If you read John 6:44:
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day."
When reading this verse alone, we can see that "no one comes," which actually focuses on everyone. Then, if we add a limited view, it can seem as though God only draws some people, which is where Calvinism tends to lean.
The problem with the Calvinistic lens is that it does not get this presupposed idea from Scripture, because the drawing is mentioned again with broader inclusion in John 12:32 (KJV):
"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me."
Calvinists try to explain away "all men" as meaning all kinds of men, or even ask whether this excludes women in order to make the verse seem more complicated. They also focus on the word "draw," using John 6 to interpret it in a more deterministic or causal way. However, this forces a view of either limited salvation or universal salvation.
In John 12, some translations do not include the word "men" because it is not present in the Greek text, so the verse simply says "all." Calvinism often ignores the context of Christ being lifted up and drawing all people, even though it speaks directly to what Jesus said in John 3:14-16:
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life."
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
The serpent on a pole is described in Numbers 21:8-9:
"And the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.' So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live."
The responsibility of looking at the serpent was on them, not on God to make them look. God provided healing through the serpent on the pole that Moses made.
Back in John 6, Jesus goes on to say:
"It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." (John 6:45)
All are taught by God, but everyone who has heard and learned comes. This includes real human responsibility. The verse does not merely speak of being taught; it speaks of hearing and learning.
What is the source of God's drawing power?
John 3 tells us that He so loved that He gave. Love is the drawing power. As 1 John 4:19 says:
"We love because He first loved us."
No one loved God first, but it is because of His love that we are able to love Him.
The drawing of God is not coercion but revelation. God reveals Himself through His love displayed in Christ, and that love draws all people, though not all respond. The cross is God's great demonstration of His heart toward humanity. Jesus is lifted up for all to see, just as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness. The invitation is universal, even though the response is not.
John 3:16 says that God loved the world. Calvinists often argue that "world" means all kinds of people. But 1 John 2:1-2 says:
"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."
The distinction is clear. He is the propitiation not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world.
It is a shame that some consistent Calvinists go so far as to say that you cannot tell a crowd of people that God loves them, because there may be some among them whom He does not love or for whom Christ did not die.
Some might reason that we need only preach the gospel so that those for whom Christ actually died will hear and respond. But how do you preach the gospel without proclaiming the love of God unless you already know ahead of time who the elect are?
The good news is not merely that Christ died. The good news is why Christ died.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son."
The gospel begins with the love of God and culminates in the cross of Christ. To separate the cross from God's love is to remove the very reason the cross was given.
I want to tell you today that God absolutely loves you, and that is the truth.
No One Comes Unless Drawn: Does God Draw Everyone or Only the Elect?
