John 6:40

And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

And this is the will of him that sent me. Here the reading of 'the Father which hath sent Me' has much better support than in John 6:39, though scarcely sufficient, perhaps, to justify its insertion (with Lachmann, Tischendorf, and Tregelles).

That everyone which seeth, [ theooroon (G2334 ), rather, 'beholdeth'] the Son, and believeth on him, may (or should) have everlasting life: and I will raise him up - rather, 'and that I should raise him up'

At the last day. This comprehensive and very grand passage is expressed with a special artistic precision. The opening general statement (John 6:37) consists of two members: First, "ALL THAT THE FATHER GIVETH ME SHALL COME TO ME:" - q. d., 'Though ye, as I told you, have no faith in Me, My errand into the world shall in no wise be defeated; because all that the Father giveth Me shall infallibly come to Me.' Observe, what is given Him by the Father is expressed in the singular number and neuter gender-literally, 'all [that] which' [ pan (G3956) ho (G3739)]; while those who come to Him are put in the masculine gender and singular number-`him that cometh' [ ton (G3588) erchomenon (G2064)]. The whole mass, so to speak, is gifted by the Father to the Son as a unity, which the Son evolves, one by one, in the execution of His trust; so (John 17:2) "that He should give eternal life to all that which thou hast given him" [ pan (G3956) ho (G3739) dedookas (G1325)].

The "shall come" of John 6:37 expresses the glorious certainty of it; the Father being pledged to see to it that the gift become a reality. Second, "AND HIM THAT COMETH TO ME I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT." Since the former was the divine, this is just the human side of the same thing. True, the "coming" ones of the second clause are just the "given" ones of the first. But had our Lord merely said, 'When those that have been given me of My Father shall come to Me, I will receive them,'-besides being very flat, the impression conveyed would have been quite different, sounding as if there were no other laws in operation, in the movement of sinners toward Christ, but such as are wholly divine and inscrutable to us; whereas, though He does speak of it as a sublime certainty which men's refusals cannot frustrate, He speaks of that certainty as taking effect only by men's voluntary advances to Him and acceptance of Him - "Him that cometh to me," "whosoever will" - thus throwing the door wide open. Only it is not the simply willing, but the actually coming, whom He will not cast out. "In no wise" [ ou-mee (G3364)] is an emphatic negative, to meet the fears of the timid-as in Revelation 21:27, to meet the presumption of the hardened. These, then, being the emphatic members of the general opening statement, what follows is meant to resume and reiterate them both in another form. But first, we have a parenthetic and emphatic explanation that His mission from heaven to earth had but one object-to carry into effect the Father's purposes: "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will" - not to act an independent part - "but," in respect of both the foregoing things, both the divine and the human side of salvation, to do "the will of Him that sent Me" (John 6:38). What this two-fold will of Him that sent Him is, we are next sublimely told, John 6:39. Thus:

First, "ALL THAT WHICH THE FATHER GIVETH ME SHALL COME TO ME."

This is now emphatically reiterated:

"AND THIS IS THE WILL OF HIM THAT SENT ME, THAT OF ALL THAT WHICH HE HATH GIVEN ME I SHOULD LOSE NOTHING, BUT SHOULD RAISE IT UP AGAIN AT THE LAST DAY."

So much for the divine side of man's salvation, whose every stage and movement is inscrutable to us, but infallibly certain.

Secondly,

"AND HIM THAT COMETH TO ME I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT."

This also is now emphatically reiterated:

"AND THIS IS THE WILL OF THE FATHER WHICH HATH SENT ME, THAT EVERY ONE WHICH SEETH THE SON, AND BELIEVETH ON HIM, MAY HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE: AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY."

This is just the human side of the same thing, (See the note at John 6:54.)

Thus God has a two-fold will about the salvation of men. He wills that those whom He has given in trust to His Son shall be presented faultless before the presence of His glory-redeemed from all iniquity, and their sleeping dust raised incorruptible. But He further wills that if any poor sinner, all ignorant of this secret purpose, but attracted by the grace and glory of His Son, shall believe on Him, he shall have eternal life and be raised up at the last day.