What Does it Take to Come to Christ?

Q: What does the Bible say about coming to Christ?

The Bible teaches that no one can come to Christ unless drawn by the Father (John 6:44). The Bible emphasizes that coming to Christ is not something we can do on our own; it is a work initiated by God. In John 6:44, it states, 'No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.' This signifies that divine intervention is required for a person to come to Christ, illustrating the necessity of God's grace in the process of salvation. Scripture further confirms this by indicating that our sinful nature prevents us from desiring God apart from His drawing influence.

Q: How do we know irresistible grace is true?

Irresistible grace is shown through scripture that illustrates God actively drawing the elect to Himself (John 6:37). The doctrine of irresistible grace is supported by multiple biblical passages that demonstrate God's sovereign power in the salvation of His people. John 6:37 states, 'All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.' This reflects the assurance that those whom God draws to Himself will inevitably respond and come to Christ. When the Holy Spirit works in an individual's heart, awakening their desires and faith, it becomes clear that God's grace is indeed irresistible, leading them to salvation.

Q: Why is the concept of total depravity important for Christians?

Total depravity emphasizes the need for God's grace as humans are unable to seek God without Him (Romans 3:10-12). Understanding total depravity is crucial as it reveals the complete impact of sin on humanity. Romans 3:10-12 states that 'there is none righteous, no, not one' and 'there is none that seeketh after God.' This doctrine teaches that all humans are born with a sinful nature that renders them incapable of seeking God or coming to Christ without divine intervention. Recognizing our total depravity helps Christians appreciate the depth of God's grace, affirming that salvation is fully a work of God, not contingent upon human effort or merit.

Q: What does it mean to be drawn by the Father?

To be drawn by the Father means to be irresistibly drawn to Christ through divine grace (John 6:44). Being drawn by the Father refers to the sovereign action of God in bringing individuals to Christ. In John 6:44, Jesus states, 'No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.' This concept implies that God's drawing is an effective grace that overcomes the resistance of our sinful nature. It is not a mere invitation; rather, it involves God transforming hearts and giving a desire to seek and accept Christ. Those who experience this drawing find it is aligned with their new nature that longs for God, illustrating the interplay between divine sovereignty and human response.

Q: Why do some refuse to come to Christ?

Some refuse to come to Christ due to their sinful nature and lack of desire for Him (John 6:40). The refusal to come to Christ stems from the unregenerate heart's rebellion against God. John 6:40 indicates that 'this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life.' However, many refuse to believe because they do not want to submit to God's authority. This highlights the reality that while the offer to come is extended to all, true willingness arises only when one is drawn by the Father. The unwillingness reflects the depth of our depravity and the need for divine grace to change hearts and lead to true repentance and faith.

Would you turn with in John Chapter
6. Our subject for this evening
is. What does it take? To come to Christ. What does it take? To come to
Christ. Let's read verse 44 together. These are the words of the Lord
Jesus, and he says. 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. No man has the ability to come
to Christ, except the Father draw him. He must be drawn by
God. Now, that word drawn, let me
show you how it's used in the Scripture. Turn to John chapter
21, verse 6. And he saith unto them, cast
the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find.
They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it
for the multitude of fishes. I mean, it took effort to draw.
It's not like they said, here fishes, come on in. No, no, they
had to draw them in. The fish weren't willingly coming
in at the time. I mean, they drew them in. Look
at verse 11 of the same chapter. Simon Peter went up and drew
the net. to land full of great fishes
in 153. That doesn't mean he was saying,
come on fish. No, he was dragging them in. The word, if you look it up in
the Greek dictionary, means literally to drag. To drag. No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me drag him. Do you know, for you
to come to Christ, the Father is going to have to drag you
to Him? Now, what in the world does that
mean? That's what we're going to consider this evening. Such is our depravity. Such is our sinfulness that we
cannot come to Christ, we lack the ability to come to Christ. And that's our sin. That is our
crime. It's not like we want to come,
but cannot. If we don't come to Christ, it's
because we do not want to come to Christ. It's not because the
Father did not elect us. It's not because He didn't give
us the grace. The reason a man or a woman does
not come to Christ is they just flat out do not want to. Such is the sinfulness, such
is the depravity of man that they will not come to Christ. The inability lies in the will. We can't come because we will
not come, and we will not come because we can't come. Now, here's
the way everybody in this room is by nature. You don't want,
I don't want to come to Christ. Don't want to. That's why we
don't come. We don't want to. Let me tell
you something about the notion of free will. It's just not so. There's no such thing. It's an absurdity. Your will's
controlled by your nature. You have a will. We make choices
all the time. It doesn't mean you don't choose. You chose to
come here tonight. Most of you did anyway. And you kids that
didn't choose to come here and you came because your parents
made you, they did the right thing. They did the right thing. You ought to come. I think it's
interesting. Somebody says, should I make my kids come to church?
What, do you make them go to school? You make them go to school? Sure
you do. Sure you do. You ought to make them go to
church, too. I really believe that. We make choices, but we're
not going with that. I don't know where that was going,
but at any rate, man's nature is controlled by his, man's will
is controlled by his nature. The will is controlled by sinful
nature. God doesn't even have a free will. His will is controlled
by his nature. He's holy. He can't sin. He can't
choose to sin. His will is controlled by his
nature. So there's no such thing as free will. Our wills are controlled
by our nature. And somebody who believes in
free will doesn't believe in the sinfulness of man. And they
do not believe in free grace. Now, what precipitated the Lord
To make this statement, no man can come to me except the Father,
which has sent me. Look back in verse 41. The Jews then murmured at him
because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. Now, he said, I came down from
heaven, and when he said I came down from heaven, he's saying
I had existence before I came to this earth. I came down from
heaven. Now, who's the only one who can
come down from heaven? It's God himself. He's talking
about his deity. He's talking about his eternal
existence. He said, I came down from heaven
before I ever came to this earth. And look at their response, verse
42. And they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose
father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith,
I came down from heaven. We know his mom and dad. We've
seen him as a young boy working a menial job in the carpenter's
shop, and he came down from heaven. I've known Andy Davis all his
life. I remember when you were born.
Obviously, I know your mom and dad. If you made this statement,
I came down from heaven, I don't think so. I don't think
so. I wouldn't believe that for a
second. And you could imagine why they were incredulous when
the Lord. These are people who saw the
Lord grow up. They knew his mom and dad. They
knew his brothers and sisters. You say you came down from heaven.
I do not believe that. I can see where they were incredulous
regarding this. I would. Carly, you saw me grow
up. You know my mom and dad. If I said I came down from heaven,
you'd have a hard time with that, wouldn't you? And I can understand
why these people had a hard time with this. They murmured, is
not this the son of Joseph, father, mother, we know? How is it then
he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and
said unto them, murmur not among yourselves. The Lord rebukes
him for this murmuring. And then he says in verse 44,
no man can come to me. Except the Father which has sent
me, draw him, and I'll raise him up at the last day." Now,
our Lord says to these people, you lack the ability to come
to me. Now, does he say anything less
than that? I can say to everybody in this room, including myself,
we by nature lack the ability to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We lack the wherewithal. Now, the reason that you don't
believe on me is you can't. is what he said. You lack the
ability, you cannot, unless God the Father draws you and causes
you to come to me. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell
in thy courts. Psalm 65 verse 4. Now coming
to Christ, well I want to come to him tonight, don't you? Whatever
it means to come to Christ, I want to do that. I want to do that. I want to come to Him right now,
whatever that means. Now, coming to Christ is the
act of spiritual life. If you have spiritual life, this
is what you do. You come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why? It's the evidence of divine election.
We know a verse preceding, in this passage there in verse 37,
all that the Father giveth me shall what? What will they do?
They'll come to me. And Him that cometh to me, I
will know why I was cast out. This is the act of spiritual
life. It's what believers do all the
time. To whom coming, as unto a living stone. Disallowed indeed
of men, but chosen of God, precious. I'm coming. I'm coming to Him.
Now, if I'm a believer, if I have the life of God in my soul, I'm
coming to the Lord Jesus Christ right now. It's the act of spiritual
life. And if you or if I do not come
to Christ and here's our cry. It's not because we're not elect.
You can't blame election for not coming to Christ. If you
do not come to Christ and find in him your all in all, it's
because you don't want to. You know, people do what they
want to do, don't they? People do exactly what they want
to do, and somebody that doesn't come to Christ doesn't come to
Christ because they do not want to. They do not see any beauty
in Him. Our inability lies in our will,
and that's what is so sinful about a man. And understand this,
a man that does not come to Christ will not be saved. Now, when
a man does actually come to Christ, when a woman actually does come
to Christ, when an individual, whatever it means to come to
Christ, when they actually come to Christ, why do they do it?
What's their motive? What's the impetus behind it?
What's the reason behind it? Why do they come to the Lord
Jesus Christ? Now, this was a passage of Scripture
that was a great blessing to me. Turn to Mark chapter 10. Verse 46. Mark chapter 10, verse 46. And
they came to Jericho, and as he went out of Jericho with his
disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus,
the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side, begging. Now, I don't know what is going
to be in my mind when I get into glory. I know who I want to see
the Lord Jesus, but you don't know we've gained that. That's
all I want to see. But you know the man that I believe I want
to meet first for some reason? Blind Bartimaeus. Something about
this man. I want to meet him. I just identify
with this man so much. Blind Bartimaeus sitting there
by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou
son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he
should hold his peace, but he cried to more a great deal. Thou
son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still and commanded
him to be called. And they called the blind man,
saying unto him, Be of good cheer, rise, he calleth thee. And he,
casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. Now here's somebody who actually
did come to Christ, says he did. He came to Jesus. And that means more than him
just getting in the same physical location. And Jesus answered,
verse 51, and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should
do unto thee." Notice the Lord's question, what
do you want me to do unto you? Now he came to Christ. He truly
came to Christ and Christ asked this question, what do you want
me to do to you? He doesn't say, what do you want
me to do for you? I need Him to do something for
me, but I need something more than that. He doesn't say, what
do you want me to do for you? He says, what do you want me
to do unto you? I need something done more than
helping me or even for me. I need something done to me. That's why I come to Christ.
I come to Him for Him to do something unto me. To make me to be what
I am not. That's why I come to Him. I come
to Him to have Him do something unto me. Now, the Lord says,
no man can come to me. He lacks the ability to come
unless he's drawn by the Father. Written in letters of iron, no
man can come. Here's my question. What does
it take for a sinner to come to Christ? I want to come to
Him, don't you? Whatever that means, I want to do it tonight.
If I've never come to him before, I want to come to him tonight.
In my heart, I want to come to him. So what does it take for
a sinner to actually come to the Lord Jesus Christ? Well,
the Lord answers the question in this same verse. He must be drawn by the Father. Like I've already said, if you
look the word up in the Greek dictionary, it means literally
to drag. We will not come to Christ, and
that is our sin. That is our crime. We will not
come to Christ unless we are drawn to Him by the Father. Now, what's involved in this
thing of being drawn to Christ? Well, let's read a few more scriptures
in Mark chapter 6. Turn back there to Mark chapter
6. He says in verse 45, It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Every man, no exceptions
to this rule, every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned
of the Father cometh unto me." Now first, what's it take for
a man to come to Christ? To me, and I believe it's obvious
to you. That all men don't come to Christ. All men don't come to Christ,
only believers come. If all, if the Lord drew all
men, all men would come. To be drawn to Christ, I first
must be in this group described as the all or the every man. But what he says again in verse
45 is written in the prophets and they shall be all. taught
of God, every man. No exceptions to this rule. Every
man they've heard and learned of the Father comes to me. So
for me to come to Christ, first, I'm going to have to be in this
group, whoever they are, the all, the every man, the same
ones that I read at the beginning of this service. Behold, I've
loved you. He's talking to every single
one of his people. Behold, I have loved you with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
Have I what? Drawn thee. Thank God for his drawing. Is everybody of God? You have to be of God. Look what
it says in verse 46. Not that any man has seen the
Father, save he which is of God. He hath seen the Father. Is everybody of God? Look over
in John chapter 8. Verse 45. He says, because I
tell you the truth. You believe me not. That's an
amazing statement, because I tell you the truth. You don't believe
me. Which of you convinces me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me? He
that is of God. Heareth God's words, you therefore
hear them not, because you're not of God. Now, he doesn't say
you're not of God because you don't hear them. He says you
don't hear them because you're not of God. And there's a group who
are described in the scripture as being of God. They are the
elect. They are those the Father gave
Christ before the foundation of the world. Now, how do you
respond to this? Well, there are only three responses.
One would be indifference. You put that in the category
of dull and uninteresting subjects that you just assume not hear
about. Somebody else might get angry. Well, it doesn't seem
fair that some are of God and some are not. And there are others
who are going to say, Lord, draw me. Do you believe that you're so
evil that you can't come to Christ? That's your problem. You're so
evil that you can't come to Christ. Well, let me tell you what to
do. Acknowledge it. Acknowledge it right now before
God and cry out for help. Same with the Church of old in
the Song of Songs. Song of Songs, the one for draw
us and we'll run after thee. If you see you can't come except
the Father draw you, there's one thing you better start doing
right now. Lord, draw Draw me into Your presence. Draw
me to Yourself. Don't leave me to myself. Don't
leave me to my own understanding. Don't leave me to my own perverted
will. Draw me with invincible and irresistible
grace into Your very presence. Lord, I can't come if You don't
draw me. I'll be damned if You don't draw
me. Draw me into Your very presence. Can you pray that prayer right
now? Lord, draw me. Bring me to the feet of your
dear son. For you or me to come to Christ,
we must be of the Father, we must be drawn by irresistible,
invincible grace. Well, what is this thing of being
drawn by God? What is involved in being drawn
by God? Now, let me say this about being
drawn by God. I said it means you're dragged. He dragged you. Does that mean that He grabs
you by the hair, and He pulls you to Christ, and you're kicking
and screaming against it? Your old nature does. I tell
you what, when you're drawn to Christ, you have a new nature
that finds Christ Jesus to be irresistible. And you want to
come into His presence. And it's not unwilling. Somebody
said you come to Christ against your will with full consent.
And that's true, isn't it? You come willingly. Now, what's
involved in being drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ? We'll look
back in our text in John, Chapter six. Verse 44, no man can come to
me except the Father, which has sent me draw him. And I'll raise
him up at the last day. It's written in the prophets
and they shall be all. Oh, let's talk about everyone
that's drawn to the father. Every single one of them will
be taught of God. Now, here's the first thing that's
involved in being drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ. You're taught
by God. If you're drawn to the Lord Jesus
Christ, and this is a quotation from Isaiah 54, 13, and it's
a promise. He will teach and when he teaches
you, You're taught. I said this this morning. Don't
ever say God's trying to teach me something. No, no. He never
tries anything. If He intends to teach you something,
you're taught. And they shall all be taught
of God. And here's what He does. He teaches
you who He is. You are taught that He is holy. And you then, and not until then,
see that you are unholy. When He teaches you that He is
holy, you're taught that you are simple. He teaches you that
He's sovereign. And when you learn that He's
sovereign, you also learn that you have absolutely no control. He teaches you that He's all-powerful.
And when you're taught that He's all-powerful, you find out that
you have absolutely no power, that you're without strength,
without any spiritual strength at all. He teaches you that He
is just, and when you learn that, that's when you start crying
for mercy. You have mercy on Me. He teaches you that He's
gracious, and that's when you trust. He teaches you who He
is. And when he teaches you, look what happens. Verse 45,
it is written in the prophets that they shall all be taught
of God. Every man, therefore, that has
heard and has learned of the Father cometh to me. Now, when
you when he teaches you, you've heard from God. You've actually
heard the voice of God that you haven't heard the voice of God
audibly, I realize that, but you've heard from God. You know
the Bible is His Word, don't you? You know, you may have part
of your flesh that fights it, but deep down, you know that
the Bible is the Word of God. You really believe that. I mean,
it's inscribed in your soul. You believe this is His Word.
You believe that. Somebody doesn't believe the
Bible is the Word of God. He's never heard from God. And you know
what God says in His Word is truth. You believe all the stuff
that the world has such a hard time with. Look here in John
chapter 6, verse 60. Many, therefore, of His disciples,
those who claim to be His disciples, when they had heard, they said,
this is a hard saying, this is harsh, this is, this is, we just
don't believe this, this is cruel, this is, this, we don't like
this, we don't like hard sayings. They heard this sermon our Lord
gave in John chapter six, and they said, this is a hard saying.
Who can hear it? Who can be expected to hear such
awful stuff as this? When Jesus, verse 61, knew in
himself that his disciples murmured at him, he said, does this offend
you? What, and if you shall see the Son of Man send up where
he was before? Now, they were complaining about the fact that
he said, I came down from heaven. He said, does that offend you?
Well, you're really going to be offended when you see me go
back to heaven, back to the place where I was, and you find out
who I really am. That's when you're really going
to be offended. Verse 63. It's the Spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
that you find so hard and harsh, they are Spirit and they are
life. Do you find His words, words
of Spirit and words of life? But there are some of you that
believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that
believed not and who should betray me. He said, Therefore said I
unto you that no man can come to me, except it were given him
of my Father. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Then said, Jesus, unto
the twelve, will you also go away? Now he's telling his disciples
at that time, the twelve, you fellas want to leave? There's
the door. They were watching everybody else leave. He says,
you guys can go with them. Y'all want to leave? Then Simon Peter
answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? I mean, it's not like
we have any other options. Thou hast the word of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. He's heard from God. You've heard from God when you believe what this book says
about you. You believe what this book says
about Jesus Christ the Lord. You believe who he is and you
believe what this book says regarding salvation. It's all of grace.
You've heard of God. You've been taught by God and
you've heard of God. When you believe now back to
John chapter 6 verse 45. It's written in the prophets
and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that
has heard. And had learned. of the Father cometh unto thee."
Now, when you come to Christ, you're taught by God, you've
heard from God, and you learn. That means you come to an understanding.
You actually understand. Not completely, but you have
some understanding. It's a personal understanding.
You learn by experience. It means more than just knowing
the right answer. You know, there's all the difference
in the world. between believing in the doctrine
of total depravity, and I bet everybody in this room pretty
much, I bet everybody in this room say, I believe in the doctrine
of total depravity. I believe the Bible teaches us. It's one
thing to believe in the doctrine of total depravity, and it's
quite another thing to really believe that you yourself are
totally depraved. All the difference in the world.
That's when you learn. You come to an understanding.
When you understand that, you understand that salvation is
by grace. You understand that's the only
way it can be. You understand that Christ is
everything in salvation and you're of nothing. You've learned of
the Father when you come to some understanding. You understand
that his righteousness is the only righteousness because you've
learned by experience you don't have any righteousness. There's
an understanding there. You've learned of the Father.
And look what he says next. He says, Everyone that has heard
and learned of the Father cometh unto me, not that any man has
seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Coming to Christ is seeing God. How can I see Him who's invisible?
There's one way to answer that. Our Lord said, He that has seen
me has seen the Father. You come to Christ when you see
who He really is. is God Almighty. He's the only
Savior of sinners. He's the only hope you have. That's when you come to it. You've
been taught by God. Now, those who are drawn by the
Father to Christ actually believe on Christ. Look what he says
in verse 47. Barely, barely, I say unto you, he that believeth
on me have everlasting life. You actually believe on Him. You know what it means to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ? I can sink my teeth into this.
It means a whole lot more than believing in His existence. I
believe in His existence. I believe there's a man seated
at the right hand of the Father right now. I believe that. But
it means more than believing in His existence. I really trust
Him as my salvation. I'm relying on Him right now. Sink or swim, I go to Him. I'm relying on the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's everything in my salvation. I am relying on God
looking to Him for everything He requires of me. I'm relying
on Him. Now, this is what people who
are drawn to Christ do. They rely on Him. And notice
it says, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. It takes everlasting life. It
takes eternal life. It takes the life of God in your
soul to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what does it take
to come to Christ? Well, you have to be of God.
You have to be drawn by God, you have to be taught by God,
you have to learn of Him, you have to see Him, you have to
believe on Him, you have to have life. That's what it takes to
come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want you to look at a
passage of scripture with me in Revelation 22. Verse 17. and the Spirit, God the Holy
Spirit, and the Bride. This is the message of the Church.
Here's what they had to say. Come. Come to the Lord Jesus
Christ right now, just as you are. Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. Anybody who hears this message,
here's the message you're to preach. Come to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And let him that is a thirst.
Come, how thirsty you gotta be? I don't know, just thirsty. Come. And whosoever will. Let him take. the water of life
freely. Now, there he says it. Are you willing to come to the
Lord Jesus Christ? Then come and welcome. Nothing
holding you back. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life Freely. You don't need to wait on anything.
You don't need to wait until you understand more. You don't
have to wait until you have a better experience or where you feel
more. You don't have to wait for anything. You're to come
and take that water of life. Freely. You don't have to look
for a reason in yourself to do it. You know people who come
to Christ. Let me tell you this about people
who come to Christ. They know they must come to Him. They must have
Him. Whether I'm elect or not, I don't
know. But I know this. I have to be found in the Lord
Jesus Christ. I have to come to Him. Lord,
draw me. I have to be found in Him. And
if you don't come, there's only one reason. You don't want to. And if you don't want to, there's
only one place you ought to be spending eternity. And you know
where that is. Not wanting to come to Christ
is our greatest crime. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. Our Lord's made this promise,
him that cometh to me, I will in no wise Cast out. May God give every man, woman,
boy, and girl in this room the grace to come to Christ. You
young people, how old have you got to be to come? We're in the
Bibles and the Savior's got to be any age. Come to Christ in
your heart by His grace right now, asking Him for mercy. Lord,
here's a place to begin. Lord, draw me. May God give us
grace to come to Him. Let's pray together.

What Does it Take to Come to Christ?

What does the Bible say about coming to Christ?

How do we know irresistible grace is true?

Why is the concept of total depravity important for Christians?

What does it mean to be drawn by the Father?

Why do some refuse to come to Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Todd Nibert

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

What Does it Take to Come to Christ?

What does the Bible say about coming to Christ?

How do we know irresistible grace is true?

Why is the concept of total depravity important for Christians?

What does it mean to be drawn by the Father?

Why do some refuse to come to Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Todd Nibert

Comments

More from Todd Nibert

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Todd Nibert

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book