John 6:65
John 6:64-65 (see also John 15:16, 19)
“But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
Question: What was “this reason”?
Answer: Calvinists will say that the “reason” for the Father’s giving, drawing and granting is because mankind is born as dead rebel sinners and total haters of God, and therefore a pre-selected few require a pre-faith regeneration in order to receive Christ, but if you check what Jesus just “said,” especially in v.64, there is no mention of this. Instead, Jesus commented that there are some who do not believe. The meaning is that unbelievers are not being drawn by the Father to come to Christ, but rather the believing remnant, such as Nathaniel (John 1:49), supported by the fact that Jesus said that true believers of God are in fact coming to Him. (John 5:49)
Michael Brown states of Jesus’ critics: “They looked to be just like everybody else, ‘We’re devoted followers of God.’ ‘No,’ He says, ‘You’re really not, because if you believe Moses, you’d believe Me. If you were listening to the Father, then by all means you would come to Me. The proof that you’re not listening to the Father is that you won’t come to Me.’” (James White vs. Michael Brown)
John 5:46: “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.”
John 6:45: “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 7:17: “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.”
John 8:42: “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.’”
Jesus responded to His critics by referencing His Father’s giving, drawing and granting of a faithful remnant of believers, like Nathaniel, as coming to Him, in order to shame and contradict His critics, in order to show that the reason for their resistance is rooted in a broken relationship with God. If they were right with God, He would be drawing them to His Son. So, it was not a drawing of un-believers.
One member of the Society of Evangelical Arminians: “Some Jews accepted John’s message of a Messiah, because they’re looking for a political Messiah that would free the Jews from Roman rule. Nonetheless, these Jews are not in a right relationship with the Father. When Jesus preached that He is the bread from heaven, many Jews desert Him once they realize He is not the kind of political Messiah they are looking for. Some stayed, like Judas, perhaps still thinking that Jesus would free the Jews from the Romans one day, and hoping that once Jesus becomes the King of the Jews he would become a high-ranking official in His Jewish kingdom. Yet when Jesus praised Mary for anointing Jesus with an expensive perfume that is worth 30 pieces of silver, Judas realized that Jesus would not fulfill his political dreams, and thus decided to betray Him.”
One member of The Society of Evangelical Arminians: “Notice the reaction from the crowd concerning Jesus’ words. They didn’t bicker over Jesus’ alleged teaching on unconditional election and reprobation or irresistible grace. They were upset because He said that He was the bread that came down from heaven, making Himself the Son of God, and therefore equal with God. The reason why they didn’t bicker over Jesus’ teaching on unconditional election and reprobation or irresistible grace is because Jesus was not teaching on those subjects. One would think that the Jews of all people would have balked at any notion of not being God’s elect!”
Another member of The Society of Evangelical Arminians: “The Father is not going to give nonbelievers to Jesus to be his own, so those given are all going to be believers!”
Another member of The Society of Evangelical Arminians: “John’s text shows why any believe, for as v.63 states, ‘The Spirit gives life.’ So this is no explanation why particular persons believe, but why belief, and therefore salvation, are available. Thus, people believe or they may not--as the context of this chapter in John makes clear.”
Steven Hitchcock: “Certainly no one can come to Jesus unless God is granting, leading, and drawing, but these statements by Jesus say more than that. They assert a particular election of Jews at a time when there was a unique hardening of the Jews. In regard to the Jews, Jesus would have them to know that they needed a special election to believe in Him. Foreign to Jesus’ intention for these passages, the Calvinist mistakenly thinks that these particular verses are to be universally related to the world. Quite the contrary, Jesus is making an emphatic point that had a particular audience in mind that is specifically explained by John in chapter 12. During the time of Jesus’ ministry there was a special hardening upon Israel and this was why Jesus did not have the expected unity that would have automatically provided a certain legitimacy to His claim of being the Messiah.” (Recanting Calvinism, p.191, emphasis mine)
Steven Hitchcock: “To solidify this corrective in our interpretation, here is a text of great significance that Calvinists do not seem to want to know about, that expressly relates to these important verses. In John 18:8,9, when Jesus is being seized, Jesus says, ‘I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way,’ to fulfill the word which He spoke, ‘Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.’” Those whom the Father had given to Jesus had their fulfillment at that time and therefore the ‘given Me’ passages of John 6, 8, and 10, do not relate to the universal church. They specifically relate to those believers at that time in contrast to the majority of Israel that did not believe in her Messiah. These verses in John 18 show that the context relates to the disciples that God gave to Jesus during the time of His ministry for the express purpose that they might validate His claim to being the Messiah and that they might continue on as witnesses of everything that would happen to Jesus. It was imperative that they not be killed, so that they might witness His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and then as those who must give personal testimony of being the recipients bodily of the promise of the Spirit that occurred upon Jesus’ Glorification at Pentecost.” (Recanting Calvinism, p.192, emphasis mine)
Steven Hitchcock: “If we fail to appreciate the significance of being ‘given’ followers from God, as indicating Jesus’ validity of claiming to be the bridegroom, we can very easily attach a Calvinistic understanding to these texts. Imagine Jesus starting His ministry and He had no followers at all. Followers were rather important to being a Rabbi and especially important to being the Messiah of Israel. … When we come to John 6, Jesus is already facing a question of no small significance as to the validity of His claim to being the Messiah. There was an undercurrent of doubt because Jesus was already experiencing a lack of support from the religious leaders, created by His cleansing of the temple, and as He was about to introduce teaching that would further divide His followers, about eating His flesh and drinking His blood.” (Recanting Calvinism, p.188)
Question: Why did they not believe?
Answer: Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.” (John 8:42) In other words, Jesus says to them that if God were indeed their Father, then they would love Him, and would “come to Me.” And Jesus knew from the beginning [of His ministry] who it was who did not believe. Jesus was pointing out to these Jews that whereas they claimed that God was their father, it was actually Satan that they had made their father. Jesus told them: “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.” (John 8:44) Jesus was not trying to condemn them. After all, they were already condemned. (John 3:18) Jesus was trying to reach them, being willing (Matthew 23:37), but because of the hardness of their heart, they were unwilling (John 5:40) and could not bear to hear His word. (John 8:43)
John Calvin: “‘Yet there are some of you who do not believe.’ Again Christ blames them. They wickedly corrupt and debase his teaching because they are devoid of the Spirit and so turn it to their destruction.” (John: Calvin, The Crossway Classic Commentaries, p.175, emphasis mine)
In other words, the cause of disbelief is due to being devoid of the Spirit. A different way to look at it, is to say that because they did not believe, God refused to give them His Spirit. However, John Calvin rejects that view, by stating that no one can simply just believe, but instead, must be secretly granted the gift of faith, as part of a secretly elect group:
John Calvin: “‘This is why I told you…’ He says again that faith is a rare and special gift of God’s Spirit, so that we will not be surprised if the Gospel is not welcomed by everyone everywhere. We may misunderstand things badly and think less highly of the Gospel if the whole world does not assent to it. We think to ourselves, ‘How can it be that most people deliberately reject their salvation?’ Christ explains why there are so few believers. It is because no one can attain faith by his own cleverness. Everyone is blind until they are enlightened by God’s Spirit. So they can only share this great blessing as the Father decides to include them. If this grace was for everyone indiscriminately, it would be inopportune and inappropriate to mention it in this passage. We have to understand Christ’s aim -- that not many people believe the Gospel, because faith comes only from the sacred revelation of the Spirit. ‘Unless the Father has enabled him.’” (John: Calvin, The Crossway Classic Commentaries, p.176, emphasis mine)
So according to Calvin, unbelief is because faith is a special gift of the Spirit, reserved only for the elect. However, it should be pointed out that faith comes from “hearing the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
