Drawing Man To God
Robert Meredith
The Scriptures are full of evidence as to how God draws one to salvation. John 6:44 tells us God must draw us. Jesus said, “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.” Some will read this verse and say, “God must draw us” and then assume it is by some mysterious way or a direct operation of the Holy Spirit. Now, the Spirit is involved, make no mistake about it, but He does not directly work on a person’s heart. He works indirectly through the Word of God. John 6:44 informs us that God must draw us and verse 45 tells us how God draws us. Once again Jesus said, “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me.” From John 6:44-45, one learns that if a person is not taught the Word of God, he cannot be saved. This is what Romans 10:17 tells us. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” One cannot be saved without faith (Hebrews 11:6), and one cannot have faith unless he hears God’s Word (Romans 10:17). Furthermore, James states, “Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth” (James 1:18; see also James 1:21). My friends, we are begotten spiritually when we are taught the truth and obey it from the heart (1 Corinthians 4:15; 1 Peter 1:22-23; Romans 6:17-18).
The Scriptures are given so that man might learn of God, His will and how to have the hope of heaven. John 20:30-31 informs us that the book of John was written so that one might believe that Jesus is the Christ. Can a lost person come to a knowledge of the truth? Certainly he can. Some are indeed taught by others (the Philippian jailer of Acts 16 and the eunuch of Acts 8). A lost person may need someone to guide him. This is why we have been given the Great Commission. But be not deceived, the basic things of the Scriptures are easy to understand. Every account of conversion in the book of Acts has one studying (being taught) the truth and obeying the truth from the heart (Romans 6:17).
Some in the religious world cry out that there must be a direct operation of the Holy Spirit upon one’s heart so that he can understand the Scriptures. This is false! The reasons for such an error is that some believe man is born totally hereditarily depraved and therefore can not accept truth without the Holy Spirit’s changing their hearts. First, man’s spirit comes from God (Ecclesiastes 12:7) and if it is totally depraved, what does that say about God? My friends, our spirits are not totally depraved, man sins by choice, not because he cannot help it. But also, if man cannot come to God without a direct operation upon his heart, why are not all people saved? God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34-35; Romans 2:11)! A second reason for this error is a total misunderstanding of the work of the Holy Spirit in the first century. The workings of the Holy Spirit in the first century were done to confirm the revealed word (Hebrews 2:3-4; Mark 16:17-18), and the Word of God tells us that it would be a temporary thing (1 Corinthians 13:9-12; Ephesians 4:11-13). Even in the first century, the Holy Spirit never acted directly to cause someone to believe, but simply guided the inspired person in their teaching and confirmed the teachings with signs, all of which have ceased.
The Holy Spirit revealed God’s will to certain men (1 Corinthians 2:10-13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21), and they revealed it to man (Ephesians 3:4). Now, all need to study the Bible because Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:22-23 that a person is born again by the Word of God which the Holy Spirit has given. Let us take the Word of God, study it, obey it, and live it.