This
passage is used because it speaks of Christ giving repentance. They
infer that is done by a direct operation of the Spirit. But the passage
says nothing as to _how_ he grants repentance. Christ gives many things
that are not the result of a direct operation of the Spirit. The very
next verse says God gives "the Holy Spirit to all them _that obey_ him."
This directly contradicts the theory of the necessity of a direct
operation of the Spirit to enable men to obey him.
10. "No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him: and
I will raise him up in the last day" (John 6:44). This is greatly relied
upon to show the necessity of an irresistible drawing before men can
come to Christ. The word "draw," in the Scriptures, is a translation of
two words in the original. One means to draw by force, "to drag;" the
other means to "entice, allure or persuade"--that men are drawn by moral
arguments, or "allured." In the next verse Christ tells how men are
drawn. "Every one that hath heard from the Father, and hath learned,
cometh unto me." Christ draws men by "_teaching_," and they come as
result of "_learning_." That is why he told his disciples to "go teach
all nations." That is Christ's method of drawing.
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