HUMAN EFFORT

John 6:60-65
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”

61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65 Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”


Many things about God and the way He does things are difficult to understand. A child born with a birth defect … a city devastated by an earthquake, hurricane, wild fire or flood … the life of a ‘good’ person cut way too short. As hard as we try, the bottom line is God’s ways are not our ways and therefore hard to grasp.

God is sovereign. While we may not understand, we can trust that He knows what He is doing.

We can understand this. It is simple and easy. God is love! God demonstrated His love for us through the life and sacrificial death of His Son, not for himself but for us. There is nothing in all our human effort which can gain us eternal life. It was done on the Cross through Jesus Christ.

That’s love!