John 6:41-51 – Will to Believe
If Jesus had come as a conquering king, with wealth and honours to bestow on His followers, and mighty armies behind Him, the Jews would have been willing enough to receive Him. But a poor, and humble, and suffering Messiah is an offense to them. Their pride refuses to believe that such a one is sent from God. We see the same thing today. Thousands can’t stand the idea of atonement, sacrifice, and substitution of Christ. They approve His moral teaching. They admire His example and self-denial. But they hate Christ’s blood, Christ being made sin for us, Christ’s death being the corner-stone of our hope, and Christ’s poverty being our riches.
Until the Father draws the heart of man by His grace, man will not believe. We are spiritually dead, and have no power to give ourselves life. We may have the ability to put our faith in Christ, but we have no desire to do so. There are no men or women who have a great desire to come to Christ, but no ability to do so. Instead, it’s the other way around. They have no power to come because they have no desire to come. What we need is a new will, a new heart, a new desire. The power to come to Christ comes from that. But our inability to come to Christ, doesn’t mean we are blameless. Our blood is on our own head. Christ will save, but if we refuse to come to Him, we are to blame. Our wrong desires are our own fault.
Salvation is a present thing. It isn’t something that we get after we die, but it is ours the very day we believe. The very moment a sinner believes on Christ he is justified and accepted. There is no condemnation for him. He has peace with God, immediately and without delay. His name is in the book of life. He has a title to heaven, which death and hell and Satan cannot overthrow.
Questions
- What do we need in order to believe?
- What happens the moment we believe?
Prayer Points
- Pray for the preaching and hearing of God’s Word tomorrow.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.