sermonette: Faith and Our Calling
The Source of Our Faith
David C. Grabbe
Given 29-May-04; Sermon #668s; 14 minutes
Good afternoon everyone. We're going to begin today by turning to John chapter 6.
John 6:44.
John 6:44. No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw Him, and I will raise him up at the last day. This verse is especially well suited for the Pentecost season because Pentecost is an annual observation and celebration of the first fruits, that is of the church. The church is a spiritual organism consisting of those that
God has dragged out of this world and into a relationship with Him. The
true church throughout history has always been small in number. We know this is because God is only working with a few individuals at this time. And it is impossible for man to be a part of the church and to develop a relationship with the Savior without direct action and intervention by God the Father. Most of you could probably recite
John 6:44 before he returns there. Because you've heard it used so many times, but verse 45 is not nearly as well known, and it raises an interesting question.
John 6:45 says, It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. It's a quote from Isaiah 54. Christ goes on, every man, therefore, that has heard and has learned of the Father comes unto me. Verse 44 says that no man can come to the son unless the Father draws him. Now this verse says that every man who has heard and has learned from the Father comes to the Son. This second verse almost makes it sound as if our calling is simply a matter of hearing
the gospel and responding. All we have to do is hear and be taught by God, and then we are drawn into a relationship with
Jesus Christ. Can this be correct? This afternoon we will be examining this question and looking at whether God's calling is something that is offered to everyone who hears and believes the gospel of their own accord or whether something more is involved. According to most of the Christian world, all that is needed is for someone to be properly taught and accept Jesus Christ, and then he is drawn by God and begin and can begin a relationship with the Son. The only thing standing in the way according to this view is a man's unwillingness to believe the truth. According to this view, God's involvement in a man's calling is little more than ensuring that he hears the gospel. God opens his arms, so to speak. And wait for people to come to him. There is another verse on the surface appears to back this up. Please turn with me to Romans 1.
Romans 1:16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it, meaning the gospel, is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And here is a second verse that seems to put the focus on an individual's response. It says that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. Does it not seem logical then following this through that it is up to the individual and that the only reasons there are not more Christians in
the world are the gospel has not been heard or else there is an unwillingness to believe. Notice though that this verse raises the bar a little bit.
John 6:45 says that all who hear and are taught by God can approach Christ, but this verse shows that it takes more than just hearing. It also takes believing. Simply hearing the good news that Christ brought does not accomplish anything if one does not believe it. And this is the principle that is found in
Hebrews 4:2, which we will not turn to, where it says that ancient Israel had the gospel preached to them but it did not benefit them because it was not mixed with
faith. From this we see that the necessary ingredient in this formula of believing the gospel and approaching Christ is faith. Without faith, nothing is produced. Without faith, nothing happens. It's just a bunch of nice words and warm sentiments. So to summarize what we have seen so far, Jesus Christ says that no man can enter into a relationship with him unless the Father draws him. He says further that this drawing happens by hearing and being taught in some way by the Father. Paul expounds on this in Romans 1 by saying that this teaching, that is the gospel, is God's power for the purpose of salvation for everyone who believes, and Hebrews 42 points to the example of the Israelites and shows that faith, or that without faith, God's teaching does not do us any good at all. So the question is, what if the source of this specific faith that allows a man to believe God's teaching and enter into a relationship with him? Is this faith something that we somehow work up within ourselves? As we will see, no, it is not. The faith that allows the relationship to begin is something that is not within us inherently, nor is it something that we can work up by courage or compassion or tenacity. This faith is something that must be given to us by God. A man can hear the gospel day and night for the entirety of his life, and if he does not enter into a relationship with God, it is not only because he is unwilling, although that is probably part of it. No, he doesn't approach Christ because God has not given him the faith that is necessary to believe the gospel. On the other hand, if a man does believe the gospel and correctly responds to it, it is not because of any inherent greatness within him. It is not because he has somehow worked up the boldness to submit to some pretty difficult sayings. It is only because God has given him the necessary faith. Before we prove this from the Bible though, let's consider some of the ramifications. If the necessary faith is something that man can come up with on his own unaided by God, A tremendous focus is put on trying to convince others to believe and accept Christ. It puts most of the attention on the human effort of reaching out, of evangelizing, and of being missionaries. Those teachers who believe that people can come up with the faith by themselves have a tendency to dumb down the message. They try to meet people on their own terms and try to persuade using a very simple message rather than a complete message. They condense the message down to something along the lines of just believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. And yet this simple message does nothing to explain why mankind is here on earth, what it means to be saved, why we need to be saved, or what our awesome destiny is. It does not explain how to conduct our lives on a daily basis or what to do when we come to a decision point. I think you recognize what I've been describing as the typical mainstream approach to evangelizing, and under this approach, it is theoretically possible to convert the entire world to this brand of simple Christianity if the message is universally heard and taught in such a way as to ensure belief. There are some denominations that actually believe it of the responsibility of Christians to bring about the
kingdom of God on earth. Now there is another dangerous ramification in believing that we came up with the faith on our own, and this one has a greater potential of affecting those of us in the church. The bottom line of this perspective is that the responsibility of one's calling is put on the individual. It means that the individual can claim that it was his own power or merit or ability which allowed him to believe God. Even though millions of others heard the same message and did not believe. It is very subtle, but it gives a man an occasion to boast. It allows a man to be proud that he chose to believe God and to scorn the poor souls who are not as wise as he. This self-
faithfulness, if we can call it that, then sets the stage for self-righteousness or self idolatry. Now let's look at what the Bible says about our faith. Please turn with me to Ephesians 2. Another well known passage Ephesians 2 beginning in verse 8. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus on two good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. In verse 8, where it says, and that not of yourselves, the word that is referring to both the grace and the faith. God's grace and the faith to respond are inextricably linked in a process that is all a gift from God. God supplied the grace for us to be justified and eventually to be glorified and also gives us the necessary faith to believe and properly respond. And the same faith that he supplies is a living faith which the book of James says will produce good works. Verse 9 reiterates that there is not any part of this process about which we can boast. The amplified Bible renders it it is not the result of what any one can possibly do, so no one can pride himself or take glory to himself. This is in reference to both the grace and the faith. We cannot stand before God or man and boast of having what it takes to enter into this relationship. We cannot be proud of the faith that it took for us to repent and believe the gospel, because it is God who leads us to
repentance, and it is God who gives us, gives us the faith that is necessary to believe. Verse 10 goes on to show that we, the church, the first fruits, are God's workmanship. God is the one who is overseeing this whole process. It does not say that we kick start the salvation process by our own faith, and then let God take it the rest of the way. No, God starts the process, and right at the beginning of the process, he has to supply the correct faith. Verse 10 also shows that we are being created in Christ Jesus for the purpose of good works. Not that it says that God has before ordained that we should have good works. The amplified Bible says that we are created in Christ Jesus, that we may do those good works which God predestined for us. Again, thinking back to what James says about faith and works going hand in hand, the only possible conclusion is that if God has predestined us to good works. That is, if he has ordained ahead of time that we should have good works, he must also supply the faith that will produce those works that he desires, and that is how he ordains that we will have good works by ensuring that the proper faith is present. I do not mean to imply in any of this that God has done everything for us or that there is no effort on our part. We certainly do have a part to play and a part that should consume our entire lives. The whole sanctification process in which we are presently involved is largely about the steps that we take under God's guidance to put off the old man and to put on Jesus Christ. But what we have been seeing is that the faith that begins this process, the faith that makes us a part of the first fruits, is something that must originate with God and not with us. God supplies the faith, and then we choose to use it. Consider the end of this story. Three different times in the
book of Revelation, it says in various ways that the bride of Christ will consist of 144,000 saints. In Revelation 14:4, it even calls them the first roots. Many mainstream Christians try to spiritualize away those verses and often say it doesn't actually mean that there will be literally 144,000, but that it is just an arbitrary number. They do this because they believe that the faith originates within them, and it doesn't seem possible that God would limit the number of saints. But if God saw fit to record it 3 times, I think it is safe to say that there will be exactly 144001st routes. Now how could God guarantee this number unless he personally oversaw the entire process from beginning to end? So you had a very large field and you planted somewhere around 65 billion seeds. And I use that number because that of one estimate of how many human beings have lived on the earth up until now. What are the chances that this field with 65 billion seeds planted in it left to natural law would produce exactly 144,000 healthy plants ready to be harvested in the early summer? The odds against that happening are absolutely mind boggling. If exactly 144,000 healthy plants will be ready, it must be because an all powerful God is deciding which plants are going to be ready for the first harvest and which will wait until the later harvest. God is limiting which plants grow and which do not by withholding the faith from most and giving it only to a few. To paraphrase Paul, God's human servants may plant the seeds of truth and may water those seeds, but God gives the increase. He does this by deciding which plants are going to grow now and which will be harvested later. He does this by giving or withholding the necessary faith that allows the growth to begin. Please turn with me back to John 6 where we begin. Notice what else Christ says, and this really is the clincher. John 6 this time in verse 64. He says, but there are some of you that believe not. We could say there are some of you that do not have the faith. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray Him. And he said, Therefore, should I unto you, this is referring back to verse 44, no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father. The word giving can also be translated granted unto him of my father, and the amplified says unless he is enabled to do so. The day of Pentecost is the festival of the first fruits, and if we are one of the first fruits and have a relationship with God, it is only because God has chosen us and has given us the faith that allows us to believe His word and to grow in anticipation of the early harvest.