His Glory Blog

The ability to have faith and the resulting salvation through Jesus is a gift given by God. All believers are called by God, or as seen on John 6 He draws us to Him. John 6:43-45 ⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. The word draw in Greek is (helkuo) meaning pull or divine attraction. Divine attraction through God’s love, Holy Spirit conviction, and revelation in scripture. God reveals Himself to the world and draws us to faith. No person can boast that they chose to know Jesus because that relationship was initiated by God for His purpose. Ephesians 2:8-9 ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk. in them

We see this play out when Jesus teaches concepts that are too difficult to understand with a mind absent of the Holy Spirit. We are not only given the gift of faith, but also the gift of the Holy Spirit that allows us to understand Heavenly things. This includes interpretation of God’s Word and the stirring in a believer’s spirit that guides us to walk with God as part of the body of Christ. A biblical example of trying to follow Jesus without faith is seen in the Gospel of John. John 6:64-66 ⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵ And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” ⁶⁶ After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. The people who turned back represent the population that stands close enough to Jesus to ask for the benefits He offers without a desire to walk with Him and change their lives to reflect His light to the world. Many people who identify as Christians are strangers to the Lord and will find they are not known by Him at the time of judgement.

When Jesus is crucified as the final offering for the sins of all the world, He draws those of faith to salvation through Him, again as a gift of God the Father through Jesus the Son. John 12:32 ³² And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Jesus is both fully God and fully man so being “drawn” using the same Greek word (helkuo) from John 6:44 is a perfect reflection of a God that has so much love for His children that He came to us in human form to draw all who would believe to Him through the blood shed on the cross.

The concept of God the Father calling His faithful began much sooner that the cross. He made Himself known to the Israelites as He guided the lineage that would produce our Savior through the Old Testament. He places His truth in the heart of man and at the time of salvation He gives His chosen His Spirit to dwell within them as a teacher who reveals truth and provides conviction in the presence sinfulness. Jeremiah 31:33-34 ³³ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴ And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

God gives us the gift of faith and the gift of His Holy Spirit in His desire for a reciprocal relationship. Not only does He draw us to Him as we have seen above but He also asks us to draw near to Him. James 4:7-8a ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. The word draw used in in Greek is (eggizo) meaning to come near or be at hand. He faith we are blessed to experience should draw us into relationship with God through Jesus. Through Jesus we are allowed to see what the Holy Spirit looks like fully manifested in human form and the power that comes with dependence on and love for our Creator. We are called to lean on our faith and God promises that He will be near to guide those He draws to be with Him. Psalm 145:18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.