When we seek to understand the Gospel in Truth we must also seek to understand Salvation history, His Story.
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It is obvious that no one comes to Christ of his own volition,
“Jesus answered and said to them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.” John 6:44.
In this Passage, Jesus is speaking to a group of Jews who were “grumbling among themselves” about this Carpenter’s son who is claiming to have come from Yaweh, God the Father. Because of this gathered group of Jews to whom He is speaking it is important to understand that no longer will the people of God go to the Temple for consecration. They will only come to the Father through Jesus and all will be drawn by Him and not by their own volition.
His Word also tells us that "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name " Then a voice came out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, "An angel has spoken to Him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour." John 12:27-33.
Jesus later speaks to His disciples and to a group of Greeks who have come to the Disciples seeking Jesus.
There are three very important facts that Jesus speaks of here:
1. His Purpose for coming is to glorify the Name of the Father
2. Judgment upon the ruler of Evil has come
3. Jesus’ death upon the Cross is to draw everyone to Himself
This is NO contradiction; the simple TRUTH remains that God’s Holy Spirit is at work in the life of every person who hears the Proclamation of His Word.
"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” John 16:7-11.
His Work is to Convict the World:
1. of sin
2. of judgment
3. of righteousness
The Word of God does not return empty when publicly proclaimed although not everyone will believe.
“I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:14-16.
• WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.
• How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
• How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?
• However, they did not all heed the good news;
• Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?"
• faith comes from hearing,
• hearing by the word of Christ.
But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have;
"THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD." Romans 10:13-14; 16-18.
Jesus is Lord
BW
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