No Man Can Come Unless …
by Terry Wane Benton
Jesus said, “No man can come to Me unless the Father draws him…” (John 6:44-45). This does not say or imply that “no man can believe in God” unless God does something to their depraved soul first. No! We can all believe in God, and none have any excuse if they don’t (Romans 1:20; Psalm 19). Jesus said you can’t come to Me unless the Father draws you to Jesus. How can this drawing take place? The next verse explains how one is drawn to Jesus. You have to be taught and learn about Jesus (John 6:45). You can look at creation and believe in God, but the name of Jesus is not learned by looking at creation. To know Jesus, you have to learn about Him.
God gave four thousand years of history and prophecy to educate us and by education draw us to Jesus. Those who hear and learn from the Father through His Old Testament scriptures are ready to graduate to the prophesied Messiah, who turns out to be Jesus. Without these prophetic and typological testimonies we would never understand why we need Jesus, and we would not be drawn to Him. The law of Moses was a “schoolmaster to bring us to Christ” (Galatians 3:23-24). No man can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him to Jesus, and that drawing power is in the convincing power of the prophetic word now made more sure in Jesus. Every human has the ability to enter God’s schooling, and unless you do you will not be able to come to Jesus that you might truly have life. Have you entered God’s schooling?
The schooling must be first before you can come to Jesus. An example is seen in Acts 2. Could the 3000 come to Jesus on their own? No! Those who heard Peter preach the gospel, going over various prophecies that were fulfilled, could now be educated in the Father’s truth and “learned from the Father.” They “gladly received the word” and “were baptized.” They graduated from their lost and blinded state to now being enlightened in Christ. They came to Jesus now because they heard and learned from the Father. Anyone can listen and learn, but only those who learn will come to Jesus.
