Giving ("Didomi") The Opportunity to Be Saved (John 6.37-45,65)

[AlwaysLoved]

Calvinist interpretation of John 6.37-45 is contrary to the entire tenor of Scripture. Let's compare it with John 6.65: "And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."

"All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." (John 6.37-45)
In 6.65 John says "no man can come unto me, except it were given [Greek, didomi] unto him of my Father." Note this is not a giving of the sinner to the Son, but a giving to the sinner (given him), making it possible for him to come to Christ. The Father gives the opportunity to come, i.e. the Father drawing. We have an abundance of scripture indicating that this opportunity is given to the whole world through the gospel.

The very same Greek word (didomi) is used for "given" multiple times in the New Testament in a way that allows a distinctly non-Calvinist interpretation of Christ's words here, and which is also consistent with the overall biblical emphasis upon God's love and mercy. Paul uses didomi when he says that God "giveth to all life, and breath, and all things" (Acts 17.25). There are many places where didomi is used to indicate something given by God, and which men can either receive or reject, obey or disobey, and which involves their cooperation:

The law was given by Moses...(John 1.17). Nobody was forced to obey, although there is serious consequences for disobedience.
I would have given thee living water (John 4.10). The water would not be forced upon her against her will. She would have to want it and willing drink it.
I have given them my word...(John 17.14). The disciples had to willing receive the Word and obedience thereto was by their choice-it wasn't forced upon them.
The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? (John 18.11). Jesus pleaded with the Father that if salvation could come to mankind any other way to spare Him this cup. However, He drank it out of obedience to the Father and love for us.
Through the grace given unto me...(Rom. 12.3, 15.15; Gal. 2.9). Paul uses this expression with the same Greek word a number of times. This is not Calvinism's mythical Irresistible Grace. God's grace was not imposed upon him so that he could not disobey or fail to fulfill all God's will, or did not need to cooperate in the fulfillment thereof.
The Father draws the lost to Christ by giving (didomi) to them the opportunity to believe. The giving of those who believe to the Son is of another nature. And those who are drawn by the Father must, in response to the Father's drawing, "see" Him with the eyes of faith and believe on Him to be saved. The giving of the redeemed by the Father to the Son is something else-a special blessing for those who believe.

[AlwaysLoved]

Christ is saying that we cannot demand salvation (e.g. Calvinists demand salvation by assuming they are regenerated without having to repent and believe in Christ first)-it must be given to us from God. Salvation involves a new birth, and no man can regenerate himself into God's family; that privilege can only be given of God and only God has the power to effect it by His Holy Spirit. In all of this, however, there is neither rational nor biblical basis for believing that God only grants this for a select group and withholds it from the rest of mankind, or that He irresistibly forces int upon anyone.

Christ does not say that the Father forcefully pulls or drags or irresistibly compels anyone to come to Him. In fact, Christ gives every indication that there is definite responsibility on the part of those who are being drawn to believe in Him: "He that believeth on me shall never thirst.... Ye also have seen me, and believe not" (John 6.35-36); "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life" (John 5.40). Not "Ye cannot because my Father will not draw you," but "ye will not."

The Calvinist view of "draw him" renders "come to me" meaningless, absolving the sinner of any responsibility to come, repent, or believe. One cannot be held responsible for what one cannot do. How convenient a theology this is! Calvinism teaches that the sinner is dead (equating to physical death) and cannot respond unless God first of all regenerates him through Irresistible Grace and then causes him to believe. Nowhere can such teaching be found in Scripture-and certainly not in this passage.

Jesus said, "My father giveth you the true bread from heaven" (John 6.32). There is no indication of force-feeding. In fact Christ says, "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.... This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life...he that believeth on me hath everlasting life" (John 6.35,40,47). He goes on to say, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever..." (verse 51).

Eating and drinking Christ's body and blood is a metaphor for believing on Him: to come to Jesus is to satisfy one's hunger and to believe in him is to quench one's thirst. Surely it is the responsibility of the one to whom the Father gives the "bread of life" willingly to eat it. There is no hint that the bread is force-fed to the elect through Irresistible Grace. Perhaps it is time for Calvinists to stop being babies needing to be force-fed. It's time to grow up!

[AlwaysLoved]

Christ's words, "No man can come to me except the Father draw him," are not the same as White's interpretive "No man is able to come to me." Christ is not denying either the necessity or capability on man's part of active acquiescence and faith. The Father alone can draw, but men must come to Christ as this grace is given to them of the Father. And hundreds of passages tell us that this giving (didomi) is a gift of God's love, and like the giving of the Son to die for our sins, is for the whole world. Such an understanding is consistent with Scripture's repeated invitation to come-invitations that would be meaningless without the definite responsibility on man's part and ability to "come" when he is "drawn." Man has a choice to make: to come or not to come, to eat and drink of Christ or of the things of this world and Satan.

Yes, the Bible says that "there is none that seeketh after God" (Rom. 3.11). But that is only one side, and the Bible makes it clear that this statement does not mean, as Calvinism insists, that no man is able to seek. It is not that man lacks the ability to seek God or that God holds back the essential grace for coming. The problem is that man, in and of himself, lacks the desire to seek God. Blinded by sin and obsessed with self, man seeks everything except God (including false gods he finds more appealing) until, by the Holy Spirit, convicted of sin and convinced of his need of a Savior, he is drawn to Christ.

In the infinite love and boundless grace, God continually encourages man to seek Him. Though many, perhaps the vast majority (broad is the road to destruction), reject the wooing of the Holy Spirit and Christ's call to come to Him, many do respond to this call in repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Christ Jesus, the message that Paul preached in Acts 20.21: "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." That is why Paul expended himself-preaching the gospel in the attempt to persuade men to come to Christ-and we should also, "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences" (2 Cor. 5.11).

Men are responsible to conscience, to the gospel, and to the striving of the Holy Spirit in their lives. "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years" (Gen. 6.3). Nor can we as believers avoid our responsibility to obey Christ's command to preach the gospel and to do so in the power of the Holy Spirit and with sincere conviction and persuasion. Paul and Barnabas "so spake, that the great multitude both of the Jews and also the Greeks believed" (Acts 14.11). So must we, "as the oracles of God" (1 Pet. 4.11).

The Universal Thirst Only God Can Quench

David said, "When though saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek" (Ps. 27.8). The sons of Korah sang, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God" (Ps. 42.1). Not just the elect, but all men in all times and places (and that includes the wicked and unrighteous, which we all are by nature) are exhorted:

Seek ye the LORD while ye may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Is. 55-6-7) God that made the world...hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth...that they should seek the LORD, if haply they might...find him, though he be not far from every one of us....(Acts 17.24-27)
The Calvinist interpretation of John 6, in attempting to prove Limited Atonement and Irresistible Grace, makes such scriptures as the above meaningless. Christ's invitation, "Come unto me," surely means that, though man would not come of his own accord without the Father drawing him, yet when the Father though the Holy Spirit draws men to Christ they are able as moral agents to yield and to come by genuine act of faith and volition-or to resist and not come.

The invitation wouldn't be appropriate for the calvinist elect, since their coming is only by the Father irresistibly drawing them. Nor would it be appropriate for the calvinist non-elect, because there is no way they could come even they had the desire. Indeed, if Calvinism were true, why would Christ even say "come unto me and drink" to anyone?

Seek the Lord...seek his face continually (1 Chron. 16.11). If ye seek him, he will be found of you... (2 Chron. 15.2). Though, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee (Ps. 9.10). They shall praise the LORD that seek Him... (Ps. 22.26). They that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing (Ps. 34.10). Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad... (Ps. 40.16). Let not those that seek thee be confounded... (Ps. 69.6). They that seek the LORD understand all... (Prov. 28.5). For it is time to seek the LORD... (Hos. 10.12). Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth (Zeph. 2.3).

These verses are meaningless if grace is irresistible. Are you seeking the Lord if you merely just assume you are regenerated without having first repented and believed in the Lord?

"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart" (Jer. 29.13). If you are a Calvinist, you have not sought the Lord with all your heart because you then don't repent and believe in Christ to be regenerated, but rather, just assumed you were preselected without first repenting and believing. Irresistibly drawn without any understanding? No-"He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11.6).

When did a Calvinist every diligently seek God? They just assumed they were selected and carried on from there with that theory.

[josiah]

ok I am trying to get an understanding of this subject. When trying to understand it from genesis there is a question maybe some one give an answer apart from saying it is a mystery. Why did adam sin? Because total depravity state the condition of adam before he sinned was that he had the righteousness of God shinning on him. This shinning being a necessary part of his nature so when he sinned this shinning stopped. How could he sin if he had the shine.

Next i would to understand the free will thing. can i start by asking about God. Can he sin? If not why not? If he can not sin does that mean he has no free will or freedom. His a slave to not sinning so to speak.

When we die regenerated. Will we still have free will to sin or will we be like God, unable to sin. thank you

[AlwaysLoved]

Why did adam sin? Because total depravity state the condition of adam before he sinned was that he had the righteousness of God shinning on him. This shinning being a necessary part of his nature so when he sinned this shinning stopped. How could he sin if he had the shine.
Adam was not totally depraved at any point. Reject such extreme view of depravity. There was nothing total in his depravity. When he fell from grace, he did not become totally depraved. Just like Abel, he could have had a restored relationship with God by giving a free-will offering. God gave him more that sufficient grace as He does for all people whether by common or special grace (gospel of salvation).

Having the shine doesn't mean he is incapable of disobedience; otherwise, that would not be free-will. Adam was tempted and gave into that temptation.


Next i would to understand the free will thing. can i start by asking about God. Can he sin? If not why not? If he can not sin does that mean he has no free will or freedom. His a slave to not sinning so to speak.
He has free-will to sin, but He never will because it goes against His nature which proves He is God. For example, He could actualize a world ensemble which saves less people but also damns less people. However, He would never do this because it is less than His standards and ability. The proof that He is God is that by His free-will He would never sin whereas we have. That's a God you can trust.


When we die regenerated. Will we still have free will to sin or will we be like God, unable to sin. thank you
Without the flesh, it's not possible to sin anymore. For example, the 2/3 angels will never sin who hadn't fallen away with Satan. When we get our resurrected bodies, some will return to reign with Christ, our reward, and some will lose that reward and be placed in outer darkness, outside the light of reigning with Christ during the millennial kingdom. After the millennium, sin is done away with altogether in the New City and New Earth and those who were saved but disciplined during the 1000 years will be ready for the New City in eternity future.