Commentaries:
<< John 6:45 John 6:47 >>
John 6:45-46
More is here than readily meets the eye because we must understand it in its wider context. He is not speaking of merely being taught by God but rather indicating the entire transformation process.
This section of the discourse begins with Jesus saying that He will do everything in His power to save the person God gives to Him. He then establishes that the Father begins the process through a powerful drawing. He goes on to declare that the transformation from human glory to divine glory is also from God. Paul writes in II Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." Jesus thus encapsulates the entire salvation process as driven from above. Christians are still responsible to do works of submission, but the Bible always shows God in control and driving the entire process.
Our human responsibility resides in the word "heard" (verse 45), which encompasses not only hearing but also believing and producing faith. This touches again on "eating" the Word of God. Paul says in Romans 10:17 that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Through the work of hearing and analysis, we assimilate God's Word into use in our conduct.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Eating: How Good It Is! (Part Four)Related Topics: Assimilating Spiritual Food | Faith and Hearing | Ingesting Spiritual Food | Transformation, Process of | Transformed into His Likeness | Transformed into the Image of Jesus ChristOther Forerunner Commentary entries containing John 6:46:
<< John 6:45 John 6:47 >>
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