John 6

Regarding Eternal Life

John 6:22-40

John 6:26

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. (use)

John 6:22

On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. (use)

John 6:24

So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. (use)

John 6:2

And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. (use)

John 6:25

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" (use)

John 4:15

The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water." (use)

John 6:11

Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. (use)

John 6:26

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. (use)

Matthew 4:4

But he answered, "It is written, "‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’" (use)

Deuteronomy 8:3

And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (use)

John 6:27

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." (use)

Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun; Let us talk of all his wondrous love and care. Then when all of life is over and our work on earth is done, And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

Black, J.M., 1893. When the roll is called up yonder.
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There is something within the fallen nature of human beings that makes working for eternal life more attractive than receiving it as a gift. That thing is pride.

Constable, T., 2022. Expository Notes.
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John 6:29

Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." (use)

Only One Life Twill Soon Be Past. Only what's done for Christ will last.

Studd, C.T., n.d. Only One Life Twill Soon Be Past.
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He spoke ... with Calvary in view, setting Himself forth as the life of the world in terms applicable to a sacrificial victim, whose blood is shed, and whose flesh is eaten by those presenting the offering; not mincing His words, but saying every thing in the strongest and intensest manner possible.

Bruce, A.B., 1894. The Training of the Twelve. reprint. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1971. pg.13
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John 6:34

They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." (use)

The Jews asked for something from Christ: He offers them Himself.

Westcott, B.F., 1880. The Gospel According to St. John: The Authorised Version with Introduction and Notes. pg.102
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John 6:35

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. (use)

first of the 7 I am's of Jesus

To Jewish ears this 'I am' aroused associations of the divine, for in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, the expression is frequently used by God Himself. There is little doubt that John's repeated use of this expression is meant to awaken these divine associations.

Morris, L., 1958. The Lord from Heaven. pg.97
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If a man truly has life-giving contact with Jesus he never ceases to be dependent on him ...but the initial contact does not need to be repeated.

Barrett, C.K., 1978. The Gospel According to St John: An Introduction with Commentary and Notes on the Greek Text. pg.293
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John 6:37

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (use)

Here ariseth a great question amongst interpreters of various persuasions, what giving of the Father is here meant; whether an eternal designation of persons to eternal life, in order to the obtaining of which the persons so predestinated are given to Christ, as he who was to be the Messiah, Saviour, and Redeemer of the world; or the infusing the habits of special, saving grace, by which persons are enabled actually to believe.

Poole, M., 1840. English Annotations on the Holy Bible.
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John 6:44

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (use)

Ephesians 1:4

even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love (use)

In the first place, he says, that all whom the Father giveth him come to him; by which words he means, that faith is not a thing which depends on the will of men, so that this man and that man indiscriminately and at random believe, but that God elects those whom he hands over, as it were, to his Son; for when he says, that whatever is given cometh, we infer from it, that all do not come. Again, we infer, that God works in his elect by such an efficacy of the Holy Spirit, that not one of them falls away; for the word give has the same meaning as if Christ had said, "Those whom the Father hath chosen he regenerates, and gives to me, that they may obey the Gospel."

Calvin, J., 1555. Commentary.
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Admission is not the working of some impersonal law, but the individual response of him who has come down to give life. As far as man is concerned, it turns on his voluntary coming, on his bare willingness to be fed with heavenly food. It is impossible, so far as responsibility is concerned, to get back of personal wish and individual will. The process of genuine coming to Christ does show that the Father is therein giving such soul to his Son.

Spence-Jones, H.D.M., 1880. The Pulpit Commentary.
spence-1880-pulpit~john-6v37

Jude 24

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, (use)

He is the God whose grace no man has every exhausted and on whom no claim can ever be too much.

Barclay, W., 1953. Daily Study Bible.
barclay-1953-dsb~jude-1v24

The people of God are liable to falling into temptation, into sin, into errors and mistakes, from an exercise of grace, or from a degree of steadfastness in Gospel truths, and even into a final and total apostasy, were it not for divine power; and they are not able to keep themselves.

Gills, J., 1748. Exposition of the Bible Commentary.
gills-1748-exposition~jude-1v24a

Psalm 121:3

He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. (use)

Philippians 1:6

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (use)

John 10:28

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (use)

He is come to the house of mercy; he is lying at the threshold: the servants bid him come in - he obeys, and stands trembling, waiting for the appearing of the Master, doubtful whether he is to be received or rejected: the Master appears, and not only grants his suit, but receives him into the number of his family: he alleges his unfitness, his unworthiness, his guilt, his crimes, his ingratitude: no matter, all shall be blotted out through the blood of the Lamb, and he be put among the children, and on none of these accounts shall he be put out of the house.

Clarke, A., 1831. Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible.
clarke-1831-com~john6v37

Everyone that comes - that is, everyone that comes in a proper mariner, feeling that he is a lost and ruined sinner. This invitation is wide, and full, and free. It shows the unbounded mercy of God; and it shows, also, that the reason, and the only reason, why men are not saved, is that they will not come to Christ. Of any sinner it may be said that if he had been willing to come to Christ he might have come and been saved. As he chooses not to come, he cannot blame God because he saves others who are willing, no matter from what cause, and who thus are made partakers of everlasting life.

Barnes, A., 1884. Albert Barnes Notes on the Whole Bible.
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Matthew 15:8

This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; (use)

John 6:70

Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil." (use)

But let this city bear in mind, that among her enemies lie hid those who are destined to be fellow-citizens, that she may not think it a fruitless labour to bear what they inflict as enemies until they become confessors of the faith. So, too, as long as she is a stranger in the world, the city of God has in her communion, and bound to her by the sacraments, some who shall not eternally dwell in the lot of the saints.

Augustine of Hippo, 426AD. City of God.
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John 6:39

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. (use)

One other argument for eternal security comes from Calvinism. Here it is taught that God has unconditionally chosen us and irresistibly called us to himself. It would follow then that there is no possibility of falling. It was not really my choice to come to Christ. And it would not be my choice to remove myself from his grace. But of course, this logic does not work from an Arminian perspective since we do not accept either unconditional election or irresistible grace.

Jarrett, E., 2017. Arminianism: The Persistence of Salvation.
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Romans 8:38

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, (use)

Great Father of mercies, thy goodness I own, And covenant love of thy crucify'd son: All praise to the spirit whose whisper divine Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine.

Stocker, J.S., 1777. Thy Mercy My God
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Romans 8:39

nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (use)

John 6:40

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (use)

Numbers 21:8

And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." (use)

Although Christianity teaches of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, attempts to literally resurrect dead bodies are unusual in the religion.

Griffith, K., 2019. GoFundMe campaign for Christian couple who are seeking to resurrect their dead two-year-old daughter with prayer raises them more than $50,000.
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Nothing upon earth can be equal to the precious assurance of this most glorious truth. Neither can it fail, no, not in a single instance. The loss of one soul, for whom Christ died, and whom the Father gave to him, would tarnish the crown of the Lord Jesus Christ forever. But the thing is impossible.

Hawker, R., 1805. Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary.
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Jeremiah 32:40

I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. (use)

Job 19:26

And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, (use)

And when I reach my final day He will not leave me in the grave But I will rise, He will call me home The Lord is my salvation

Getty, K., 2016. The Lord Is My Salvation.
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Daniel 12:2

And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (use)

The fury of the resurrected atheist: that would be something worth seeing. [pg. 64]

Barnes, J., 2008. Nothing to be Frightened of.
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John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (use)

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more, And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair; When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

Black, J.M., 1893. When the roll is called up yonder.
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John 5:29

and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. (use)

The one distinctive thing that Christians can contribute to this moment is to speak fearlessly of the reality of death and human mortality, and the transcendent hope in the face of grief, loss and death that the resurrection of Jesus offers.

Ian, P., 2020. How should Christians respond to a new lockdown?
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Philippians 3:11

that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (use)

No fate I dread, I know I am forgiven The future sure, the price it has been paid For Jesus bled and suffered for my pardon And He was raised to overthrow the grave

CityAlight., 2018. Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me.
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Topics and Themes

Key Verse

John 6:40

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (use)