Jesus Taught the Doctrines of Grace

                                           The Doctrines of Grace


          The Sovereignty of God - He is in total control of everything in the
     universe, and since He is a holy and righteous God, is free to do with
     His creation as He wishes.

          Total Depravity or Man's Inability to Save Himself - This doesn't
     mean that man is as evil as he can be, but that he is dead in sin, an enemy
     of God, and unable to save himself.

          Unconditional or Divine Election - God chooses a people for Himself,
     not because of anything good in them, but because of His grace and mercy
     and purpose.

          Definite (or Limited) Atonement or Particular Redemption - Christ gave
     His life as a "ransom for many," and His purpose for dying on the cross was
     to save His people.  It is a perfect and complete salvation, because it actually
     accomplishes perfect redemption.

          Irresistible or Efficacious Grace - All that the Father draws to Christ will
     come to Him for salvation.  Through the Holy Spirit, God changes a person's
     heart, making the unwilling man, willing to come to Him for forgiveness and
     salvation.  This does not mean that a person cannot resist God's common grace,
     but that through God's SAVING grace, the man is made willing to come to Him.

           Perseverance or Preservation of the Saints, or Eternal Security of the Believer -
     Since salvation is entirely a work of God, He is able to save perfectly, through
     Christ, and therefore He preserves His people for eternity, and nothing can
     separate them from Him.

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          Jesus taught and believed all these doctrines.  All of them are found in one
     short, specific passage (John 6:37-45).


          The following is a summary of chapter seven of The Potter's Freedom, by
     James White.


          "Jesus teaches that God is sovereign and acts independently of the 'free choices'
     of men.  He likewise teaches that man is incapable of saving faith outside of the
     enablement of the Father.
            He then limits this drawing to the same individuals given by the Father to the
     Son.  He then teaches irresistible grace on the elect  (not on the 'willing')
     when He affirms that all  those who are given to Him will come to Him.


                                                         ****************


                          '37. Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me,
                            and the one who comes to Me, I will never cast out.
                            38.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will,
                            but the will of Him who sent Me.

                           39. This is the will of Him who sent Me:  that I should lose
                           none of those He has given Me but should raise them up
                           on the last day.

                           40. For this is the will of My Father:  that everyone who sees
                           the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will
                           raise him up on the last day.'


          White continues:


                         "The blessed Lord was quite blunt with His audience.  He knew
         they did not possess real faith. 
                                                          'But I said to you that you have seen Me,
                                                           and yet do not believe' (v. 36).

                          They had seen Him with their eyes, but unless physical sight is
        joined with spiritual enlightenment, it profits nothing.  Jesus now explains
        their unbelief.  How is it that these men could stand before the very Son of
        God, the Word made flesh, and not believe?

                          Anyone who does not take seriously the deadness of man in
       sin should contemplate this scene.  The very Creator in human form stands
       before men who are schooled in the Scriptures and points to their unbelief.
       He then explains the why, and yet so few today will listen and believe.


                                        'Everyone that the Father gives Me
                                        will come to Me' (v. 37).

                           These are the first words to come from the Lord in explanation
       of man's unbelief.  The first assertion is one of complete divine sovereignty.
       Every word speaks volumes.

                                 
                                       'Everyone that the Father gives Me.'


                          The Father gives someone to Christ.  The elect are viewed as a
       single whole, given by the Father to the Son.  The Father has the right to
       give a people to the Son.  He is the sovereign King, and this is a divine
       transaction.

                          Everyone given by the Father to the Son comes to the Son.
       Not some, not most, but every one.

                         Everyone given by the Father to the Son will come to the Son.
       It is vital to see the truth that is communicated by this phrase:

                         
                                   the GIVING by the Father to the Son PRECEDES
                                   and DETERMINES the COMING of the person to Christ.

                         The action of giving by the Father comes before the action of
      coming to Christ by the individual.  And since all of those so given infallibly
      come, we have here both unconditional election as well as irresistible grace,
      and that in the space of nine words!

                         God's giving results in man's coming.  Salvation is of the Lord.

                         But note as well that it is to the Son that they come.  They do not
       come to a religious system.  They are coming to Christ.  This is a personal
       relationship, personal faith, and, given that the ones who come are described
       throughout the passage by the present tense participle, it is not just a coming
       that happens once.
                        This is an on-going faith, an on-going looking to Christ as the
       source of spiritual life.  The men to whom the Lord was speaking had 'come'
       to Him for a season:  they would soon walk away and follow Him no more.
                        The true believer is coming to Christ, always.  This is the nature
       of saving faith."


                        Next time:  Part two