English
Português
Español
Français
Answer
The most explicit verse on God’s drawing to salvation is John 6:44 where Jesus declares that “no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” The Greek word translated as “draw” is helkuo, which means “to drag” (literally or figuratively). Clearly, this drawing is a one-sided process. God initiates the drawing to salvation; we, who are drawn, have a passive role in the process. While we do respond to His drawing, the act of drawing itself is solely His doing.
Helkuo is also used in John 21:6 to depict a heavy net full of fish being dragged to the shore. In John 18:10, we witness Peter drawing his sword, and in Acts 16:19, helkuo is used to describe Paul and Silas being dragged into the marketplace before the rulers. Evidently, the net, Peter’s sword, and Paul and Silas did not play an active part in their being drawn. The same principle applies to God’s drawing of individuals to salvation. Some come willingly, while others are unwillingly drawn, but ultimately all are drawn, even though we play no role in the drawing.
Why does God need to draw us to salvation? Simply put, without His drawing, we would never come. Jesus explains that no one can come unless the Father draws him «And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. », (John 6:65). The natural man lacks the ability to come to God, nor does he even possess the desire to do so. Due to his hardened heart and darkened mind, the unregenerate individual neither desires God nor is a friend of God «For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. », Romans 5:10. When Jesus states that no one can come to Him unless drawn by God, He is emphasizing the total depravity of the sinner and the universality of this condition. The unsaved individual’s heart is so darkened that they are unaware of it: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” «The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? », (Jeremiah 17:9). Therefore, only through God’s merciful and gracious drawing can we be saved. During the sinner’s conversion, God enlightens the mind «the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, », (Ephesians 1:18), inclines the will towards Himself, and influences the soul. Without this influence, the soul remains darkened and rebellious against God. The drawing process encompasses all of these aspects.
There is a way in which God draws all individuals. This is referred to as the “general call” and is distinct from the “effectual call” of God’s chosen ones. Passages like Psalm 19:1-4 and Romans 1:20 confirm that God’s eternal power and divine nature are “clearly seen” and “understood” through creation, “so that people are without excuse.” However, individuals still reject God, and even those who acknowledge His existence do not come to a saving knowledge of Him unless drawn by Him. Only those who are drawn through special revelation—by the Holy Spirit’s power and God’s grace—will come to Christ.
There are tangible ways in which those being drawn to salvation feel this drawing. Firstly, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sinful nature and our need for a Savior «And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of rig…», (John 16:8).Righteousness, and of judgment: », (John 16:8). Second, He awakens in us a previously unknown interest in spiritual things and creates a desire for them that was never there before. Suddenly, our ears are open, our hearts are inclined toward Him, and His Word begins to hold a new and exciting fascination for us. Our spirits begin to discern spiritual truth that never made sense to us before: “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned” «But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. », (1 Corinthians 2:14). Finally, we begin to have new desires. He places within us a new heart that inclines toward Him, a heart that desires to know Him, obey Him, and walk in the “newness of life” «Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. », (Romans 6:4) that He has promised.
