All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out (John 6:37).
The Lord Jesus makes five different never promises to anyone who believes in Him. Whoever believes in Him will never: 1) thirst, 2) hunger, 3) be cast out, 4) perish, or 5) die [spiritually].
Here, we will consider the third never promise in John’s Gospel—the promise that the believer will never be cast out. It is found in John 6:37.
After Jesus fed 5,000 men, plus about 15,000 women and children (John 6:1-14), those who had received the free and miraculous bread requested, “Lord, give us this bread always” (John 6:34). The Lord Jesus gave them a discourse in which He said that He is “the bread of life” and that whoever eats this bread, will never hunger (John 6:35). That is the second never promise.
Jesus’ third never promise occurs just two verses later. The Lord added, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37). The words translated by no means are ou mē, never or no not ever.
In his commentary on John 1-6, Zane Hodges said this about the promise that one would never be cast out:
6:37. …The Father’s giving of believers to Jesus (mentioned in 6:37, 39, and 65) occurs at the moment of belief. John 6:29 views believing as being persuaded that something is true, calling it “the work[ing] of God.” The Father sent Jesus, commanded Him what to say (12:49), and commanded His signs (17:4). What He did in obedience to the Father drew people to believe in Him, so believers are a gift from the Father. The topic is drawing, not election.
“The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” pointedly affirms the doctrine of eternal security (see 10:28-29). The key is initial faith, not perseverance. Jesus does not say, “The one who never stops coming to Me I will by no means cast out.” He says whoever “comes to Me” (6:37), a phrase that means “whoever believes in Me” (6:35b). Coming to faith in Jesus Christ, not perseverance, results in life everlasting” (Faith in His Name, pp. 147-48, emphases his).
To be cast out would mean that a child of God would be removed from God’s family. If a believer could be cast out by God, he would spend eternity in the lake of fire. In The Grace New Testament Commentary, I wrote, “This is understatement. Jesus will hold him close forever (cf. 10:28–29)” (“John,” p. 395).
Carson comments,
The second part of the verse moves from the collective whole to the individual, and from the actual coming (consequent on being part of the gift) to preservation. This interpretation is suggested by the verb ekballō, ‘drive away’ or ‘cast out’. In almost all of its parallel occurrences, it is presupposed that what is driven out or cast out is already ‘in’. ‘I will never drive away’ therefore means ‘I will certainly keep in’. This interpretation, however, strongly supported by the verb, is required by the context, the next three verses (John, p. 290, italics his).
Even though Carson holds to Lordship Salvation, his comments here surely don’t sound like he does. I love his statement that “what is driven out or cast out is already in.” You can’t be cast out of something without being in it in the first place.
Jesus promised that the moment anyone comes to Him in faith, he has everlasting life and will never be cast out. That is great news. That is the promise which, if believed, results in assurance of one’s eternal destiny. No matter what the believer does or fails to do in the future, he will never be cast out. He’s in God’s family once and for all.
Keep grace in focus, and you’ll never lose sight of Jesus’ promise that once you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you’ll never be cast out. You can never lose everlasting life.
