Turning the page…
Turning the page…
Glory · The Gospel
People can and do resist the outward call of the gospel: Jesus wept over Jerusalem because they would not come. But the saving work of God's grace is another matter. The Spirit opens closed hearts, raises the dead, and gives the new heart that loves God. In that deeper sense Scripture speaks of a call that cannot fail, because it is the work of God Himself.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/can-anyone-resist-gods-grace · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
John 6:35-65
As you read: Jesus twice states our inability and the Father's drawing: no one can come unless it is given by the Father, and all the Father gives Him will come.
35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
36But I told you that you have seen me, and yet you don’t believe.
37All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.
38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
39This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day.
40This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
41The Jews therefore murmured concerning him, because he said, “I am the bread which came down out of heaven.”
42They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does he say, ‘I have come down out of heaven?’”
43Therefore Jesus answered them, “Don’t murmur among yourselves.
44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.
45It is written in the prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who hears from the Father, and has learned, comes to me.
46Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father.
47Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life.
48I am the bread of life.
49Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
50This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die.
51I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
52The Jews therefore contended with one another, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves.
54He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
55For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him.
57As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also live because of me.
58This is the bread which came down out of heaven—not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
59He said these things in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
60Therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying! Who can listen to it?”
61But Jesus knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble?
62Then what if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
63It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.
64But there are some of you who don’t believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who didn’t believe, and who it was who would betray him.
65He said, “For this cause have I said to you that no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father.”
Ephesians 2:1-10
As you read: Paul's diagnosis and cure: dead in sins, made alive by grace through faith, which is itself the gift of God.
1You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,
2in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience;
3among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
4But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
5even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus;
8for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9not of works, that no one would boast.
10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
Acts 16:6-15
As you read: Paul in Philippi: Lydia worships, hears, and the Lord opens her heart to receive the word; the jailer is saved in the same visit.
6When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
7When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn’t allow them.
8Passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
9A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, begging him, and saying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.”
10When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go out to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the Good News to them.
11Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis;
12and from there to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the foremost of the district, a Roman colony. We were staying some days in this city.
13On the Sabbath day we went outside of the city by a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down, and spoke to the women who had come together.
14A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul.
15When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay.” So she persuaded us.
Ezekiel 36:22-32
As you read: God's promise to His people: I will give you a new heart, put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes.
22Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I don’t do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went.
23I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, says the Lord Yahweh, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
24For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
27I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.
28You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
29I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.
30I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.
31Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
32Nor for your sake do I this, says the Lord Yahweh, be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel.
Acts 7:51-60
As you read: Stephen's hard word to the council: you stiff-necked people always resist the Holy Spirit; the resistance is real, and so is the tragedy.
51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
52Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.
53You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!”
54Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
55But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord.
58They threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
60He kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Jesus states our position without softening it: 'No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.' He repeats it for emphasis: 'no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father.' And yet the same chapter is full of welcome: 'All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.' The drawing is decisive and the coming is certain, and the welcome is completely open.
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.”John 6:44
“He said, “For this cause have I said to you that no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father.””John 6:65
“All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.”John 6:37
“Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.””John 6:29
Paul describes our condition as death: we were 'dead in transgressions and sins,' and God 'made us alive together with Christ.' A corpse cannot be argued into breathing; only the God who raises the dead can. Jesus says the new birth is the Spirit's own work: it is like the wind that 'blows where it wants to,' for 'so is everyone who is born of the Spirit,' and John adds that we are born 'not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.' Grace does not wait politely for our cooperation; it creates the heart that cooperates.
“You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,”Ephesians 2:1
“But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),”Ephesians 2:4-5
“The windblows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.””John 3:8
“who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”John 1:13
Luke tells the story of Lydia in one clause: 'whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul.' The word is preached, and the listening is given. Luke notes the same pattern elsewhere: 'as many as were appointed to eternal life believed,' and 'the Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.' The church later named this effectual grace: not that God drags anyone, but that He makes the dead heart willing.
“A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul.”Acts 16:14
“As the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of God. As many as were appointed to eternal life believed.”Acts 13:48
“praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.”Acts 2:47
Ezekiel's promise shows the shape of the saving work: 'I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.' God does not only invite; He changes what we want. Paul puts our effort and God's enabling in one sentence: 'Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.'
“I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.”Ezekiel 36:26-27
“So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.”Philippians 2:12-13
Scripture never pretends that everyone who hears comes. Stephen says to the council, 'You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit!' and Jesus wept over Jerusalem: 'How often I would have gathered your children together... and you would not!' So the outward call can be refused. What Scripture also shows is a call that creates what it summons, like the voice that said, 'Lazarus, come out!', and the dead man came out. Paul's chain has no missing links: 'Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified.' When God calls a dead heart to life, the dead heart lives.
““You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.”Acts 7:51
““Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!”Matthew 23:37
“When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Free him, and let him go.””John 11:43-44
“Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified.”Romans 8:30