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Writer's picturePastor Nathan Nass

By Faith from First to Last

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:35-51 NIV)

I had never seen someone get so angry. His face was red. His hands were flailing about. Do you know why? I was a Seminary student, and one day after class my classmates and I were talking, when one of the custodians came in. He was a great guy from the area. Always very friendly. But not that day. He heard what we were talking about, and he couldn’t stand it. Know what it was? We were talking about how we’re saved by faith in Jesus, not by what we do. Ooh. That made him so mad! “You can’t say that. That is wrong! People have to do the right things!” We found out he was a Jehovah’s Witness. Kind. Friendly. Unless we talked about being saved by faith.

I saw someone get that angry one other time. It was in the middle of a Bible study. About 15 of us were studying the main teachings of the Bible. In the front row was a man who came to every Bible study. He loved hearing God’s Word. But not that day. As the class went on, his face kept getting redder and redder. He looked like a volcano about to explode. Finally, in the middle of class, in front of everybody, he jumped up from his chair and shouted, “That’s not true. You have to stop teaching this!” Can you guess what the lesson was about? Faith in Jesus. I found out later that he was Catholic. The idea that people are saved by faith in Jesus made him so mad.

The Bible says a lot of things that sound offensive to us today. It says things about sexuality and money and gender and creation that people don’t like to hear. But do you know what the most offensive teaching in the Bible is? That we’re saved by faith in Jesus. Try it out. Say to people: “Unless you believe in Jesus, you won’t be in heaven.” “Everyone who doesn’t believe in Jesus will suffer in hell forever.” “Faith in Jesus is the only way to heaven.” See their reaction. People will get mad! That we’re saved by faith in Jesus is the most offensive teaching in the Bible.

Maybe that’s why Jesus says it over and over again. Just in the small section we’re studying today, Jesus says three times that we’re saved by believing in him. #1: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.#2: “My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.#3: “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.” Do you get the point? How is a person saved? By believing in Jesus.

That’s really the whole point of John’s gospel. It’s the whole point of God’s Word. At the end of his gospel, John writes, “These words are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). John repeats that truth over and over again: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25). How is a person saved? By faith in Jesus. It’s true! Whoever believes in Jesus has life.

But do you know who’s always trying to sneak in? Do you know who’s always trying to have a part in my salvation? Me! There’s a dangerous false teaching that’s exploded in Christianity lately. It’s called “Decision Theology.” Have you heard of that? It’s everywhere. It’s the idea that Jesus died for you. Jesus is your Savior. So all you have to do is believe. All you need to do is take the first step. You need to open up your heart. You need to make the decision to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Jesus’ part is done. Now it’s up to you. Have you heard that?

Here’s the problem: That’s impossible. Do you know who’s capable of opening up their heart and accepting Jesus? No one. Listen: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.” According to Jesus, who is able to come to Jesus on their own? No one. God says that without him we’re dead. What happens if you say to a dead body, “You take the first step.” Nothing. What if you coax it a little bit? “Come on. You can do it.” Nothing. “All those the Father gives me will come to me…” Who brings us to Jesus? God does! Who puts faith in our hearts? God does! Don’t let yourself sneak in there. It’s all God. By faith. From the very start!

And Jesus tells us exactly how God the Father draws us to him: “It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.” What does God do to create faith in our hearts? He teaches us with his Word. That’s why the Bible says, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17). Faith isn’t a personal decision that we make. Faith is the result of God’s Word working in our hearts. Faith isn’t the one thing we have to do. It’s God’s work from the start. God brings us to faith through his Word. To God be the glory!

But then that false idea called “Me” seeps in again. “Okay, so God gets things started. We’ve got to finish the deal. We’ve got to hold on to Jesus. God helps those who help themselves, right? God brought me to Jesus, and now it’s up to me to do the right things to keep my faith strong!”

Nope. Jesus says, “This is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.” Compare that with “I’m going to hold on to Jesus!” Hold on. Who’s holding on to whom? Jesus holds you. Of course he does! If it were up to you and me, we would have been lost long ago. We would have let go of Jesus over and over again. But Jesus doesn’t let go of you. Not even when you die. Three times, Jesus says, “I will raise them up at the last day.” “I will raise them up on the last day.” It’s Jesus’ job to guard and keep us until heaven. God brings us to faith. Jesus keeps us in the faith. By faith from first to last.

Isn’t this wonderful? We can feel so much pressure on us. Maybe better would be to say that we can put so much pressure on us. “I’ve got to.” “I need to.” “I better.” And Jesus says, “No, I am.” “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away…. My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.” Life doesn’t depend on us, at all. Jesus loves you more than you can possibly imagine. He will never drive you away. We are saved by faith in Jesus from first to last.

So why is that so offensive? Why does that teaching about salvation by faith make people jump out of their chairs in anger? Because it means that you can’t. If we’re saved by faith, who are we not saved by? Us. That’s exactly what the Bible tells us: “You can’t. You’re sinful. Only Jesus saves. You can’t!” There is nothing we hate more than people telling us we can’t. That’s why every other religion says, “You can. Just dress this way. Worship on these days. Eat these foods. Do these things. You can do it!” Jesus says, “You can’t. You can dress however you want, but I want your life. You can worship whenever you want, but I want your heart. You can eat whatever you want, but I want you to depend completely on me. You can’t save. Only I can.”

Do you see how offensive that is? Being a Christian means giving up your independence. It means confessing that you’ve sinned. It means repenting. “I can’t, Jesus. Only you can.” Being a Christian means acknowledging that every other way leads to death. Can you see how offensive that is? We’d rather say, “Jesus, let’s work together. You do your thing, and I’ll do my thing.” And Jesus says, “No. There’s only one Bread of Life. Me. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.” The ancient Israelites ate special bread that God sent down from heaven, but what happened? They still died. Nothing can save except Jesus. I can’t. You can’t.

That’s hard. In fact, that’s offensive! Someone made this comment on one of my Facebook devotions this week: “The transition from human effort, to living by faith, is a slow, scary process. If it were easy, everyone could do it.” It is really hard to transition from trusting in our effort to living by faith in Jesus. In fact, it’s not just hard. It’s impossible. Remember? “No one can come to me unless the Father draws them…” Nobody can do it. Except God! Have I done enough? Was I good enough? No! But Jesus did enough. Jesus was good enough for all of us. That’s why you can say, “I can’t.” That’s why you can say, “I failed.” Because Jesus didn’t!

And he has a unique way of talking about this. Jesus says, “All those the Father gives me will come to me.” God the Father gave Jesus—his Son—a gift. Do you catch what that gift was? You. “All those the Father gives me. Think of that. God has everything. He can give some pretty cool gifts. “Hey, Jesus, here’s the sun. Hey, Jesus, want to ride on a shooting star?” But those weren’t the gifts God the Father gave to Jesus. He gave Jesus you by putting faith in Jesus in your heart. “All those the Father gives me will come to me.” You must be pretty cool. You must be special.

At least Jesus thinks so! Jesus treasures the gifts that God the Father gives. Jesus cherishes you like the best gift he’s ever received. He says, “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” Jesus would never take the precious gift that God gave him—you!—and throw it away. Never. “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” And he adds, “I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.” Jesus doesn’t want to lose you. He’s not going to lose you. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not the next day. Even in death. He will raise you up.

Because Jesus has given a gift too. Know what? Himself. He said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” Jesus gave his flesh for the life of the world. He died on the cross to forgive all our sins. So that you have life. You have life now. You will have life with Jesus in heaven. “These words are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). That’s why faith in Jesus is the only way. Because he’s the only One who gave his life for you. The Bread of Life.

So “give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). Somebody taught us to pray that… Jesus did! “Give us today our daily bread.” Everything, absolutely everything in life from first to last comes from our God. “Give us today our daily bread.” But remember our bread isn’t just bread in a bag. It’s not just diet Coke or fried chicken. It’s the Bread of Life. It’s Jesus! “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” There’s a bread that makes you live forever. It’s Jesus and his Word. Eat it up. Our daily bread. Our bread of life. We can’t. Jesus can. Jesus did! We’re saved by faith from first to last.


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