Thank you for the interpretative and theological question on free will and God’s sovereignty, “How does someone who believes in free will interpret John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day?”
As I think about that question, Jesus is declaring God’s perspective of salvation for humans. There is the presumption that humans do want to come to God. Humans do not want to submit to God’s rule over them. The nation of Israel from the day of their deliverance from Egypt to the time of Jesus only outwardly obey the Covenant Laws of God, but not with their hearts.
Jeremiah the Prophet said this in Jeremiah 5, “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. 2 Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ still they are swearing falsely” (A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages). Bible citations are in the New International Version.
David said this in Psalm 14, “The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. 3 All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (NIV).
Human’s will is bent away from from God and his Laws. If given a choice, humans will choose to disobey rather than obey the Laws of God. His nature makes it so that humans will not choose to come to God on their own. Humans wants to be free from the rule of God over them. Thus no human will come to God on their own.
As one continues to read John 6, one reads these words, “Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[e] and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
It appears that the 12 disciples chose to believe and follow Jesus, but Jesus makes a statement that he has chosen them, not that they have chosen him. Jesus knew from the beginning which of them (the people) who didn’t believe and the one who would betrayed him.
Humans will not choose to believe in Jesus Christ by their own will. See John 1:12–13 that the one who believes is not by human will but born of God. Unless God intervenes into a person life, opens his/her eyes to see his/her own need of a Savior, that person believes that he is good enough to save himself or doesn’t see any need to be saved from anything. He thinks that he is good enough to make it to heaven by his own standard or rejects the existence of God and believes death is the end of life. Saul of Tarsus is one who believed that he was good enough to make it on his own and it was his choice to become righteous until he saw that his own righteousness was not pure enough before God (Phil. 3:2–11).
SUMMARY: Humans are free to reject God, but s/he is not free to come to God.
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