All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
All whom the Father gives to Christ will come to Him, and everyone who comes to Him in faith He will receive and in no wise cast out. Coming is believing in Him and putting whole trust in Him as Redeemer and personal Saviour rather than in self, in outward church connection, or in human help. It is feeding daily upon Him by receiving and living His Word until it becomes character and life, and it is bowing the will to God in repentance, confession, surrender, and obedience. No sinner who comes need fear rejection or wait to become worthy, for need is the plea and His pledged word gives complete assurance apart from changing feelings. Those who so come have everlasting life now, are made one with Him as the branch with the vine, and He will raise them to immortal life at the last day.
Words and Historical Setting
Jesus spoke this promise in the synagogue at Capernaum after the feeding of the multitude and the crossing of the sea, and that surrounding narrative supplies its setting. It belongs to His teaching after He refused the crowd's attempt to make Him king and declared Himself the Bread of Life, showing that those the Father gives come to Him and that He rejects no one who comes, for receiving Him brings spiritual life, not an earthly kingdom. Many who followed Him were drawn by hopes of an earthly kingdom rather than understanding of His spiritual teaching.
Its setting was the Passover, where the lamb represented Christ, whose flesh given for the life of the world is His sacrifice for human salvation offered to all who accept Him as Redeemer. In that Passover setting His blood brings protection from death, and eating and drinking His flesh and blood by receiving Him in faith gives hope of resurrection to immortal life, for He came to do the Father's will to lose none entrusted to Him but to give everlasting life and raise them at the last day. His work as substitute for sin was the only hope of ancient Israel and remains the hope of God's people, and the chapter has special reference to the spiritual nourishment found in God's Word, whose living words taken into the life leave no soul spiritually hungry.
The crowd sought Him for daily provision, temporal advantage, and hope of an earthly kingdom, yet He taught that spiritual food is of far more consequence than temporal food. Though the same compassionate Saviour who fed five thousand men besides women and children with five barley loaves and two small fishes is not unmindful of bodily wants, chief labor and anxiety must be given not to the meat which perishes but to the meat which endures to everlasting life, a bread from heaven obtainable from no human agent but given by God Himself through Christ. Coming to Him means believing in Him rather than merely seeking His gifts, for receiving Christ brings spiritual life, not an earthly kingdom. Coming means more than following for temporal advantages like eating the loaves and being filled; it demands dying to self and practicing self-denial and the principles of truth.
The bread-of-life teaching tested its hearers and exposed whether they were for or against Him, revealing those not wholly with Him. Many who followed for temporal benefit turned away when He rejected a temporal reign and demanded dying to self, showing their true character and that they were not of Him, while holding fast to precious sanctifying truth with faith and a good conscience keeps one from making shipwreck. Judas had abundant opportunity yet failed to form a firm character, and the twelve did not show themselves unfaithful. The chapter expresses God's will and gives instruction relevant to overcoming dissension, and living that instruction leads to unity with Christ and with one another.
The chapter presents the conditions of eternal life and plainly states the way in which eternal life may be obtained. The price of heaven is the only begotten Son of God and the way to heaven is by faith in Jesus, for the work of God is to believe on Him whom God sent; believing comes first and then working, so those who believe will work the works of God, and eating His flesh and drinking His blood means being doers of the Word. Receiving Him as a personal Saviour means taking His life-giving words, which are spirit and life, into one's life, and He promises to raise the believer at the last day. Its wonderful truths contain most precious and important lessons giving an education that endures through time and eternity when brought into practical life, making known what He is and what advantage comes to each person individually from eating His words, with Himself as the great center of life. Understanding and living by the chapter's teaching leads to a life that measures with the life of God, yet the chapter is only faintly understood and must be carefully and prayerfully studied rather than neglected for distracting reading.
The verse belongs to the words of Christ that the Holy Spirit brings to mind and presses on the conscience to lead people to repentance. It is part of His decisive teaching that the Old Testament Scriptures are sufficient, so that those who truly believed them would also believe the New Testament.
Father Gives and Draws
All whom the Father gives to Christ will come to him, and gift and coming belong inseparably together, for everyone who comes is received and never turned away. This promise belongs to those who by faith receive Christ as the Lamb of God and partake of the spiritual food of his flesh and blood, putting whole trust in him who gave his own life to save souls by truly and earnestly believing on him and receiving his word. He is the bread of life under the similitude of heavenly bread, and all who truly receive his word never hunger and all who believe in him never thirst for higher or more satisfying food, but have everlasting life. Coming is direct and personal, with actual living faith in him as the one who satisfies spiritual hunger and thirst, rather than depending on men, and it means receiving him, believing in him, and becoming one with him by eating his flesh and drinking his blood. This direct coming is especially needed in this period of earth's history when events of great importance are coming upon the earth, and it stands in contrast to seeking temporal food and to seeing Christ and still not believing, a charge of unbelief against those who would not receive him as the bread of life.
Christ came from heaven to do the will of the Father who sent him, which is to lose none of those entrusted and given to him but to raise them at the last day and give them hope of resurrection to immortal life. Of all given to him he loses nothing but raises them up at the last day, so that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life. His feeding of the five thousand showed his compassion, love, and benevolence, yet people could see his work and still not believe, so the promise calls for trust, praise, and thanksgiving. God takes a people to himself through wisdom and grace, not because they are already perfect, but because he can correct their errors and teach them by the Holy Spirit, and those who believe in him as personal Saviour will be made complete in him by grace.
The Father teaches and draws people so they can understand spiritual truth and come to Christ, and those who genuinely seek God's will can recognize his teaching. The Father's gift and a person's coming belong together because the Father enables this coming, and coming means believing in him and receiving the life his words give. Christ constantly draws the mind by his Holy Spirit to make this coming possible, yet people may want the blessings of the bread of heaven and still reject him when they cling to human traditions and ideas. Coming means abiding in him and not standing outside him, staying consciously with him as light, life, and salvation, and the blessings he bestows depend on the person's own individual action of coming and not refusing him, because man cannot save himself and must be saved by a power outside himself.
Those given by the Father are his sheep who hear his voice, are known by him, follow him, receive eternal life from him, shall never perish, and no one is able to pluck them out of his hand or out of his Father's hand, while every plant that the heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up. Election is conditional, not fixed by a set number whose completion ends probation, a subject not to be talked about or speculated upon beyond plainly revealed truths bearing on salvation. Jesus died for the ungodly and every person who wants to come may come, and a person becomes one of God's elect and a child of God by complying with God's conditions. If he refuses the conditions he cannot become elect, but if he continues in steadfast, immovable faithfulness and obedience Jesus will not blot his name out of the book of life but will confess his name before the Father and before his angels.
What Coming Means
Coming to Christ means believing in him with whole trust in the one who gave his own life to save souls, truly and earnestly receiving him as Redeemer and personal Saviour and receiving his word. It is reliance on his word, his mercy, and his merits rather than on self, with actual living faith that satisfies spiritual hunger and thirst. Those who come in this belief are received and never turned away, and they have everlasting life now with the promise of being raised at the last day.
Coming is eating his flesh and drinking his blood by receiving him, believing in him, and becoming one with him as the bread of life. It is daily feeding the soul on spiritual food, so that Christian experience takes on the nature of that food and spiritual life is built up as physical life is built up by food, with the glory of God as its end. Keeping God's word and truth before the mind, studying and practicing its teachings and looking to Jesus by faith, is how this feeding is done, for his words give spiritual life.
That feeding means personally receiving and inwardly assimilating his words, making his teachings and revealed precepts part of daily life and daily actions and character rather than abandoning them. All who truly receive his word never hunger and all who believe never thirst for higher or more satisfying food, for he as the bread from heaven gives food that endures to everlasting life. This bread is obtained from God himself through the gift of Christ and from no human agent, and chief labor and anxiety must be given to it rather than to meat which perishes, since spiritual food is of far more consequence than temporal food. So fed, the mind is shaped by the word rather than by corrupting material, gaining spiritual strength and growth, and the believer becomes an observer of the word and has Christ as an abiding presence in the soul, his words being spirit and life. This cures self-esteem and exaltation of self, for worth depends not on brilliant talents, lofty birth, or wonderful powers but on a clean heart purified and refined that by beholding Christ reflects the long-lost image of divinity and reveals him in spirit, words, and actions.
Coming is not a bodily journey but turning to him with contrition, childlike faith, and complete surrender, submitting the human will to God. It means bowing humbly and contritely, putting aside self-righteousness, realizing sin against God, repenting of sins, confessing and forsaking sin, striving to make restitution for the past, and asking pardon in the Redeemer's name. The sinner cannot save himself yet has something to do to secure salvation, for faith is the gift of God but the power to exercise it belongs to the sinner, and faith is the hand by which the soul takes hold of the divine offers of grace and mercy, believing that Christ accepts and pardons. Those who so come surrender body, soul, and spirit, yield to God's claims, obey his commandments, and answer the drawing of his Spirit without refusal, while pride and self-sufficiency keep a person from seeing faults, from feeling need of a Saviour, and from coming to be cleansed.
Coming is direct personal faith in a personal Saviour that brings the soul into spiritual union with Christ, dwelling in him and he in the believer and living by him as he lives by the Father. It is not mere outward connection with any church, dependence on men, or acceptance of human ideas, for mere outward connection will not save. It requires coming directly to him, trusting his word and depending on him rather than on human beings, human resources, or human traditions for help, strength, guidance, wisdom, sanctification, righteousness, and reward. This direct receiving by faith applies to priest and ruler, Jew and Gentile alike, and is especially needed when events of great importance are coming upon the earth.
Promise of Certain Welcome
All whom the Father gives will come, and every one who comes will be received and never turned away, for the pledged word makes rejection impossible. This promise alone is enough to plead before God, giving complete assurance of acceptance and safety, opening the treasures of grace so that the believer is as safe as if already inside the city of God. Coming means putting whole trust in him who gave his own life to save souls, truly and earnestly believing, receiving his word, eating his flesh and drinking his blood and becoming one with him as the bread of life, so that all who truly receive never hunger and all who believe never thirst for higher or more satisfying food. Those who come have everlasting life, and of all given to him he loses nothing but raises them up at the last day, in fulfillment of the Father's will that everyone who sees the Son and believes may have everlasting life, a charge laid against unbelief after calling hearers to receive himself as the bread of life. He is the only hope and Saviour, to be approached directly with living faith rather than by dependence on men, trusting his word and depending on him for needed help, a direct coming especially needed in this period of earth's history when events of great importance are coming upon the earth.
The welcome embraces even those who are sinful and polluted, helpless and unworthy, poor, suffering, tempted and wayward, and those who have known the truth yet retain unsanctified traits of character. No one who comes as a sinner with no cloak for sin is turned away, and coming brings neither humiliation nor condemnation but reliance on the promise so that while relying on it they will not perish. Coming means turning with contrition, childlike faith and complete surrender, believing him to be one's personal Saviour, coming as one is without resisting the drawing of his Spirit, surrendering body, soul and spirit. As soon as that surrender is made he accepts even a sin-polluted soul, takes away sin and gives his righteousness, cleanses, purifies and sanctifies by giving the Holy Spirit, changing cries of distress and woe into praise and thanksgiving. Accepting him by genuine faith brings heaven as a precious gift, gives hope of escaping separation from heaven, and enables even such sinners to be used as workers in his vineyard. Taking him at his word in faith brings salvation even while tempted, by placing whole dependence on him as the sin-pardoning Saviour instead of on self, and by answering his knocking at the heart's door and opening to him as a heavenly guest.
A sinner need not wait to make himself better or worthy before coming, for need rather than goodness is the plea. Even when Satan points to guilt and accuses of sinfulness or tempts to doubt God's power to save, the promise gives confidence to come for cleansing, trusting that his blood cleanses from every stain of sin. God's grace meets even the first feeble desire and movement of the repentant heart to turn to him. Coming requires no prior good works or self-improvement, for people are powerless to make themselves righteous and must rely on his righteousness, ask forgiveness, and trust him for help.
The welcome rests on his dying love at Calvary, where he bore the penalty for sin and atoned for sin, and that love is the sinner's assurance of acceptance, peace and love. Those who come humbly, putting aside self-righteousness, confessing and forsaking sin and asking pardon in the Redeemer's name, will be pardoned and justified and receive power to become God's children. Through faith sinners can rest in his love, and through his sacrifice their sins are atoned for and pardoned so they may stand before God pure and spotless, clothed in his righteousness and made perfect by his merits, instead of standing in sinful garments with every secret open to his eye. He undertakes to save all who trust in him, bringing sinners to himself without human ideas or interference placed between them and their Saviour, with instant healing and life to those who come in sincerity.
Trust rests on his sure word, not on changing feelings, emotions, misery or sin. Looking away from self to Jesus, the Saviour who bears sin and takes it away, taking God at his word and claiming the promise as one's own by faith, dispels doubt and bears living witness to the truthfulness of God's word. Forgiveness and pardon are his when faith grasps the promise, whether or not blessing is yet felt, and the peace and rest that follow are assurance. His pledged word means there is no possibility of rejection, giving assurance of acceptance, salvation, forgiveness and righteousness. One who makes mistakes can come, ask forgiveness, believe it given, cast the helpless soul on him alone without worry and without mourning over defects, rejoicing instead and refusing words of unbelief; when the enemy says the Lord has forsaken, the promise answers that he has not, for he calls sinners to repentance and receives all who come. Doubting his mercy, goodness and love dishonors him, so the tempted must dismiss the enemy and never argue with Satan, but keep repeating and believing God's word, and coming in this way brings rest to those who labor and are heavy laden as they take his yoke and learn meekness and lowliness of heart, with even small mishaps ordered to save from larger mistakes.
Those who come have loving and obedient hearts, in contrast to the thousands perishing in sins through heedless and reckless disobedience of God's law, and to many who in blindness become offended because they meet a false standard. People may want the blessings of the bread of heaven and still reject him when they cling to human traditions and ideas, and may see his work and still not believe. The Jewish rejection of light, truth and the Son of God did not show that he refused them, but that they stubbornly refused the mercy offered to them, persisting in sin until guilt was full and judgment showed final impenitence that had worn out divine patience. His ears are open to the earnest plea of even the worst sinners, his eyes rest with pity and forgiveness on the penitent however defiled and lowly, his lips give instruction to seekers of knowledge and comfort and pardon to the sinful and desponding, and his heart is touched by human woe, for he died to save even the worst; yet he has no word, look, ear or light for the proud, cruel and self-sufficient who come with commands and curiosity and feel no need of a Saviour.
Coming to him in living faith with sincerity is like looking at the bronze serpent, so that those who look to him can be healed from sin's wounds and receive life and blessing.
Life Now and Resurrection
Those who come and believe never hunger and never thirst again for higher or more satisfying food, for Christ as the bread of life from heaven satisfies spiritual hunger and thirst and gives food that endures to everlasting life. His words are spirit and life, and believers may have Him as an abiding presence in the soul. Coming means truly and earnestly believing on Him whom God sent, putting whole trust in Him who gave His own life to save souls, and receiving His Word. He is the same compassionate Saviour today, not unmindful of bodily wants, who fed five thousand men besides women and children by increasing five barley loaves and two small fishes and commanded the fragments to be gathered that nothing be lost, and who still imparts knowledge to provide food in different places with an unstayed hand of benevolence. Spiritual food is of far more consequence than temporal food, so chief labor and anxiety must be given not to the meat which perishes but to the meat which endures to everlasting life, and this bread from heaven can be obtained from no human agent but God Himself gives through the gift of Christ, received not by seeking temporal food but by receiving Him as the bread of life.
Those who come have everlasting life now, with His life in the believer, and of all given to Him He loses nothing but preserves those given to Him. Coming gives life more abundantly, eternal life now with the Saviour's life in the believer hid with Christ in God. It is the Father's will that Christ lose none of those given to Him but raise them up at the last day, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life, a promise that should dispel doubt and uncertainty and calls believers to conform their wills to God's will with trust, praise, and thanksgiving. He spoke this to charge unbelief after calling hearers to receive Himself as the bread of life by receiving Him, believing in Him, and becoming one with Him, eating His flesh and drinking His blood, though people could see His work of compassion, love, and benevolence and still not believe.
He will raise them at the last day to immortal life, so that even though they may die they will be raised to live forever, and this resurrection hope belongs to those who by faith receive Christ as the Lamb of God and partake of the spiritual food of His flesh and blood. Unlike those who ate manna and died, the eater does not die but has eternal life now and will be raised at the last day to live forever. Coming gives an earnest of immortality, the pledge of resurrection because He was raised, with His engagement to raise the righteous dead and give eternal life as reward. In the setting of the Passover this promise gives hope of resurrection to immortal life according to the Father's will to lose none of those given to Him.
Coming makes the believer one with Him in this present life to be one with Him through all eternity. Everyone who comes through living faith in Him as personal Saviour is received and made one with Him as a branch is one with the vine, dwelling in Him and He in the believer and living by Him as He lives by the Father. Those who so come become partakers of the divine nature, receiving continual life from Christ that shows itself in growth and fruit, studying His Word and carrying it into the life in obedience to all its precepts. Every provision has been made for humanity, and Christ came as the representative of the human family to save whoever applies to God in His name with prayer and supplication, so those who come are not rejected like withered branches that bear no fruit. Receiving Christ as the bread of life means following Him as a perfect Saviour and belonging wholly to the Lord, so that those who eat this bread reveal that Christ abides in them, His attributes appearing in their words and actions, making their lives channels of living water and showing that they are doers of the Word.
Living the Promise Daily
The promise is to be pleaded in earnest, importunate prayer, calling continually upon the Lord in pain and infirmity and coming to Him as a refuge in all perplexity and disappointment for forgiveness and strength. Petitions offered in His name in simple, trusting, childlike faith through Jesus as Saviour are heard and answered, and those who ask in prayer receive divine help and grace to supply the needy soul. This gives increased hope and confidence in God and assurance of seeing His salvation in both body and spirit, including restoration to health to live and speak His praise and bear testimony in the congregation. Even when lying unable to labor without understanding why, the sufferer may trust that God understands, for Jesus understands human need, waits to be gracious, imparts His righteousness to the soul desiring His love and presence, and will not turn away anyone who comes. He came for this very work to call sinners to repentance, God anointed His only-begotten Son to receive every contrite soul, and He releases from bondage to Satan only by personal consent, so refusing to come dishonors God.
The promise alone gives complete assurance of acceptance and safety, and clinging to it opens the treasures of Christ's grace so the believer is as safe as if already inside the city of God. It is the present word of the glorified Christ of Revelation 1, the Son of man in glory, the first and the last who lived and died and is alive forevermore with the keys of hell and of death, saying to all today that He will in no wise cast out anyone who comes. Clinging to this mighty One means trusting His promises and the fullness of His love, conforming the will to God's will, and showing firm confidence that helps those weak in faith. It forbids dishonoring the Redeemer by turning from Him to seek help from human beings or human resources, leaning on any human prop, tracing a word of doubt toward Him, or yielding to distrust, and it dispels doubt and uncertainty about preservation to resurrection at the last day. This gives courage to weak souls who claim to be Christians, for worth with Christ does not depend on brilliant talents, lofty birth, or wonderful powers, but on a clean heart purified and refined, that does not exalt self but by beholding Christ reflects the long-lost image of divinity, presenting Him as a perfect Saviour in whom sinners rest in His love.
Every promise has conditions expressed or implied, and this promise is joined with coming just as one is, knowing weakness, helplessness, and sinfulness, and casting the helpless soul upon Jesus alone. Its conditions are taking His yoke and wearing it, lifting His burdens, and learning His meekness and lowliness of heart, which gives rest to those who labor and are heavy laden and brings a serious solemn view of life with altogether different ideas of responsibility and accountability. Receiving justification, sanctification, and His righteousness is joined with asking, seeking, and knocking; believing on Him whom God sent comes first and then working, for those who believe will work the works of God and be doers of the Word, with the Bible as the great educating Book. Good works do not save anyone, but no one can be saved without them. Coming means abiding in Him and not standing outside Him, staying consciously with Christ as light, life, and salvation, submitting the human will to God, assenting to the terms of salvation, being reconciled to God's will, obeying His commandments, and having fellowship with Him through the atoning sacrifice under the Father's protection. Christ constantly draws the mind by His Holy Spirit to make this coming possible, yet the blessings depend on the person's own individual action of coming and not refusing Him, because man cannot save himself and must be saved by a power outside himself; one who makes mistakes can ask forgiveness, believe it given, rejoice without mourning over defects, refuse words of unbelief, dismiss the enemy without arguing as Adam and Eve should have done, and trust that even small mishaps are ordered to save from larger mistakes.
The chapter's teaching is demonstrated in Christian missionary work, which inspires self-denial and cross-bearing service, spreads truth, and shows unbelievers the resources God provides for His servants. After giving themselves to Him, young converts are to trust the promise and on that trust take hold of His work, be His witnesses, and cooperate with Him, since every member of the human family is called to be laborers together with God, and this encourages believers to draw others close to Him. Those who come to Him for the bread of life are not to be turned away unfed, so disciples sent to give that bread to others must seek spiritual food from Him when helpless, trusting He will supply what His work requires. The mercy of freely receiving everyone who comes confessing sin was proved by what the disciples had witnessed in His self-sacrificing life and labors for Israel, and it still stood for those who had refused to come for life, including priests and rulers who rejected Him, who were to have another opportunity to accept Him, be reconciled to God, and receive everlasting life. That mercy was to be offered first to Israel, beginning at Jerusalem, and then to all nations, tongues and peoples, to Jews and Gentiles alike, so that all who believe would be gathered into one church.
The promise is for every age and condition, a precious truth to be taught to children that Jesus is ready to receive and bless those who come, so children who ask Him to pardon transgressions and take away sins must believe He will do so. It reaches the wayward young who turn and change course, the wealthy man called by the voice of the true Shepherd to find goodness greater than riches and what is of lasting value, and aged people who still need to learn of Christ and can come to Him for refuge and converting power while being pointed to the glories of the heavenly Canaan. It is given to those under correction to assure them God seeks to save life, not destroy it, so that if they turn with full purpose of heart, bowing in humility and contrition, casting aside self-righteousness and self-importance, confessing and forsaking every sin and asking in the Redeemer's name for pardon, they will be pardoned and justified, receive power to become sons of God, and have another chance to be restored. This assurance is to be offered to the dying by pointing them to the sin-pardoning Saviour without bringing creed or controversy to the bedside, for genuine repentance on a sickbed is possible and care should be taken for the spiritual welfare of those near death.
Coming now without further delay means being truly converted and born again, tasting that the Lord is gracious as real personal experience in eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. It means leaving the frivolous common life, worldly society that does not improve the mind or refine character, and worldly entertainments that leave a person restless and unsatisfied with no hunger for God and loss of peace, joy, hope, and assurance. Those who so come have their feet placed on Christ Jesus as the first round of the ladder and mount step by step heavenward with transformed character, following Him into visible improvement of life and character and becoming a vessel unto honor through whom He can work. Christ is the soul's true nourishment from whom spiritual life and strength come, the gospel invitation offers Christ Himself as the provision of salvation, the bread from heaven through His love and death, and the heart cannot serve God while divided, so accepting means receiving that costly provision and refusing shows failure to value it.
The teaching that life depends on receiving Him as the bread of life applies to priest and ruler, Jew and Gentile alike. Christ welcomes everyone who comes and never rejects them, receiving the helpless, taking their burdens, and giving strength and comfort, calling people to rely on Him rather than seek help or comfort from other people. No one who comes is rejected regardless of outward appearance, personal shortcomings, place in life, or past, for coming and trusting brings safety because He fights for those who rely on Him and overcomes the powers of darkness for them. Beholding His works draws people to Him and helps humanity take hold of divinity, and His invitation reveals goodness greater than riches as the voice of the true Shepherd. He meets the needs of those who come to hear Him as the same compassionate Saviour, including their physical need for food.
All whom the Father gives to Christ will come to Him, and everyone who comes to Him in faith He will receive and in no wise cast out. Coming is believing in Him and putting whole trust in Him as Redeemer and personal Saviour rather than in self, in outward church connection, or in human help. It is feeding daily upon Him by receiving and living His Word until it becomes character and life, and it is bowing the will to God in repentance, confession, surrender, and obedience. No sinner who comes need fear rejection or wait to become worthy, for need is the plea and His pledged word gives complete assurance apart from changing feelings. Those who so come have everlasting life now, are made one with Him as the branch with the vine, and He will raise them to immortal life at the last day.
Words and Historical Setting
Jesus spoke this promise in the synagogue at Capernaum after the feeding of the multitude and the crossing of the sea, and that surrounding narrative supplies its setting. It belongs to His teaching after He refused the crowd's attempt to make Him king and declared Himself the Bread of Life, showing that those the Father gives come to Him and that He rejects no one who comes, for receiving Him brings spiritual life, not an earthly kingdom. Many who followed Him were drawn by hopes of an earthly kingdom rather than understanding of His spiritual teaching.
Its setting was the Passover, where the lamb represented Christ, whose flesh given for the life of the world is His sacrifice for human salvation offered to all who accept Him as Redeemer. In that Passover setting His blood brings protection from death, and eating and drinking His flesh and blood by receiving Him in faith gives hope of resurrection to immortal life, for He came to do the Father's will to lose none entrusted to Him but to give everlasting life and raise them at the last day. His work as substitute for sin was the only hope of ancient Israel and remains the hope of God's people, and the chapter has special reference to the spiritual nourishment found in God's Word, whose living words taken into the life leave no soul spiritually hungry.
The crowd sought Him for daily provision, temporal advantage, and hope of an earthly kingdom, yet He taught that spiritual food is of far more consequence than temporal food. Though the same compassionate Saviour who fed five thousand men besides women and children with five barley loaves and two small fishes is not unmindful of bodily wants, chief labor and anxiety must be given not to the meat which perishes but to the meat which endures to everlasting life, a bread from heaven obtainable from no human agent but given by God Himself through Christ. Coming to Him means believing in Him rather than merely seeking His gifts, for receiving Christ brings spiritual life, not an earthly kingdom. Coming means more than following for temporal advantages like eating the loaves and being filled; it demands dying to self and practicing self-denial and the principles of truth.
The bread-of-life teaching tested its hearers and exposed whether they were for or against Him, revealing those not wholly with Him. Many who followed for temporal benefit turned away when He rejected a temporal reign and demanded dying to self, showing their true character and that they were not of Him, while holding fast to precious sanctifying truth with faith and a good conscience keeps one from making shipwreck. Judas had abundant opportunity yet failed to form a firm character, and the twelve did not show themselves unfaithful. The chapter expresses God's will and gives instruction relevant to overcoming dissension, and living that instruction leads to unity with Christ and with one another.
The chapter presents the conditions of eternal life and plainly states the way in which eternal life may be obtained. The price of heaven is the only begotten Son of God and the way to heaven is by faith in Jesus, for the work of God is to believe on Him whom God sent; believing comes first and then working, so those who believe will work the works of God, and eating His flesh and drinking His blood means being doers of the Word. Receiving Him as a personal Saviour means taking His life-giving words, which are spirit and life, into one's life, and He promises to raise the believer at the last day. Its wonderful truths contain most precious and important lessons giving an education that endures through time and eternity when brought into practical life, making known what He is and what advantage comes to each person individually from eating His words, with Himself as the great center of life. Understanding and living by the chapter's teaching leads to a life that measures with the life of God, yet the chapter is only faintly understood and must be carefully and prayerfully studied rather than neglected for distracting reading.
The verse belongs to the words of Christ that the Holy Spirit brings to mind and presses on the conscience to lead people to repentance. It is part of His decisive teaching that the Old Testament Scriptures are sufficient, so that those who truly believed them would also believe the New Testament.
Father Gives and Draws
All whom the Father gives to Christ will come to him, and gift and coming belong inseparably together, for everyone who comes is received and never turned away. This promise belongs to those who by faith receive Christ as the Lamb of God and partake of the spiritual food of his flesh and blood, putting whole trust in him who gave his own life to save souls by truly and earnestly believing on him and receiving his word. He is the bread of life under the similitude of heavenly bread, and all who truly receive his word never hunger and all who believe in him never thirst for higher or more satisfying food, but have everlasting life. Coming is direct and personal, with actual living faith in him as the one who satisfies spiritual hunger and thirst, rather than depending on men, and it means receiving him, believing in him, and becoming one with him by eating his flesh and drinking his blood. This direct coming is especially needed in this period of earth's history when events of great importance are coming upon the earth, and it stands in contrast to seeking temporal food and to seeing Christ and still not believing, a charge of unbelief against those who would not receive him as the bread of life.
Christ came from heaven to do the will of the Father who sent him, which is to lose none of those entrusted and given to him but to raise them at the last day and give them hope of resurrection to immortal life. Of all given to him he loses nothing but raises them up at the last day, so that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life. His feeding of the five thousand showed his compassion, love, and benevolence, yet people could see his work and still not believe, so the promise calls for trust, praise, and thanksgiving. God takes a people to himself through wisdom and grace, not because they are already perfect, but because he can correct their errors and teach them by the Holy Spirit, and those who believe in him as personal Saviour will be made complete in him by grace.
The Father teaches and draws people so they can understand spiritual truth and come to Christ, and those who genuinely seek God's will can recognize his teaching. The Father's gift and a person's coming belong together because the Father enables this coming, and coming means believing in him and receiving the life his words give. Christ constantly draws the mind by his Holy Spirit to make this coming possible, yet people may want the blessings of the bread of heaven and still reject him when they cling to human traditions and ideas. Coming means abiding in him and not standing outside him, staying consciously with him as light, life, and salvation, and the blessings he bestows depend on the person's own individual action of coming and not refusing him, because man cannot save himself and must be saved by a power outside himself.
Those given by the Father are his sheep who hear his voice, are known by him, follow him, receive eternal life from him, shall never perish, and no one is able to pluck them out of his hand or out of his Father's hand, while every plant that the heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up. Election is conditional, not fixed by a set number whose completion ends probation, a subject not to be talked about or speculated upon beyond plainly revealed truths bearing on salvation. Jesus died for the ungodly and every person who wants to come may come, and a person becomes one of God's elect and a child of God by complying with God's conditions. If he refuses the conditions he cannot become elect, but if he continues in steadfast, immovable faithfulness and obedience Jesus will not blot his name out of the book of life but will confess his name before the Father and before his angels.
What Coming Means
Coming to Christ means believing in him with whole trust in the one who gave his own life to save souls, truly and earnestly receiving him as Redeemer and personal Saviour and receiving his word. It is reliance on his word, his mercy, and his merits rather than on self, with actual living faith that satisfies spiritual hunger and thirst. Those who come in this belief are received and never turned away, and they have everlasting life now with the promise of being raised at the last day.
Coming is eating his flesh and drinking his blood by receiving him, believing in him, and becoming one with him as the bread of life. It is daily feeding the soul on spiritual food, so that Christian experience takes on the nature of that food and spiritual life is built up as physical life is built up by food, with the glory of God as its end. Keeping God's word and truth before the mind, studying and practicing its teachings and looking to Jesus by faith, is how this feeding is done, for his words give spiritual life.
That feeding means personally receiving and inwardly assimilating his words, making his teachings and revealed precepts part of daily life and daily actions and character rather than abandoning them. All who truly receive his word never hunger and all who believe never thirst for higher or more satisfying food, for he as the bread from heaven gives food that endures to everlasting life. This bread is obtained from God himself through the gift of Christ and from no human agent, and chief labor and anxiety must be given to it rather than to meat which perishes, since spiritual food is of far more consequence than temporal food. So fed, the mind is shaped by the word rather than by corrupting material, gaining spiritual strength and growth, and the believer becomes an observer of the word and has Christ as an abiding presence in the soul, his words being spirit and life. This cures self-esteem and exaltation of self, for worth depends not on brilliant talents, lofty birth, or wonderful powers but on a clean heart purified and refined that by beholding Christ reflects the long-lost image of divinity and reveals him in spirit, words, and actions.
Coming is not a bodily journey but turning to him with contrition, childlike faith, and complete surrender, submitting the human will to God. It means bowing humbly and contritely, putting aside self-righteousness, realizing sin against God, repenting of sins, confessing and forsaking sin, striving to make restitution for the past, and asking pardon in the Redeemer's name. The sinner cannot save himself yet has something to do to secure salvation, for faith is the gift of God but the power to exercise it belongs to the sinner, and faith is the hand by which the soul takes hold of the divine offers of grace and mercy, believing that Christ accepts and pardons. Those who so come surrender body, soul, and spirit, yield to God's claims, obey his commandments, and answer the drawing of his Spirit without refusal, while pride and self-sufficiency keep a person from seeing faults, from feeling need of a Saviour, and from coming to be cleansed.
Coming is direct personal faith in a personal Saviour that brings the soul into spiritual union with Christ, dwelling in him and he in the believer and living by him as he lives by the Father. It is not mere outward connection with any church, dependence on men, or acceptance of human ideas, for mere outward connection will not save. It requires coming directly to him, trusting his word and depending on him rather than on human beings, human resources, or human traditions for help, strength, guidance, wisdom, sanctification, righteousness, and reward. This direct receiving by faith applies to priest and ruler, Jew and Gentile alike, and is especially needed when events of great importance are coming upon the earth.
Promise of Certain Welcome
All whom the Father gives will come, and every one who comes will be received and never turned away, for the pledged word makes rejection impossible. This promise alone is enough to plead before God, giving complete assurance of acceptance and safety, opening the treasures of grace so that the believer is as safe as if already inside the city of God. Coming means putting whole trust in him who gave his own life to save souls, truly and earnestly believing, receiving his word, eating his flesh and drinking his blood and becoming one with him as the bread of life, so that all who truly receive never hunger and all who believe never thirst for higher or more satisfying food. Those who come have everlasting life, and of all given to him he loses nothing but raises them up at the last day, in fulfillment of the Father's will that everyone who sees the Son and believes may have everlasting life, a charge laid against unbelief after calling hearers to receive himself as the bread of life. He is the only hope and Saviour, to be approached directly with living faith rather than by dependence on men, trusting his word and depending on him for needed help, a direct coming especially needed in this period of earth's history when events of great importance are coming upon the earth.
The welcome embraces even those who are sinful and polluted, helpless and unworthy, poor, suffering, tempted and wayward, and those who have known the truth yet retain unsanctified traits of character. No one who comes as a sinner with no cloak for sin is turned away, and coming brings neither humiliation nor condemnation but reliance on the promise so that while relying on it they will not perish. Coming means turning with contrition, childlike faith and complete surrender, believing him to be one's personal Saviour, coming as one is without resisting the drawing of his Spirit, surrendering body, soul and spirit. As soon as that surrender is made he accepts even a sin-polluted soul, takes away sin and gives his righteousness, cleanses, purifies and sanctifies by giving the Holy Spirit, changing cries of distress and woe into praise and thanksgiving. Accepting him by genuine faith brings heaven as a precious gift, gives hope of escaping separation from heaven, and enables even such sinners to be used as workers in his vineyard. Taking him at his word in faith brings salvation even while tempted, by placing whole dependence on him as the sin-pardoning Saviour instead of on self, and by answering his knocking at the heart's door and opening to him as a heavenly guest.
A sinner need not wait to make himself better or worthy before coming, for need rather than goodness is the plea. Even when Satan points to guilt and accuses of sinfulness or tempts to doubt God's power to save, the promise gives confidence to come for cleansing, trusting that his blood cleanses from every stain of sin. God's grace meets even the first feeble desire and movement of the repentant heart to turn to him. Coming requires no prior good works or self-improvement, for people are powerless to make themselves righteous and must rely on his righteousness, ask forgiveness, and trust him for help.
The welcome rests on his dying love at Calvary, where he bore the penalty for sin and atoned for sin, and that love is the sinner's assurance of acceptance, peace and love. Those who come humbly, putting aside self-righteousness, confessing and forsaking sin and asking pardon in the Redeemer's name, will be pardoned and justified and receive power to become God's children. Through faith sinners can rest in his love, and through his sacrifice their sins are atoned for and pardoned so they may stand before God pure and spotless, clothed in his righteousness and made perfect by his merits, instead of standing in sinful garments with every secret open to his eye. He undertakes to save all who trust in him, bringing sinners to himself without human ideas or interference placed between them and their Saviour, with instant healing and life to those who come in sincerity.
Trust rests on his sure word, not on changing feelings, emotions, misery or sin. Looking away from self to Jesus, the Saviour who bears sin and takes it away, taking God at his word and claiming the promise as one's own by faith, dispels doubt and bears living witness to the truthfulness of God's word. Forgiveness and pardon are his when faith grasps the promise, whether or not blessing is yet felt, and the peace and rest that follow are assurance. His pledged word means there is no possibility of rejection, giving assurance of acceptance, salvation, forgiveness and righteousness. One who makes mistakes can come, ask forgiveness, believe it given, cast the helpless soul on him alone without worry and without mourning over defects, rejoicing instead and refusing words of unbelief; when the enemy says the Lord has forsaken, the promise answers that he has not, for he calls sinners to repentance and receives all who come. Doubting his mercy, goodness and love dishonors him, so the tempted must dismiss the enemy and never argue with Satan, but keep repeating and believing God's word, and coming in this way brings rest to those who labor and are heavy laden as they take his yoke and learn meekness and lowliness of heart, with even small mishaps ordered to save from larger mistakes.
Those who come have loving and obedient hearts, in contrast to the thousands perishing in sins through heedless and reckless disobedience of God's law, and to many who in blindness become offended because they meet a false standard. People may want the blessings of the bread of heaven and still reject him when they cling to human traditions and ideas, and may see his work and still not believe. The Jewish rejection of light, truth and the Son of God did not show that he refused them, but that they stubbornly refused the mercy offered to them, persisting in sin until guilt was full and judgment showed final impenitence that had worn out divine patience. His ears are open to the earnest plea of even the worst sinners, his eyes rest with pity and forgiveness on the penitent however defiled and lowly, his lips give instruction to seekers of knowledge and comfort and pardon to the sinful and desponding, and his heart is touched by human woe, for he died to save even the worst; yet he has no word, look, ear or light for the proud, cruel and self-sufficient who come with commands and curiosity and feel no need of a Saviour.
Coming to him in living faith with sincerity is like looking at the bronze serpent, so that those who look to him can be healed from sin's wounds and receive life and blessing.
Life Now and Resurrection
Those who come and believe never hunger and never thirst again for higher or more satisfying food, for Christ as the bread of life from heaven satisfies spiritual hunger and thirst and gives food that endures to everlasting life. His words are spirit and life, and believers may have Him as an abiding presence in the soul. Coming means truly and earnestly believing on Him whom God sent, putting whole trust in Him who gave His own life to save souls, and receiving His Word. He is the same compassionate Saviour today, not unmindful of bodily wants, who fed five thousand men besides women and children by increasing five barley loaves and two small fishes and commanded the fragments to be gathered that nothing be lost, and who still imparts knowledge to provide food in different places with an unstayed hand of benevolence. Spiritual food is of far more consequence than temporal food, so chief labor and anxiety must be given not to the meat which perishes but to the meat which endures to everlasting life, and this bread from heaven can be obtained from no human agent but God Himself gives through the gift of Christ, received not by seeking temporal food but by receiving Him as the bread of life.
Those who come have everlasting life now, with His life in the believer, and of all given to Him He loses nothing but preserves those given to Him. Coming gives life more abundantly, eternal life now with the Saviour's life in the believer hid with Christ in God. It is the Father's will that Christ lose none of those given to Him but raise them up at the last day, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life, a promise that should dispel doubt and uncertainty and calls believers to conform their wills to God's will with trust, praise, and thanksgiving. He spoke this to charge unbelief after calling hearers to receive Himself as the bread of life by receiving Him, believing in Him, and becoming one with Him, eating His flesh and drinking His blood, though people could see His work of compassion, love, and benevolence and still not believe.
He will raise them at the last day to immortal life, so that even though they may die they will be raised to live forever, and this resurrection hope belongs to those who by faith receive Christ as the Lamb of God and partake of the spiritual food of His flesh and blood. Unlike those who ate manna and died, the eater does not die but has eternal life now and will be raised at the last day to live forever. Coming gives an earnest of immortality, the pledge of resurrection because He was raised, with His engagement to raise the righteous dead and give eternal life as reward. In the setting of the Passover this promise gives hope of resurrection to immortal life according to the Father's will to lose none of those given to Him.
Coming makes the believer one with Him in this present life to be one with Him through all eternity. Everyone who comes through living faith in Him as personal Saviour is received and made one with Him as a branch is one with the vine, dwelling in Him and He in the believer and living by Him as He lives by the Father. Those who so come become partakers of the divine nature, receiving continual life from Christ that shows itself in growth and fruit, studying His Word and carrying it into the life in obedience to all its precepts. Every provision has been made for humanity, and Christ came as the representative of the human family to save whoever applies to God in His name with prayer and supplication, so those who come are not rejected like withered branches that bear no fruit. Receiving Christ as the bread of life means following Him as a perfect Saviour and belonging wholly to the Lord, so that those who eat this bread reveal that Christ abides in them, His attributes appearing in their words and actions, making their lives channels of living water and showing that they are doers of the Word.
Living the Promise Daily
The promise is to be pleaded in earnest, importunate prayer, calling continually upon the Lord in pain and infirmity and coming to Him as a refuge in all perplexity and disappointment for forgiveness and strength. Petitions offered in His name in simple, trusting, childlike faith through Jesus as Saviour are heard and answered, and those who ask in prayer receive divine help and grace to supply the needy soul. This gives increased hope and confidence in God and assurance of seeing His salvation in both body and spirit, including restoration to health to live and speak His praise and bear testimony in the congregation. Even when lying unable to labor without understanding why, the sufferer may trust that God understands, for Jesus understands human need, waits to be gracious, imparts His righteousness to the soul desiring His love and presence, and will not turn away anyone who comes. He came for this very work to call sinners to repentance, God anointed His only-begotten Son to receive every contrite soul, and He releases from bondage to Satan only by personal consent, so refusing to come dishonors God.
The promise alone gives complete assurance of acceptance and safety, and clinging to it opens the treasures of Christ's grace so the believer is as safe as if already inside the city of God. It is the present word of the glorified Christ of Revelation 1, the Son of man in glory, the first and the last who lived and died and is alive forevermore with the keys of hell and of death, saying to all today that He will in no wise cast out anyone who comes. Clinging to this mighty One means trusting His promises and the fullness of His love, conforming the will to God's will, and showing firm confidence that helps those weak in faith. It forbids dishonoring the Redeemer by turning from Him to seek help from human beings or human resources, leaning on any human prop, tracing a word of doubt toward Him, or yielding to distrust, and it dispels doubt and uncertainty about preservation to resurrection at the last day. This gives courage to weak souls who claim to be Christians, for worth with Christ does not depend on brilliant talents, lofty birth, or wonderful powers, but on a clean heart purified and refined, that does not exalt self but by beholding Christ reflects the long-lost image of divinity, presenting Him as a perfect Saviour in whom sinners rest in His love.
Every promise has conditions expressed or implied, and this promise is joined with coming just as one is, knowing weakness, helplessness, and sinfulness, and casting the helpless soul upon Jesus alone. Its conditions are taking His yoke and wearing it, lifting His burdens, and learning His meekness and lowliness of heart, which gives rest to those who labor and are heavy laden and brings a serious solemn view of life with altogether different ideas of responsibility and accountability. Receiving justification, sanctification, and His righteousness is joined with asking, seeking, and knocking; believing on Him whom God sent comes first and then working, for those who believe will work the works of God and be doers of the Word, with the Bible as the great educating Book. Good works do not save anyone, but no one can be saved without them. Coming means abiding in Him and not standing outside Him, staying consciously with Christ as light, life, and salvation, submitting the human will to God, assenting to the terms of salvation, being reconciled to God's will, obeying His commandments, and having fellowship with Him through the atoning sacrifice under the Father's protection. Christ constantly draws the mind by His Holy Spirit to make this coming possible, yet the blessings depend on the person's own individual action of coming and not refusing Him, because man cannot save himself and must be saved by a power outside himself; one who makes mistakes can ask forgiveness, believe it given, rejoice without mourning over defects, refuse words of unbelief, dismiss the enemy without arguing as Adam and Eve should have done, and trust that even small mishaps are ordered to save from larger mistakes.
The chapter's teaching is demonstrated in Christian missionary work, which inspires self-denial and cross-bearing service, spreads truth, and shows unbelievers the resources God provides for His servants. After giving themselves to Him, young converts are to trust the promise and on that trust take hold of His work, be His witnesses, and cooperate with Him, since every member of the human family is called to be laborers together with God, and this encourages believers to draw others close to Him. Those who come to Him for the bread of life are not to be turned away unfed, so disciples sent to give that bread to others must seek spiritual food from Him when helpless, trusting He will supply what His work requires. The mercy of freely receiving everyone who comes confessing sin was proved by what the disciples had witnessed in His self-sacrificing life and labors for Israel, and it still stood for those who had refused to come for life, including priests and rulers who rejected Him, who were to have another opportunity to accept Him, be reconciled to God, and receive everlasting life. That mercy was to be offered first to Israel, beginning at Jerusalem, and then to all nations, tongues and peoples, to Jews and Gentiles alike, so that all who believe would be gathered into one church.
The promise is for every age and condition, a precious truth to be taught to children that Jesus is ready to receive and bless those who come, so children who ask Him to pardon transgressions and take away sins must believe He will do so. It reaches the wayward young who turn and change course, the wealthy man called by the voice of the true Shepherd to find goodness greater than riches and what is of lasting value, and aged people who still need to learn of Christ and can come to Him for refuge and converting power while being pointed to the glories of the heavenly Canaan. It is given to those under correction to assure them God seeks to save life, not destroy it, so that if they turn with full purpose of heart, bowing in humility and contrition, casting aside self-righteousness and self-importance, confessing and forsaking every sin and asking in the Redeemer's name for pardon, they will be pardoned and justified, receive power to become sons of God, and have another chance to be restored. This assurance is to be offered to the dying by pointing them to the sin-pardoning Saviour without bringing creed or controversy to the bedside, for genuine repentance on a sickbed is possible and care should be taken for the spiritual welfare of those near death.
Coming now without further delay means being truly converted and born again, tasting that the Lord is gracious as real personal experience in eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. It means leaving the frivolous common life, worldly society that does not improve the mind or refine character, and worldly entertainments that leave a person restless and unsatisfied with no hunger for God and loss of peace, joy, hope, and assurance. Those who so come have their feet placed on Christ Jesus as the first round of the ladder and mount step by step heavenward with transformed character, following Him into visible improvement of life and character and becoming a vessel unto honor through whom He can work. Christ is the soul's true nourishment from whom spiritual life and strength come, the gospel invitation offers Christ Himself as the provision of salvation, the bread from heaven through His love and death, and the heart cannot serve God while divided, so accepting means receiving that costly provision and refusing shows failure to value it.
The teaching that life depends on receiving Him as the bread of life applies to priest and ruler, Jew and Gentile alike. Christ welcomes everyone who comes and never rejects them, receiving the helpless, taking their burdens, and giving strength and comfort, calling people to rely on Him rather than seek help or comfort from other people. No one who comes is rejected regardless of outward appearance, personal shortcomings, place in life, or past, for coming and trusting brings safety because He fights for those who rely on Him and overcomes the powers of darkness for them. Beholding His works draws people to Him and helps humanity take hold of divinity, and His invitation reveals goodness greater than riches as the voice of the true Shepherd. He meets the needs of those who come to hear Him as the same compassionate Saviour, including their physical need for food.