Subject: God is in control of every single atom? |
Bible Note: Greetings John! Forgive me if I wasn't as clear as I should have been! It was late for me! :-) So, allow me to attempt this again. You said in your post: "All that are drawn are taught and all that are taught come to Jesus." The primary difficulty with this statement is that it has turned active voice verbs into passive voice verbs. John 6:45 says, "It is written in the Prophets: ?They will all be taught by God.? Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me." The second verbal phrase is a quote from Is. 54:13. However, the Greek text does not actually include a verb at all. It has been translated as a passive, and I believe rightly so. However, note that this phrase says that 'all' will be taught by God. It does not limit it to only some. The third and fourth verbal phrases however do contain actual verbs, and they are both active in voice, not passive. This last clause literally reads: "All who have heard and have learned come to me." The active voice involves an act of will. These individuals have made an active decision to listen and to learn, after which they come to Jesus. If John had intended for this to be a passive meaning, he would have used the passive form, which would have read: "All who have heard (passive form)from the Father and have been taught (passive form) come to me." However, this isn't the form used. So, based upon my understanding of Greek, your exgesis is faulty because it turns active voices into passive voices. Thus, the meaning of John 6:45 is not that "all who are taught" come to Jesus, but that "all who listen or respond" to what "all" are taught by the Father will come to Jesus. The grumblers refused to listen, thus, they did not come. I hope this clarifies what I was attempting to say this morning my friend! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |