In John chapter 6, Jesus has already confronted one of the most deeply held assumptions of the human heart: that belief begins with us. He has made it clear that faith is not the result of human effort, sight, or decision, but the work of God Himself. Now, as the conversation continues, Jesus takes the next step. He explains why he came, whose will he came to accomplish, and how salvation is made certain from beginning to end. These verses do not shift the focus back to human response. They anchor salvation even more firmly in the purpose of the Father and the mission of the Son. Today's passage moves us from who believes to why Jesus came, from the gift of faith to the guarantee of resurrection. Here's Pastor Harry Barrens with today's message.

Today we're going to be continuing John chapter 6 again, picking up in verses 38 through 40. Now, this is part two of our study titled The Father's Will and Salvation. And last time we slowed down and carefully walked through the verses, verses 35 to 37. And what we saw there was unsettling for many, but incredibly clarifying. Jesus made it clear that belief is not something we manufacture by seeing enough evidence or making the right decision. He said plainly that believing is the work of God, that those the Father gives will come, and that seeing Jesus does not automatically result in faith. That raises a necessary question. One, the text itself forces us to ask, why is Jesus so certain? Why does he speak with such confidence about who will believe, who will come, and who will never be cast out? Jesus is answering the question in verse 38. This verse is not a new idea. It is the foundation underneath everything he has already said. In fact, without verse 38, verses 35 to 37 would sound harsh, confusing, or even arbitrary. But with verse 38, everything snaps into place. Here, Jesus explains where salvation actually begins. Not with human desire, not with religious effort, not with choice or willpower, but with heaven itself. When Jesus says, I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. He is pulling back the curtain on the origin, purpose, and guarantee of salvation. In this episode, we're going to slow down again. We're going to sit inside these verses and let Jesus explain why salvation does not rise up from humanity, but comes down from God. And we'll see how this verse prepares us for one of the strongest promises in all of Scripture that not one person the Father gives to the Son will ever be lost. So let's step back into this passage, keep the flow of the chapter intact, and listen carefully as Jesus tells us not just how salvation works, but why it cannot fail. In verse 38, we read, For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Now this verse is the hinge of the entire passage. Up to this point, Jesus has explained who believes and why. He has said that belief is the work of God, that those the Father gives will come, and that seeing him does not automatically result in faith. Now in verse 38, Jesus explains how any of that can be possible can possibly be true. He does not start with humanity. He doesn't start with response. He doesn't start with decision. He starts with dissent. I have come down from heaven. That phrase alone corrects one of the deepest misunderstandings people bring to salvation. Salvation does not begin on earth. It does not rise upward from human effort, desire, or religious pursuit. It comes down. Jesus is saying that what is happening in this chapter did not originate in the crowd, in their hunger, or even in their questions. It originated in heaven. This also explains why the crowd will later object in verse 42, where they say, Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? They stumble here because they are listening with earthly categories. They see a man who grew up in Nazareth. Jesus is speaking as one who came from heaven. He's not claiming inspiration. He's not claiming insight. He is claiming his origin. Salvation does not begin when someone reaches up toward God. It begins when God sends his son down. And then Jesus adds something just as important. He says, Not to do my own will. This is not Jesus denying his divinity. It is him revealing his mission. He is explaining that salvation is not the result of independent action, even divine independent action. It is the execution of a unified will. The Son does not improve salvation. He does not react to human behavior. He does not adjust the plan based on response. He comes with a purpose already set, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. This tells us something critical. Salvation is not accidental. It's not flexible or uncertain. It's not built on possibility. It is built on obedience. Jesus is saying that his entire mission, his incarnation, his teaching, his miracles, his death, his resurrection are all governed by the will of the Father. That matters because it means salvation rests on God's purpose, not human performance. If salvation depended on our will, it would always be unstable. If it depended on our consistency, it would always fail. But if it depends on the Father's will and the Son's obedience to that will, then salvation is as secure as God Himself. This verse also answers a question many people wrestle with, but rarely articulate. Why does Jesus speak with such certainty in verses 35 to 37? Because he knows why he came. And he knows that he will accomplish it fully. He is not reacting to belief. Verse 38 tells us that salvation is not something Jesus hopes will happen. It is something he was sent to accomplish. And that sets up what he will say next. Because once Jesus establishes that he came to do the Father's will, the next logical question is obvious. What is that will? Jesus answers that directly in verses 39 and 40. And when he does, he will remove any remaining doubt about who salvation depends on, how secure it is, and why none of those the Father gives can ever be lost. That's where we're going next. But before we move on, we need to let verse 38 land. Salvation does not start with you. It does not rise from your desire, it does not rest on your effort. It comes down from heaven through a son who came to do the Father's will, not his own. And if that is true, then salvation is not fragile. It is intentional, it is deliberate, and it is guaranteed. Now, moving on to verse 39, we read, 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. Jesus does not leave the Father's will undefined. This is the will of him who sent me. In other words, this is not interpretation. This is not theology inferred later by the church. This is Jesus telling us in his own words exactly what the Father intends salvation to accomplish. And the will is not vague, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me. Notice how carefully Jesus speaks. He does not say that I should try to lose, not lose. He doesn't say that I should help them, not fall away. He doesn't say that I should preserve those who persevere well enough. He says that I should lose nothing. That is absolute language. And notice something else that matters deeply. The responsibility is not placed on the believer. Jesus does not say that they should not lose themselves. He says that I should lose nothing. Salvation does not hinge on human grip, it hinges on Christ's keeping. The objects of salvation are described in a very specific way. All that he has given me. Jesus does not describe believers as those who choose him, found him, or held on to him well enough. He describes them as those the Father gave. That language again matters because it defines ownership. What the Father gives belongs to the Son, and what belongs to the Son will not be lost. This is not just about protection. This is about purpose. The Father's will is not merely that people come to Jesus. It is that those given to Jesus are kept by Jesus. And Jesus does not stop there. He says, but raise it up on the last day. This is where salvation is shown to be far bigger than conversion. Jesus is not promising preservation in this life. He is promising resurrection in the next. And the phrase raise it up is deliberate. It points to bodily resurrection, final restoration, and eternal life secured beyond death. Salvation, according to Jesus, is not complete until the last day. And from beginning to end, from being given by the Father to being kept by the Son to being raised in glory, the entire work belongs to God. This verse destroys the idea that salvation is a cooperative project where God starts something and hopes we finish it. According to Jesus, salvation is a divine work with a divine guarantee. If someone is given to the Son, they will not be lost. They will not fall through the cracks. They will not fail at the end. They will be raised. Not because they were strong enough, not because they believed perfectly, but because the Father willed it and the Son accomplishes it. And that explains why Jesus speaks with such certainty earlier in the chapter. He is not waiting to see who endures. He is not hoping the plan works. He knows the Father's will. And he knows he will fulfill it. This verse also prepares us for what Jesus will say coming up. Because if the Father's will is that none be lost and all be raised, then the next question is unavoidable. How can anyone fail to come? And what role does faith actually play? And Jesus answers those questions in verse 40. But before we move there, we need to let verse 39 settle. If your salvation depends on you, it will always feel fragile. If it depends on Christ, it is as secure as his obedience. And Jesus has already told us why he came. Not to do his own will, but to accomplish the Father's will completely. And according to Jesus, the Father's will is this not one will be lost. Every one will be raised. Now Jesus brings the Father's will into full view. In verse 40, he says, For this is the will of the 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. Now, at first glance, this verse sounds like a shift. Some read it and think Jesus has now moved from sovereignty to human choice. But that only happens if verse 40 is ripped away from verses 37 through 39. Jesus has not changed subjects. He's not reverse direction. He is not contradicting himself. He is explaining the same salvation from another angle. When Jesus says, everyone who looks on the sun and believes, he is not widening the group beyond what he has already defined. He has already told us who believes. All that the Father gives will come. Those who come will not be cast out. Those given will not be lost. Those kept will be raised. So when Jesus now says everyone, he is not speaking generically. He is speaking specifically about the same people he has been describing all along. Everyone here does not mean every human without exception. It means everyone without distinction among those the Father has given. In other words, not one will be missing. And that matters because Jesus ties belief, eternal life, and resurrection together as one inseparable work. The same one, the same ones who believe are the same ones who are given. And they're the same ones who are kept, and the same ones who are raised. There's no gap in the chain. And this is usually the moment when something deeper stirs in the heart. Not a theological objection, but a personal one. What about the people I love? What about my children? What about those who haven't believed yet? That question, too. That question matters. It doesn't come from rebellion, it comes from love. But here's the quiet truth Jesus is leading us toward. If salvation ultimately rests on the human will, then no one is truly secure. Not you, not me, not those we pray for. And prayer itself becomes fragile, reduced to hoping, reduced to hoping someone else makes the right choice. But scripture gives us something far stronger. It gives us a God who opens blind eyes, who draws hearts, who gives faith, who keeps what he saves, who raises his people on the last day. That doesn't weaken prayer. It gives prayer confidence because we're not asking God to wait helplessly on human decisions. We're asking him to do what only he can do, to give life. And that leads us to the hardest question of all. Not why doesn't God choose everyone, but why would God choose anyone? Because if God were only fair, none of us would stand. If he were only just, we would all receive what we deserve. Election is not about exclusion, it is about mercy. And Scripture never answers the question, Why me? with an explanation. It answers it with worship. Paul reaches the edge in Romans 11 and stops reasoning. Not because the truth failed, but because it overwhelmed him. He said, Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and how inscrutable his ways. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. Now, some things belong to God alone. And that is not a loss, it is a relief. Because what he has revealed is enough. He has revealed a son, he has revealed his will, he has revealed his promise. And that promise is this those who come to Christ will never be cast out, will never be lost, and they will be raised on the last day. Again, it's not a fragile hope. This is solid ground, not because of who we are, but because of who he is. And that is where Jesus leaves us, not striving, debating, or resting, or butt resting, secure in the Father's will, held in the Son's promise, and free to worship, not because we choose wisely, but because we were shown mercy. And this is where this becomes personal. If hearing these words stirs your heart, if you feel conviction, longing, or desire to turn to Christ, this is not something to dismiss or overanalyze. This is something to respond to. Election is not a reason to remain passive. It is the reason response is even possible. Let me say that one more time. Election, God electing us is not a reason to remain passive. It is the reason response is even possible. Dead hearts do not cry out. Blind eyes do not seek light. So if you feel drawn to Jesus, that drawing did not begin with you. Jesus does not say figure out if you are chosen. He says, Come to me. And he makes a promise you can trust. He says, Whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. So don't wait. Don't clean yourself up. Don't try to resolve every question first. Come trust him. Rest in him. The savior who receives you is the savior who will keep you. And raise you on the last day. Let's pray. Father, thank you that our salvation rests in your will, not ours. Thank you for sending your son to accomplish what we never could. Help us rest in your faithfulness. Trust, trust and trust you with those we love, and walk in the assurance that you lose none whom you give life to. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, as we've seen today, Jesus has anchored salvation firmly in the will of the Father, in what God gives, what God keeps, and what God raises. But that raises an important question. If salvation is God's work from start to finish, why did Jesus come down at all? What exactly was he sent to accomplish? And our next episode will continue in John chapter 6 as Jesus explains why he came, how the Father's will is carried out through the Son, and what it means for our assurance, both now and forever. I hope you'll join me as we keep walking through this remarkable chapter together. And I want to thank you again for joining us today on the takeaway. My prayer is that this message has helped you take one more step toward understanding how deeply God loves you and how fully He desires to be known. If today's passage stirred questions, brought clarity, or challenged something you've longed assumed, you're always welcome to reach out through the text us link in the episode description. I read every message and I'm grateful for the conversations this journey creates. God bless, and we'll see you again next time on the takeaway.