Him to give you to Jesus. You do not deserve it even if you have faith. That is the point of what Jesus was saying, as well as the fact that He was sent by the Father and He represented the Father.

When we read the word “gives,” said by Jesus, we should be mindful of the fact that the scriptures teach that salvation is a free gift of God. It is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). The very fact that He would speak of something being given means that it is a gift. And if you are at all acquainted, even on an elementary level, with what the Bible teaches about the free gift of salvation, then you know it is a gift that can be accepted or rejected. You make that choice. I make that choice. We receive the gift on the giver’s terms. God has said that all who come to Jesus will never be rejected by Him. They will, in other words, receive the free gift of salvation.

As an Old Testament illustration, consider that David prophesied God would “give” something to Christ and that it would be His “inheritance.” What would God “give” to the Messiah when Jesus came? He would “give” Him the “nations” (the Gentiles) (Psalm 2:8; Acts 4:25-26). Only a Calvinist or “Reformed theologian” would even entertain the thought that this meant that every Gentile was unconditionally elected to salvation. Any mature Bible reader would see that this clearly refers to the fact that Gentiles can be saved, and many of them would be by their acceptance of Jesus as the Christ.

The Gentiles first came to Jesus in the tenth chapter of Acts. How did they come to Jesus? By putting their faith in Him and receiving Him as Lord through their baptism. Henceforth, every Gentile who was saved in the Bible and who has been saved since has been saved the same way Jews are saved. Because they decided to accept what Jesus had done for them, not because God accepted what Jesus had done for them, for them (Acts 10:34-35,43; 11:14; 15:8-9; 1 Peter 1:22-23).

In John 6:37, we see that “giving” and “coming” are both spoken of. Those who “come to Jesus” have been “given” to Jesus, and those who have been “given” to Jesus, “come” to Jesus. And what is the connection between the two? Well, we know that the Bible teaches throughout, especially in the New Testament, that God offers the free gift of salvation through the Gospel of what Jesus has done for sinners (Romans 1:16). And it also teaches that those who believe the Gospel receive the salvation provided by the Gospel (Romans 1:16). Therefore the “giving” is God’s offer and the “coming” is mankind’s reception of the free offer of salvation.

When we consider the context, we see that much more is revealed here than meets the eye. There is more imagery here that casts tremendous light on Jesus’s true meaning.

Consider John 6:44-45: “No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws them: and I will raise them up in the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught by God. Every one who has heard from the Father, and has learned, comes to me.”

Two things are mentioned in this connection: “drawing” in verse 44 and “giving” in verse 37. These two words refer to the same action. But these things result in one “coming to Jesus,” something that everyone is invited to do (Matthew 11:28-30). This is because the word of God does the drawing, and contains a message that everyone is free to accept or reject.

In John 6:44-45, the “drawing” is accomplished by the sinner hearing God’s word and giving their life to Christ. If the words of Jesus seem confusing here, then just calmly and maturely compare His words to statements found elsewhere. Like clear passages that teach one can hear the Gospel and accept it. Everyone can hear the good news about Jesus and what He has done for all sinners and they can choose to accept Christ (Acts 16:31–34). Even an elementary knowledge of the Gospel is sufficient to know that God loves everyone, that Christ died for everyone, and offers His free salvation to everyone. The Calvinist, however, will not say this. Indeed, he CANNOT say this. Because it does not fit with his intensely flawed understanding of both God and the Bible. I hate to say it, but Calvinists are warped in their view of God. Sinners are “given” to Jesus and “drawn” to God by the power of the Gospel, a message they are free to accept or reject.

True Gospel preachers have always said that “whosoever will” may come to Jesus. All Gospel preachers will say this. ALL true Gospel preachers. The idea of “whosoever is chosen” “must” come to Jesus and most people “cannot” come to Jesus because “they have not been elected” is in no way the message of Christ. It is a perversion of that message.

Finally, consider Christ’s words that He will in no way cast out the one who comes to Him. This should settle the matter once and for all. Whatever He means by the “drawing” and by those “given” to Him will not contradict what He says right after that. He says that anyone who comes to Him will not be rejected. Any rational, sane Bible believer should readily accept that. And should certainly be willing to teach it to others.

Christ will not reject anyone who comes to Him. That is His plain declaration. Therefore, the atrocious idea that some have been unconditionally “elected” to salvation, while others are unconditionally “elected” to be lost cannot be substantiated by any reasonable interpretation of the Scriptures. Calvinism/Reformed theology is simply not true.

Bryan Dewayne Dunaway