All Whom the Father Draws

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. John 6:44

It is certain that the Father does not draw all men. Think of all the people who have died, never being drawn by the Father.

On my one trip to the Holy Land, I traveled with a man who headed a world wide missionary organization. He told of a man who spent 25 years as a missionary in India. At the end of his tour of duty this missionary admitted that he had not even one convert.

How can this be? A very inept missionary, preaching the Word, should have converts. Atheist preachers have changed lives because the Word is living and has the power to reach people even when preached by those who regard being a preacher as just an occupation. This is not so rare as you may think.

When the head of the missionary organization was asked why the missionary had no converts, he said that this man was working apart from the will of God. To some this is too shocking to even think about. Those who believe it will certainly go to hell.

Why this is the much maligned doctrine of Limited Atonement! It is the "L" in TULIP of Calvin's teaching.

According to many--I think most-- Christians, God loves everyone and wants to save them. It is often said by them, "I can't believe in a God who doesn't want to save everyone." As if the truth is defined by what they can believe.

Let's look at their belief. God wishes to save all people, but He can't do it. He depends on human effort to accomplish His purposes, and people are not able to do it. There aren't enough missionaries. Even if there were some people would use their free wills to say no to God. Man's (so called) free will overcomes God's purpose. God arm wrestles with some people, and these people win. No wonder they will be tortured in hell forever.

I grew up with this belief. It was not until I was in my thirties that I broke free of it. Some wonderful people helped me to learn that God, not man, is sovereign.

But what about John 3:16? This all time favorite verse of many is considered a talisman that proves that God loves everyone. Isn't that what "world" means, everyone?. As if goats are not sheep because of free choice. Goats are goats from conception.

I urge people who misinterpret the term "world" to look it up online. There are seven major definitions of world in the Bible, including the world of the elect.

An old gunfighter said "A quick draw is not so important as accuracy." I believe this applies to Bible study too.

View "The Meaning of 'Kosmos' in John 3:16" here.