In Texas, when two parties are at cross purposes, one of them will call for a “Come to Jesus” meeting.  It’s one of those peculiar idioms society has adapted to portray the importance of resolving issues.  The ideal is to bring the parties to a mutual understanding, and work out all their differences.  The business world took it from the religious world and the initial use was sarcasm.  Today, it’s commonly accepted in the language and no one blinks when they hear it.  While it’s annoying, it’s indicative of the lack of understanding most folks have about scripture and true doctrine.

Because a class of religion has defined their doctrines based on the understanding of confused men from generations past, most so called Christian sects today have no choice but to avoid much of scripture.  They can’t talk with any authority regarding Romans 8:28-29, nor can they deal with Matt 1:21, John 5:25, Eph. Chapter 1 and 2, John chapter 10 and on and on.  When they get to these verses, they have to “teach around them” or gloss over them for they truly do their doctrinal position no good.

They can’t use much of the sixth chapter of John’s gospel either.  That’s the original “come to Jesus” in the truest sense. 

John 6:37 tells us that “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”  This is one of those either/or verses.  Either it means exactly what it says, or you have to twist it around your doctrine to make it work.  The verse clearly teaches that God the Father GAVE some to Christ, and that those GIVEN SHALL COME, and those that come SHALL be secure.  We are confident that ALL is the number given Him by the Father, and that whatever that number is, it matches exactly the number that SHALL come to him.

Some may say this teaches universalism.  It does not.  All, in this case, could easily read “as many as.”

Men today in the general religious world want to believe they can come to Jesus anytime they want.  You can wait until you are on your dying bed and come to the Lord with your final breath and your eternal salvation is secure.  As the Captain of your own fate, the ruler of your own destiny, you not only make your day to day decisions in this lifetime, but arrangements for the world to come.  You would think that arrangements for a future world would require someone who has been there to serve as a go-between, a broker, an advocate perhaps.

Can you come to Jesus at any time of your choosing?  The modern sects have the belief so firmly established they’ve even created you a road to walk on en route to the King.  You’ve heard of the Roman Road to Salvation?

John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

You can’t COME unless YOU ARE DRAWN by the FATHER.  How do you entice the FATHER to draw you that you may COME?  (And, in case there was any confusion, you can be sure when the Father draws you, He isn’t going to draw you down the Roman Road.  You’re likely to be drawn down the pit of despair and shown your sins and depravity and need of a savior…)

So about this Come to Jesus meeting: It does say all the Father hath given Christ will come to Him, so what does that mean?  If we make the verse apply to this lifetime, we have to ask how that takes place.  Are they brought to Jesus by the preaching of the gospel and the efforts of man?  If so, that provides for much failure and places more responsibility on man than it does Christ.  If I know of any hard and fast rules to determine whether or not I have the proper understanding of a scripture, it is this:

If the application I have arrived at gives man any honor and glory for

the eternal work of Christ, I can be sure I have the wrong understanding.

So in John chapter 6, because Christ is talking about ALL, and not some, (a specific number, referencing those that the Father gave Him) and because He is invoking the eternal covenant with the Father before the foundation of the world, (which is when they were given to Him) and because He must get all honor and glory in every application, we must conclude that the “coming to Jesus” and the drawing are all God’s work, pertaining to the new birth and is all accomplished outside of the preaching of the gospel without any help from man.