“I Will Never Cast Out.”

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (John 6:37 ESV)

This verse from John is Christ speaking to the unbelieving Israelites in the market, who, after seeing all the signs Jesus did, still did not believe He was the Messiah. Two things should stick out to us about this verse because they are so important to our Christian doctrine.

In the first part of this verse, Jesus says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me.” Very clearly, Jesus is telling us of our election.  God elected us before creation, our names written in the Book of Life of the Lamb Who was slain. God calls us by grace, and we are given faith to believe in the Son of God as our Savior. Without God's actions in all things, we could never have salvation from our sins. We are unable to save ourselves from our sins.

Jesus also told us that He is “the way, the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). It is Christ who paid for our sins bearing them on His own, and it is His righteousness which is imputed to us. In His righteousness, we are justified before God and can be in a living relationship with the Father.

So, what about the assurances? They come in the second part of this verse, “and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Jesus is eternal; He has no beginning, and He has no end. For us, He is the beginning of a life in salvation, and the end to which we vacate this body and receive an eternal body, just as He did in the resurrection. However, the critical part of this verse is that we will “Never be cast out” by Christ.

Paul said, “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”(Romans 5:7-8) That is just incredible. While we were still rebellious and turning our backs on God, Christ died for us, so that when God called us, we could still be redeemed. We died for us while we were in sin, so we are now told that in our salvation, our sins will not cause God to turn away from us, and so we repent, asking forgiveness for our sins.  

Paul understood our sin nature, and he often spoke of his own,  ^“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.  For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” (Romans 7:15-18) Praise the Lord! Even though our sin nature remains in us, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and leads us down the narrow path of salvation.

This life will end. Our bodies will be given up to dust. You are not just a speck of insignificant matter that evolved into a human. You were carefully designed. Created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). You are God's creation, and He is calling you; He is asking you to come to Christ in faith. In doing so, you will find salvation through the free gift that is Christ Jesus, who died on a cross that you might live…forever. Seek Christ and find the assurance of the resurrection and everlasting life that God has in store for you.

Grace and Peace!