James White and Leighton Flowers debated whether John 6:44 teaches unconditional election. I've watched the debate twice now. I got more out of it the second time than the first time.
Interestingly, the debate came down to verse 45 and how it was supposed to shed light on verse 44. Here are the verses:
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—
In Leighton's view, it works like this: The Father taught all the Israelites. The teaching is the drawing. But not all the Israelites learned. The ones who did learn came to the Father. The Father gave those people to Jesus, those people came to Jesus, and Jesus will raise them on the last day. So, in Leighton's view, the "all" who were taught by God are not the same people as the "all" who heard and learned from the Father. Those who heard and learned from the Father were a subset of those who were taught. Since the teaching is the drawing, and not all who taught end up coming to Jesus, it follows that not all who are drawn end up coming to Jesus.
In James' view, it works like this: The Father sovereignly chooses who will come to Jesus. He draws (i.e teaches) those people, those people hear and learn from the Father, the Father gives them to Jesus, they come to Jesus, and they are raised on the last day. So, in James' view, all those who are taught of God are the same people who hear and learn from the Father.
James and Leighton both agreed that the teaching is the drawing. They also agree that those who heard and learned from the Father do end up coming to Jesus and being raised on the last day. Where they disagree, though, is on whether all who are taught by God also hear and learn from the Father. Or, in other words, they disagree on whether all who are drawn by the Father come to Jesus.
Leighton's argument is that it is possible to teach somebody without that person learning. He offers, as a proof text, Jeremiah 32:33, which says, "And though I [the LORD - vs.26] have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction."
James's argument is that verse 45 comes after verse 44 and is an explanation of it. Also, he appears to be arguing that unless there is something in the immediate text that allows us to distinguish all who are taught from all those who hear and learn, that we should assume they are the same group of people.
Leighton agreed that if those taught by God are the same people as those who heard and learned from the Father, then TULIP would follow (1:35:05), so the debate really came down to that one point. After all, the U in TULIP is unconditional election.
Although I agree with Leighton that it is possible to teach somebody who doesn't learn, that is not what happens in John 6:44-45. I agree with James that those who are taught by God are the same people as those who hear and learn from the Father. There are a few reasons I agree with James.
One reason is because the meaning that jumps out at me when I read John 6:44 is that whoever is drawn is also raised on the last day. He ends the first part of the sentence with "draws him," and says in the second part that Jesus will "raise him." It appears that the "him" in both cases refers to the same person, so the one raised is the one who was drawn. Verse 45 looks like Paul's proof text. Paul quotes this passage in explanation of the drawing of the Father. It wouldn't make sense to quote a passage about God teaching people in this context unless the teaching is what is meant by drawing. Since those who are drawn come to Jesus and are raised up, this seems to indicate that all who are taught by God will come to Jesus and be raised on the last day.
The second reason is because Paul's comment about all those hearing and learning from the Father is his inference or explanation of the passage he quoted about all being taught by God. That is Paul's commentary on the passage, which means Paul must take it that those who hear and learn from the Father are the same people as those who were taught by God. In Paul's mind, if you are taught by God, that implies that you heard and learned from the Father.
A third reason is because if we look at the passage Paul quotes in its context, it appears to imply that all those who are taught do, in fact, hear and learn. The quote appears to come from Isaiah 54:13. This whole chapter is meant to comfort Israel. In spite of all the horrors they have been through, God is going to make everything wonderful in keeping with all his promises. It says in verse 13, "All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children." How would this be any comfort to Israel if the teaching didn't result in hearing and learning? If you read the whole chapter, you should be able to see that it's about God turning everything around for Israel and creating ideal conditions. It may even be eschatological. So it certainly seems to imply that by teaching the children of Israel, they will all hear and learn.
So although Leighton is right that it's possible to teach somebody without that person learning, that's not what's going on in John 6:45. James challenged him to show from the context why there is a distinction in groups, and Leighton was unable to do it. He was only able to offer a proof text showing that such a thing is possible. He needed to show that it was actual specificially in the context of John 6:44-45. Although he's right about the possibility, the actuality appears to be that all those who are taught of God are the same as all those who hear and learn from the Father, and all of those who hear and learn from the Father come to Jesus. Since teaching (as well as drawing) is something the Father does, and it results in people coming to Jesus and being raised to eternal life, that means John 6:44 teaches unconditional election.
A CHATGPT BONUS: Just for funsies, I went to Chat GPT to ask a question about John 6:44 because I was curious what Chat GPT would say. Here's what happened:
ME: Consider the following quote: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." Does this mean he will raise up all of those who are drawn, or does it mean he will raise up all who come to him? Or does it mean both?
CHATGPT: This quote is from John 6:44, where Jesus says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day."
The way this can be interpreted depends on how we understand the relationship between being drawn by the Father and coming to Jesus. Let me break it down:
1. "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" — This suggests that coming to Jesus is not something a person can do on their own. It’s God’s initiative, meaning that the Father must first draw people to Jesus. This would imply that there is a divine, sovereign action in play. Those who are "drawn" are responding to that divine invitation.
2. "And I will raise him up on the last day" — Jesus promises to raise up those who are drawn to Him. This phrase seems to indicate that those who are drawn to Jesus will experience resurrection at the end of time. So, the "raising up" refers to the final resurrection and eternal life that Jesus grants to those who come to Him through the Father's drawing.
To answer your question:
- The promise of being "raised up on the last day" is for those who come to Jesus, but they can only do so because they are drawn by the Father.
- So, it seems that Jesus is speaking about both: those who are drawn by the Father will come to Him, and those who come to Him will be raised up.
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