Several key things in this passage: 1. there is a form of grace that overshadows us before we become Christians. It’s function is to allow us to recognize that we are in need of salvation, and that Jesus is the means of being saved. You can’t become a Christian unless God favors you with this grace. In church speak, we call it “prevenient grace” (it means “the grace that comes before”).
The question that must be asked then is this: “who does God favor with this grace?” Does He pick and choose? Some scholars from throughout the ages believe that God decides who to shower with this special grace. It follows then, that only those people can become Christians. The rest have no real hope of ever accepting Christ. In fact, without prevenient grace, they wouldn’t even want to.
I believe that prevenient grace covers every person in the world. John 3:16 says “for God so loved THE WORLD that He gave His one and only Son, so that WHOEVER believes in Him would not perish but would have eternal life”. That phrase doesn’t appear to limit prevenient grace to a select few. Anyone can respond to Jesus.
Having said that, there isn’t a guarantee that the prevenient grace will always “overshadow” us. God doesn’t have to give us unlimited chances to accept Him. He could withdraw the grace, and if He does then our hearts would become “hardened”. There are several examples in Scripture of God “hardening” the hearts of people so that they wouldn’t respond to Him. God did this so that His will would be carried out. For instance, He hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and in the New Testament, it would appear that Judas’s heart was hardened. Keep in mind that God may very well have allowed prevenient grace to pour back over Judas after he had betrayed Him. And, if Judas responded with contrition and humility, he would be saved just like anyone else. Personally, I think that Judas was sorry for what he had done, but I don’t know that he repented. Sadly, I don’t think we will be seeing him in heaven. If we were going to, then why would Jesus have allowed the 11 to chose another person to take the place of Judas? And if there would then be “13” disciples, why are there only 12 names recorded on the foundation of the city? (Revelation 21:14) No, I think that Judas squandered eternal riches for the lure of worldly wealth and fame. And even if he did get the chance to repent, he must not have.
There are two types of people who follow Jesus. The first type follow because they want to be fed, entertained and part of the excitement that surrounds Him. There are times when it is great fun to walk with Jesus. Seas part, fire falls from heaven, sick people are healed, demons are cast out, waves are calmed. But there are other times when it is not so popular, when the whip cracks over your back, or when the crowd turns violent and ugly. There are times when food is scarce and beds even more scarce. That’s when the second type of person who follows Christ is revealed. You see, they are along with the crowd who surrounds Jesus during happy times, but when the hard times come and the larger crowd falls away, these stalwart disciples remain. They may not always understand why events have turned, or even if they will make it though alive…but they echo the words of the disciples
“Lord, who else can we turn to? You have the words of eternal life. We believe, and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
a fellow believer,
PR