In confirmation of His assertion in John 6:44, Jesus, as is His wont, cites Scripture: ἔστι γεγραμμένον ἐν τοῖς προφήταις, that is, it is written in that part of Scripture known as “the Prophets”. The passage cited is Isaiah 54:13, where, in describing Messianic times, the prophet says, “Thy children shall all be taught of God,” ἔσονται πάντες διδακτοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, and what this being taught of God means He more fully explains in the words πᾶς οὖν … μαθὼν, “every one who has heard from the Father and has learned comes to me”. Both the hearing and the learning refer to an inward spiritual process. The outward teaching of Scripture and of Christ Himself was enjoyed by all the people He was addressing; but they did not come to Him. It is therefore an inward and individual illumination by the special operation of God that enables men to come to Christ. Whether these verses teach “irresistible grace” may be doubted. That they teach the doctrine which Augustine asserted against Pelagius, viz., that power to use grace must itself be given by God, is undeniable. That is affirmed in the statement that no one can come to Christ unless the Father draw him. But whether it is also true that every one whom God teaches comes is not here stated; the καὶ μαθὼν introduces a doubtful element. [Wetstein quotes from Polybius διαφέρει τὸ μαθεῖν τοῦ μόνον ἀκοῦσαι.]

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Old Testament