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.”

John Calvin (1509-1564)

No man can come to me, unless the Father, who hath sent me, draw him. He does not merely accuse them of wickedness, but likewise reminds them, that it is a peculiar gift of God to embrace the doctrine which is exhibited by him; which he does, that their unbelief may not disturb weak minds. For many are so foolish that, in the things of God, they depend on the opinions of men; in consequence of which, they entertain suspicions about the Gospel, as soon as they see that it is not received by the world. Unbelievers, on the other hand, flattering themselves in their obstinacy, have the hardihood to condemn the Gospel because it does not please them. On the contrary, therefore, Christ declares that the doctrine of the Gospel, though it is preached to all without exception, cannot be embraced by all, but that a new understanding and a new perception are requisite; and, therefore, that faith does not depend on the will of men, but that it is God who gives it.

Unless the Father draw him. To come to Christ being here used metaphorically for believing, the Evangelist, in order to carry out the metaphor in the apposite clause, says that those persons are drawn whose understandings God enlightens, and whose hearts he bends and forms to the obedience of Christ. The statement amounts to this, that we ought not to wonder if many refuse to embrace the Gospel; because no man will ever of himself be able to come to Christ, but God must first approach him by his Spirit; and hence it follows that all are not drawn, but that God bestows this grace on those whom he has elected. True, indeed, as to the kind of drawing, it is not violent, so as to compel men by external force; but still it is a powerful impulse of the Holy Spirit, which makes men willing who formerly were unwilling and reluctant. It is a false and profane assertion, therefore, that none are drawn but those who are willing to be drawn, as if man made himself obedient to God by his own efforts; for the willingness with which men follow God is what they already have from himself, who has formed their hearts to obey him.

(From: “Commentary”)

Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952)

As a creature the natural man is responsible to love, obey, and serve God; as a sinner he is responsible to repent and believe the Gospel. But at the outset we are confronted with the fact that the natural man is unable to love and serve God, and that the sinner, of himself, cannot repent and believe. First, let us prove what we have just said. We begin by quoting and considering John 6:44, “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him”. The heart of the natural man (every man) is so “desperately wicked” that if he is left to himself he will never ‘come to Christ.’ This statement would not be questioned if the full force of the words “Coming to Christ” were properly apprehended. We shall therefore digress a little at this point to define and consider what is implied and involved in the words “No man can come to Me”–cf. John 5:40, “Ye will not come to Me that ye might have life.”

For the sinner to come to Christ that he might have life, is for him to realize the awful danger of his situation; is for him to see that the sword of Divine justice is suspended over his head; is to awaken to the fact that there is but a step betwixt him and death, and that after death is the “judgment;” and in consequence of this discovery, is for him to be in real earnest to escape, and in such earnestness that he shall flee from the wrath to come, cry unto God for mercy, and agonize to enter in at the “strait gate.”

To come to Christ for life, is for the sinner to feel and acknowledge that he is utterly destitute of any claim upon God’s favor; is to see himself as “without strength,” lost and undone; is to admit that he is deserving of nothing but eternal death, thus taking side with God against himself; it is for him to cast himself into the dust before God, and humbly sue for Divine mercy.

To come to Christ for life, is for the sinner to abandon his own righteousness and be ready to be made the righteousness of God in Christ; it is to disown his own wisdom and be guided by His; it is to repudiate his own will and be ruled by His; it is to unreservedly receive the Lord Jesus as his Saviour and Lord, as his All in all.

Such, in part and in brief, is what is implied and involved in “Coming to Christ.” But is the sinner willing to take such an attitude before God? No; for in the first place, he does not realize the danger of his situation, and in consequence is not in real earnest after his escape; instead, men are for the most part at ease, and apart from the operations of the Holy Spirit whenever they are disturbed by the alarms of conscience or the dispensations of providence, they flee to any other refuge but Christ. In the second place, they will not acknowledge that all their righteousnesses are as filthy rags but, like the Pharisee, will thank God they are not as the Publican. And in the third place, they are not ready to receive Christ as their Saviour and Lord, for they are unwilling to part with their idols: they had rather hazard their soul’s eternal welfare than give them up. Hence we say that, left to himself, the natural man is so depraved at heart that he cannot come to Christ.

(From: “The Sovereignty of God”)

Matthew Poole (1624-1679)

That by drawing here is not to be understood any co-action, or force upon the will, is a thing on all hands out of question; but whether by it be only to be understood a rational drawing by arguments, (used in the ministry of the gospel,) or a further powerful influence upon the soul, inclining it to be willing and obedient, that is the question. The patrons of a power in man’s will to do what is spiritually good and necessary in order to eternal life and salvation, understand it of the former only (of which the compelling, mentioned Luke xiv. 23, is to be understood, for the ministers of the gospel have no other power to compel); but in regard the drawing here mentioned is the act not of the servants, but of the Master; not of the ministers, but of the Father; it is more reasonably concluded that it here signifies a Divine power put forth upon the soul of man, by which it is made obedient to the heavenly call, and willing to close with the offer of Christ in the gospel; for though no such thing can necessarily be concluded from the nature of the motion, in coming to Christ, which is the soul’s motion to a sublime, spiritual object, to which no soul hath any power of itself; such is the darkness of the human mind, the obstinacy of the will, the depravation of the affections, unless it be illuminated and drawn by the Spirit of God. No soul is able of itself to discern spiritual things, so as to see that goodness and excellency that is in them, much less to move towards the participation of them.

(From: “A Commentary on the Holy Bible”)

Francis Turretin (1623-1687)

The passages which explain our calling by a “drawing” clearly prove the same efficacy: “No man can come to me, except the Father draw him” (Jn. 6:44). For if anyone properly considers this expression, he will readily discover that it cannot consist with the faculty of dissenting if you wish. For he to whom that faculty is left can indeed be said to be “led,” but not to be “drawn” (which indeed denotes no coercion and violence because from unwilling man becomes willing); rather it implies the infallibility of the event so that he who is drawn necessarily follows and cannot help coming–“Draw me,” says the spouse, “and I will run after thee” (Cant. 1:4); and where he describes the effect of this drawing–“Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (Jn. 6:45). In the latter, two things of the highest importance are taught: (1) the necessity of grace, without which it is impossible to come to Christ (i.e., to believe) because no one can come unless he is drawn; (2) the efficacy and insuperability of the same because whosoever is drawn and taught by the Father comes to Christ. Augustine well remarks: “He does not say, ‘hath led,’ that we should understand there that the will in some way precedes. Who is drawn, if he is already willing? And yet no one comes unless he wills. Therefore he is drawn in wonderful modes that he may will, by him who knows how to work internally upon the very wills of men, not that men unwilling may believe (an impossibility), but that they may become willing from unwilling” (Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.37 [19] [NPNF1, PL 44.568]).

(From: “Institutes of Elenctic Theology”)