How God Draws Us

Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:44). Again, Jesus said,"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself" (John 12:32, NKJV).

No one comes to Christ unless the Father draws us (John 6:44-45). Albrecht Oepke, the author of a Kittel's article on John 6:44 and 12:32, explains how the Father draws us: "There is no thought here of force or magic. The term figuratively expresses the supernatural power of the love of God or Christ which goes out to all ... but without which no man can come" (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged Edition, ed. Gerhard Kittel) 227.

God the Father draws us to Christ without any violence to our will. There is no coercion. The Spirit of God's love works in our hearts to transform our lives (Romans 5:5). Those who come to Christ "love Him, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

John 12:32 teaches that God draws us to Christ, as well as people out of all nations. Likewise, Jesus said that He would be lifted up from the earth, that is Christ crucified, drawing all people unto Himself. The word draw in John 12:32 is the same word used in John 6:44. Understand that God "works in you both to will and do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). He draws and enables us to come by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Way of Salvation

Charles Spurgeon wrote, "I saw the way of salvation ... There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away ... I could have risen that instant, and sung with the most enthusiastic of them, of the precious blood of Christ, and the simple faith which looks alone to HIM."

Charles Spurgeon believed the precious blood of Jesus Christ cleansed him of all sin (1 John 1:7). The way of salvation is faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved by faith alone in Christ, according to the gospel. Our salvation is by the same gospel, according to the Scripture. Saving faith looks to the One who endured the cross for our sins. 

The way of salvation is faith looking unto Jesus Christ. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). Salvation is by faith looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ dying for our sins, and risen to the right hand of God.

The way of salvation is in the gospel of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Saving faith based upon Scripture and focused upon Christ (Acts 16:31). Salvation is through faith alone in Christ. The Holy Spirit works through the gospel, bringing conviction and convincing you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Saving faith is believing the gospel of Christ. Christ died for our sins. He is risen from the dead. 

How to Be Blessed

The terms blessed and cursed are covenant words. God works through covenant to bless people. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are blessed through the everlasting covenant (Hebrews 13:20-21). By faith in Christ, believers enter a covenant relationship with God. Those who reject salvation in Christ are cursed, cut off from a covenant relationship with God.

Be blessed by God, as Abraham was in Genesis. He was justified before God by faith. And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it unto him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Be blessed by God today through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Be blessed receiving the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

God promised to bless Abraham and make him a blessing through the covenant promise in Genesis 12:1-3. God gave him this promise: In you all the nations shall be blessed. God promised to bless the nations through Abraham's Seed who is Christ (Galatians 3:16).

Old Testament believers were blessed by the promise of the Messiah who was coming. As believers today, we know that He has come that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:14). Be blessed with every spiritual blessing, believing in Jesus Christ our Lord (Ephesians 1:3).

From Guilt to Grace

Guilt is a cruel master. Guilt attacks our memory, with constant reminders of all that we have done wrong. Guilt has no solution and gives us no hope. Guilt not only condemns us, but prods us to condemn ourselves. Guilt will not go away, but day and night its work continues without end.

God's saving grace is greater than all of our sin (Romans 5:20). Grace is the sure solution for our guilt. Grace sets us free from all condemnation (Romans 8:1). Grace releases us from guilt. Grace will not fail, because grace comes from God. Guilt becomes helpless in the face of grace. God's saving grace sets us free from all guilt in Jesus Christ our Lord.

God's saving grace is at the cross where Jesus died in our place. Grace shows us the Savior of sinners, who suffered in our place. Grace teaches us that Christ died for all our sins."But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone"(Hebrews 2:9). That's God's saving grace for you.

God's saving grace introduces us personally to Christ risen from the dead. Grace will bring us into union and communion with Christ. Then we can say, "But by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10). God's saving grace redeems believers in Christ from the guilt of sin.

The Circumcised Heart

John Owen wrote, "What is it to have the heart circumcised, the apostle declares, 'It is the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ' (Colossians 2:11); that is, our conversion to God. It is the giving 'a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear (Deuteronomy 29:4)."

In the Old Testament, circumcision was a sign of entering into a covenant relationship with God. It was performed by man in the flesh. However, only the Spirit of God can circumcise the heart. The New Testament teaches circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit (Romans 2:29). Circumcision here is used as a metaphorical expression for a change of heart.

Your circumcised heart makes you a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). Your heart is a symbol of your inward person. It's your mind, will, and emotions. Your mind is transformed to understand the will of God (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 2:16). Your will is changed with a desire to do God's good will (Philippians 2:13). Then, you love the LORD your God with all your heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). 

Your circumcised heart becomes responsive to the things of God (1 Corinthians 1:18; 2:14). Our hearts are changed to become responsive to God's word and will. The mind, will, and emotions are changed by the grace of God in Christ. How about your heart?

God's Adopted Children

Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16). He was begotten by the Holy Spirit through the virgin birth. All who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are God's adopted children. In Christ alone, God adopts believers into His family. Believers are redeemed, that we might receive the adoption as sons (Galatians 4:5).

Adoption of believers in Christ is freedom from the bondage of sin. At the cross, Jesus died to redeem us from the slavery of sin. Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son (Galatians 4:7). We are adopted as children of God, because of redemption in God's only begotten Son. In Christ alone, we are adopted as children of God.

Adoption of believers is a personal relationship with our heavenly Father. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba Father (Galatians 4:6). The Holy Spirit indwells every believer to confirm our adoption. We experience God the Father's love in our hearts as His adopted child (Romans 5:5).

Adoption makes every believer an heir of God in Christ (Galatians 4:7). We have a blessed hope for the future. We have a predestined inheritance to be conformed to the likeness of Christ (Galatians 4:7). For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). That is our glorification in Christ, as God's adopted children.