Answers from church history on today's questions
What Christian writers said, from about AD 220 to 1938.
43 passages · 15 writers · 8 centuries
On John 6:44, Calvin says no one can come to Christ unless God first draws him, and Wesley and Spurgeon say the drawing does not compel the will. Chrysostom says the words of John 6:44 do not take away free will, and Augustine says no one believes unless willing. On Romans 9:16, Calvin says there is no will or running by which we can prepare the way for our salvation, and on Ephesians 2:10 he says the right will is God's workmanship, while Chrysostom says Paul does not deprive us of free will but shows that all is not one's own. Henry says sinners die because they will die, Baxter says God clears himself of blame for the destruction of the wicked, and on Matthew 23:37 Spurgeon says the failure of will is in those who perish, as Henry says on Luke 13:31-35. Fausset says that in Revelation 3:20 Christ knocks but does not break open the door.
12 passages · 8 writers · 300s to 1800s
Calvin, Wesley, and Spurgeon say the Father's drawing in John 6:44 is not a compulsion against the will. Augustine says no one believes unless willing, and Chrysostom says the words do not take away free will but show that we greatly need assistance.
c. 391 · John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of John 46.1
The Manichæans spring upon these words, saying, “that nothing lies in our own power”; yet the expression showeth that we are masters of our will. “For if a man cometh to Him,” saith some one, “what need is there of drawing?” But the words do not take away our free will, but show that we greatly need assistance. And He implieth not an unwilling comer, but one enjoying much succor.
c. 406–421 · Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on the Gospel of John (In Iohannis Evangelium Tractatus CXXIV) 26.2
If we are “drawn” to Christ, it follows that we believe against our will; so then is force applied, not the will moved. A man can come to Church unwillingly, can approach the altar unwillingly, partake of the sacrament unwillingly: but he cannot believe unless he is willing. If we believed with the body, men might be made to believe against their will. But believing is not a thing done with the body.
c. 420–421 · Augustine of Hippo, Against Two Letters of the Pelagians (Contra duas epistulas Pelagianorum) 1.19.37
But how many enemies of Christ are at the present day suddenly drawn by God’s secret grace to Christ! And if I had not set down this word from the gospel, what things would that man have said in this behalf concerning me, since even now he is stirring, not against me, but against Him who cries, “No man can come to me, except the Father who hath sent me draw him”! For He does not say, “except He lead him,” so that we can thus in any way understand that his will precedes. For who is “drawn,” if he was already willing? And yet no man comes unless he is willing. Therefore he is drawn in wondrous ways to will, by Him who knows how to work within the very hearts of men.
1553 · John Calvin, Commentary on John, part 1 (chapters 1-11) 8.34
The philosophers thought that any man is a slave by his own choice, and that by the same choice he returns to freedom. But here Christ maintains, that all who are not delivered by him are in a state of slavery, and that all who derive the contagion of sin from corrupted nature are slaves from their birth. We must attend to the comparison between grace and nature, on which Christ here dwells; from which it may be easily seen that men are destitute of freedom, unless they regain it from some other quarter. Yet this slavery is voluntary, so that they who necessarily sin are not compelled to sin.
1553 · John Calvin, Commentary on John, part 1 (chapters 1-11) 6.44
The statement amounts to this, that we ought not to wonder if many refuse to embrace the Gospel; because no man will ever of himself be able to come to Christ, but God must first approach him by his Spirit; and hence it follows that all are not drawn, but that God bestows this grace on those whom he has elected. True, indeed, as to the kind of drawing, it is not violent, so as to compel men by external force; but still it is a powerful impulse of the Holy Spirit, which makes men willing who formerly were unwilling and reluctant. It is a false and profane assertion, therefore, that none are drawn but those who are willing to be drawn, as if man made himself obedient to God by his own efforts; for the willingness with which men follow God is what they already have from himself, who has formed their hearts to obey him.
1563 · John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah, part 2 (chapters 10-19) lect43
Jeremiah says, that his way is not in man’s power, and that it is not in the power of him who walks to direct his steps; he then, it is said, has left something to manm he walks; it hence follows that free-will is not reduced to nothing, but that a defect is proved, for man of himself has no sufficient power unless he is helped from above. These are only puerile trifles; for, as we have said, the Prophet does not shew here what are the powers of free-will, and what power man has to deliberate, but he takes this as granted; yet the children of this world, though they seem to themselves to be very acute in all things, and take their own counsels, and rely on their own resources, are yet deceived, because God can in one moment dissipate all their hopes, as the events of things are wholly in his power. It is therefore by way of concession that he says that man walks, according to what Paul says in Romans 9:16, though in that passage he ascends higher; yet in saying, that it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, he seems to concede to men the power of willing and running.
1710–1714 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on John 6.28-59
If the soul of man had now its original rectitude there needed no more to influence the will than the illumination of the understanding; but in the depraved soul of fallen man there is a rebellion of the will against the right dictates of the understanding; a carnal mind, which is enmity itself to the divine light and law. It is therefore requisite that there be a work of grace wrought upon the will, which is here called drawing, (v. 44): No man can come to me except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him.
1754 · John Wesley, Explanatory Notes on John 6.44
No man comes to me, unless my Father draw him - No man can believe in Christ, unless God give him power: he draws us first, by good desires. Not by compulsion, not by laying the will under any necessity; but by the strong and sweet, yet still resistible, motions of his heavenly grace.
1856–1869 · J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John 6.41-51
Forever let us remember that the will of man is the part of him which is in fault. His inability is not physical, but moral. It would not be true to say that a man has a real wish and desire to come to Christ, but no power to come. It would be far more true to say that a man has no power to come because he has no desire or wish. It is not true that he would come if he could.
1856–1869 · J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John 6.41-51
When our Lord says, “No man can come to Me,” we must carefully remember that it is moral inability and not physical inability that He speaks of. We are not to suppose that any man can have a sincere and hearty wish to come to Christ and yet be prevented by some mysterious impotence. The impotence lies in man’s will. He cannot come because he will not come. There is an Old Testament sentence which throws much light on the expression before us. It is said of Joseph’s brethren that “they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.” (Gen. xxxvii.4.) Anyone must see at a glance what the “could not” means. They “could not” because they would not. When our Lord says, “Except the Father draws him,” we must not suppose that the “drawing” means such a violent drawing as the drawing of a prisoner to a jail or of an ox to the slaughterhouse—a drawing, in short, against a man’s will. It is a drawing which the Father effects through the man’s own will by creating a new principle within him. By the unseen agency of the Holy Ghost, He works on the man’s heart (without the man himself knowing it at the time) and inclines him to think, induces him to feel, shows him his sinfulness, and so leads him at length to Christ. Everyone that comes to Christ is so drawn.
1858 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 4 (1858) 182
Mark that in the Father’s drawing there is no compulsion whatever; Christ never compelled any man to come to him against his will. If a man be unwilling to be saved, Christ does not save him against his will.
1883 · Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah 3.32
The words: ‘No man can come to Me, except the Father Which hath sent Me draw him,’ present only the converse aspect of those to the disciples: ‘All that which the Father giveth Me shall come unto Me, and him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.’ For, far from being a judgment on, it would have been an excuse of, Jewish unbelief, and, indeed, entirely discordant with all Christ’s teaching, if the inability to come were regarded as other than personal and moral, springing from man’s ignorance and opposition to spiritual things. No man can come to the Christ - such is the condition of the human mind and heart, that coming to Christ as a disciple is, not an outward, but an inward, not a physical, but a moral impossibility - except the Father ‘draw him.’ And this, again, not in the sense of any constraint, but in that of the personal, moral, loving influence and revelation, to which Christ afterwards refers when He saith: ‘And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself.’
15 passages · 8 writers · 200s to 1900s
On Romans 9:16, Chrysostom says Paul does not deprive us of free will but shows that all is not one's own, Wesley says the effect is of the grace and power of God and not of the will or works of man, and Calvin says there is no will or running by which we can prepare the way for our salvation. Origen says that to will and to do are of God in that we receive from God the faculty of willing, which we then turn to good or evil. Augustine says God works in us both to will and to perform, and Calvin says on Ephesians 2:10 that the right will itself is God's workmanship.
c. 220–230 · Origen, On First Principles, Greek text of 3.1 and 4.1 (Philocalia) 3.1.18
Let us look next at the passage: “So, then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.” For they who find fault say: If “it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy,” salvation does not depend upon ourselves, but upon the arrangement made by Him who has formed us such as we are, or on the purpose of Him who showeth mercy when he pleases. Now we must ask these persons the following questions: Whether to desire what is good is virtuous or vicious; and whether the desire to run in order to reach the goal in the pursuit of what is good be worthy of praise or censure? And if they shall say that it is worthy of censure, they will return an absurd answer; since the saints desire and run, and manifestly in so acting do nothing that is blameworthy. But if they shall say that it is virtuous to desire what is good, and to run after what is good, we shall ask them how a perishing nature desires better things; for it is like an evil tree producing good fruit, since it is a virtuous act to desire better things. They will give (perhaps) a third answer, that to desire and run after what is good is one of those things that are indifferent, and neither beautiful nor wicked. Now to this we must say, that if to desire and to run after what is good be a thing of indifference, then the opposite also is a thing of indifference, viz., to desire what is evil, and to run after it.
c. 220–230 · Origen, On First Principles (De Principiis), Rufinus's Latin 3.1.19
Our opponents maintain that if to will be of God, and if to do be of Him, or if, whether we act or desire well or ill, it be of God, then in that case we are not possessed of free-will. Now to this we have to answer, that the words of the apostle do not say that to will evil is of God, or that to will good is of Him; nor that to do good or evil is of God; but his statement is a general one, that to will and to do are of God. For as we have from God this very quality, that we are men, that we breathe, that we move; so also we have from God (the faculty) by which we will, as if we were to say that our power of motion is from God, or that the performing of these duties by the individual members, and their movements, are from God. From which, certainly, I do not understand this, that because the hand moves, e.g., to punish unjustly, or to commit an act of theft, the act is of God, but only that the power of motion is from God; while it is our duty to turn those movements, the power of executing which we have from God, either to purposes of good or evil. And so what the apostle says is, that we receive indeed the power of volition, but that we misuse the will either to good or evil desires.
c. 290–311 · Methodius of Olympus, On the Resurrection (Aglaophon, fragments and Photius' epitome) 3.2.1
For it was not the law of God that became the cause of my being brought into subjection to corruption, but the devil; that he might be made manifested who, through that which is good, wrought evil; that the inventor of evil might become and be proved the greatest of all sinners. “For we know that the law is spiritual;” and therefore it can in no respect be injurious to any one; for spiritual things are far removed from irrational lust and sin. “But I am carnal, sold under sin;” which means: But I being carnal, and being placed between good and evil as a voluntary agent, am so that I may have it in my power to choose what I will. For “behold I set before thee life and death;” meaning that death would result from disobedience of the spiritual law, that is of the commandment; and from obedience to the carnal law, that is the counsel of the serpent; for by such a choice “I am sold” to the devil, fallen under sin.
c. 386–398 · John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistle to the Romans 16
As then Pharaoh became a vessel of wrath by his own lawlessness, so did these become vessels of mercy by their own readiness to obey. For though the more part is of God, still they also have contributed themselves some little. Whence he does not say either, vessels of well-doing, or vessels of boldness (παρρησίας), but “vessels of mercy,” to show that the whole is of God. For the phrase, “it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,” even if it comes in the course of the objection, still, were it said by Paul, would create no difficulty. Because when he says, “it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,” he does not deprive us of free-will, but shows that all is not one’s own, for that it requires grace from above. For it is binding on us to will, and also to run: but to confide not in our own labors, but in the love of God toward man.
392 · Augustine of Hippo, Acts or Disputation Against Fortunatus the Manichaean (Contra Fortunatum) 22
As long as he is good he cannot yield evil fruit; as long as he is bad he cannot yield good fruit. But that you may know that those two trees are so placed by the Lord, that free choice may be there signified, that these two trees are not natures but our wills, He Himself says in the gospel: "Either make the tree good, or make the tree evil." Who is it that can make nature? If therefore we are commanded to make a tree either good or evil, it is ours to choose what we will.
c. 398–404 · John Chrysostom, Homilies on Philippians (In epistulam ad Philippenses homiliae 1-15) 8
If thou wilt, in that case He will “work in thee to will.” Be not affrighted, thou art not worsted; both the hearty desire and the accomplishment are a gift from Him: for where we have the will, thenceforward He will increase our will. For instance, I desire to do some good work: He has wrought the good work itself, and by means of it He has wrought also the will. Or he says this in the excess of his piety, as when he declares that our well-doings are gifts of grace. As then, when he calls these gifts, he does not put us out of the pale of free will, but accords to us free will, so when he says, “to work in us to will,” he does not deprive us of free will, but he shows that by actually doing right we greatly increase our heartiness in willing.
418 · Augustine of Hippo, On the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin (De gratia Christi et de peccato originali) 1.5.6
The apostle, however, holds the contrary, when he says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” And that they might be sure that it was not simply in their being able to work (for this they had already received in nature and in teaching), but in their actual working, that they were divinely assisted, the apostle does not say to them, “For it is God that worketh in you to be able,” as if they already possessed volition and operation among their own resources, without requiring His assistance in respect of these two; but he says, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to perform of His own good pleasure;” or, as the reading runs in other copies, especially the Greek, “both to will and to operate.” Consider, now, whether the apostle did not thus long before foresee by the Holy Ghost that there would arise adversaries of the grace of God; and did not therefore declare that God works within us those two very things, even “willing” and “operating,” which this man so determined to be our own, as if they were in no wise assisted by the help of divine grace.
1540 · John Calvin, Commentary on Romans 7.15
For what I do I know not, etc. He now comes to a more particular case, that of a man already regenerated; in whom both the things which he had in view appear more clearly; and these were, — the great discord there is between the Law of God and the natural man, — and how the law does not of itself produce death. For since the carnal man rushes into sin with the whole propensity of his mind, he seems to sin with such a free choice, as though it were in his power to govern himself; so that a most pernicious opinion has prevailed almost among all men — that man, by his own natural strength, without the aid of Divine grace, can choose what he pleases. But though the will of a faithful man is led to good by the Spirit of God, yet in him the corruption of nature appears conspicuously; for it obstinately resists and leads to what is contrary.
1540 · John Calvin, Commentary on Romans 8.7
Behold the power of free-will! which the Sophists cannot carry high enough. Doubtless, Paul affirms here, in express words, what they openly detest, — that it is impossible for us to render our powers subject to the law.
1548 · John Calvin, Commentary on Ephesians 2.10
He does not say that the power of choosing aright is bestowed upon us, and that we are afterwards left to make our own choice. Such is the idle talk in which those persons who do their utmost to undervalue the grace of God are accustomed to indulge. But the apostle affirms that we are God’s work, and that everything good in us is his creation; by which he means that the whole man is formed by his hand to be good. It is not the mere power of choosing aright, or some indescribable kind of preparation, or even assistance, but the right will itself, which is his workmanship; otherwise Paul’s argument would have no force. He means to prove that man does not in any way procure salvation for himself, but obtains it as a free gift from God.
1559 · John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 2.5.17
We must therefore abandon this absurd mode of arguing, “It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth;” therefore, there is some will, some running. Paul’s meaning is more simple—there is no will nor running by which we can prepare the way for our salvation—it is wholly of the divine mercy. He indeed says nothing more than he says to Titus, when he writes, “After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us,” (Titus 3:4, 5).
1754 · John Wesley, Explanatory Notes on Romans 9.16
It - The blessing. Therefore is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth - It is not the effect either of the will or the works of man, but of the grace and power of God. The will of man is here opposed to the grace of God, and man's running, to the divine operation.
1871 · A. R. Fausset, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on Philippians 2.13
worketh—rather as Greek, "worketh effectually." We cannot of ourselves embrace the Gospel of grace: "the will" (Ps 110:3; 2Co 3:5) comes solely of God's gift to whom He will (Joh 6:44, 65); so also the power "to do" (rather, "to work effectually," as the Greek is the same as that for "worketh in"), that is, effectual perseverance to the end, is wholly of God's gift (Php 1:6; Heb 13:21).
1872 · John Wesley, Sermons on Several Occasions 9
Who shall deliver me from this helpless, dying life, from this bondage of sin and misery? Till this is done, “I myself” (or rather, that I, autos ego, that man I am now personating) “with the mind,” or inward man, “serve the law of God;” my mind, my conscience is on God’s side; “but with my flesh,” with my body, “the law of sin,” (verse 25, ) being hurried away by a force I cannot resist. 10. How lively a portraiture is this of one “under the law;” one who feels the burden he cannot shake off; who pants after liberty, power, and love, but is in fear and bondage still! until the time that God answers the wretched man, crying out, “Who shall deliver me” from this bondage of sin, from this body of death? — “The grace of God, through Jesus Christ thy Lord.”
1938 · William R. Newell, Romans Verse-by-Verse 9
Human responsibility is not at all denied here: man ought to will, and ought to run. But we are all nothing but sinners, and can do,—will do, neither: unless God come forth to us in sovereign mercy.
16 passages · 10 writers · 300s to 1900s
Chrysostom says on Matthew 23:37 that Christ speaks to the city as one pitying her, bemoaning her, and greatly loving her. Spurgeon, on Matthew 23:37, and Henry, on Luke 13:31-35, say the unwillingness of those who are not gathered is their own, and Wesley says Christ's weeping over Jerusalem was sincere. Henry says sinners die because they will die, and Baxter says God clears himself of blame for their destruction and exhorts them to return. Fausset says that in Revelation 3:20 Christ knocks but does not break open the door. Calvin says on Psalm 95:8 that the hardness of the heart is inbred and yet voluntary.
c. 390 · John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 74.3
Then He directs His speech unto the city, in this way too being minded to correct His hearers, and saith, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!” What meaneth the repetition? this is the manner of one pitying her, and bemoaning her, and greatly loving her. For, like as unto a woman beloved, herself indeed ever loved, but who had despised Him that loved her, and therefore on the point of being punished, He pleads, being now about to inflict the punishment. Which He doth in the prophets also, using these words, “I said, Turn thou unto me, and she returned not.” Then having called her, He tells also her blood-stained deeds, “Thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, and ye would not,” in this way also pleading for His own dealings; not even with these things hast thou turned me aside, nor withdrawn me from my great affection toward thee, but it was my desire even so, not once or twice, but often to draw thee unto me. “For how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not.” And this He saith, to show that they were ever scattering themselves by their sins.
426–427 · Augustine of Hippo, On Grace and Free Will (De gratia et libero arbitrio) 2.3
If thou be willing, thou shalt keep His commandments, and perform true fidelity. He hath set fire and water before thee: stretch forth thine hand unto whether thou wilt. Before man is life and death, and whichsoever pleaseth him shall be given to him.” Observe how very plainly is set before our view the free choice of the human will.
1557 · John Calvin, Commentary on the Psalms, part 4 (Psalms 93-119:120) 95.8
The attempt is ridiculous which the Papists have made to found upon this passage their favorite doctrine of the liberty of the will. We are to notice, in the first place, that all men’s hearts are naturally hard and stony; for Scripture does not speak of this as a disease peculiar to a few, but characteristic in general of all mankind, (Ezekiel 36:26.) It is an inbred pravity; still it is voluntary; we are not insensible in the same manner that stones are, and the man who will not suffer himself to be ruled by God’s word, makes that heart, which was hard before, harder still, and is convinced as to his own sense and feeling of obstinacy. The consequence by no means follows from this, that softness of heart — a heart flexible indifferently in either direction, is at our command. The will of man, through natural corruption, is wholly bent to evil; or, to speak more properly, is carried headlong into the commission of it. And yet every man, who disobeys God therein, hardens himself; for the blame of his wrong doing rests with none but himself.
1559 · John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 3.24.17
Another passage quoted is the lamentation of our Savior, “O Jerusalem Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Mt. 23:37); but it gives them no support. I admit that here Christ speaks not only in the character of man, but upbraids them with having, in every age, rejected his grace. But this will of God, of which we speak, must be defined. For it is well known what exertions the Lord made to retain that people, and how perversely from the highest to the lowest they followed their own wayward desires, and refused to be gathered together. But it does not follow that by the wickedness of men the counsel of God was frustrated.
1565 · John Calvin, Commentary on Ezekiel, part 2 (chapters 13-20) 18.32
We now see that if it had been in man’s free will to convert himself, much more would be ascribed to him than to God, because, as we have said, it was much more valuable to be created sons of God than of Adam. It ought, then, to be beyond all controversy with the pious that men cannot rise again when they are fallen, and turn of themselves when alienated from God; but this is the peculiar gift of the Holy Spirit. And the sophists, who in all ways endeavor to obscure God’s grace, confess that half the act of conversion is in the power of the Holy Spirit: for they do not say that we are simply and totally converted by the motion of our own free will, but they imagine a concurrence of grace with free will, and of free will with grace. Thus they foolishly represent us as cooperating with God: they confess, indeed, that God’s grace goes before and follows; and they seem to themselves very liberal towards God when they acknowledge this twofold grace in man’s conversion. But God is not content with that partition, since he is deprived of half his right: for he does not say that he would assist men to renew themselves and to repent; but he attributes the work to himself entirely: I will give you a new heart and a new spirit. (Ezekiel 36:26.) If it is his to give, it follows that the slightest portion of it cannot be transferred to man without diminishing something from his right.
1565 · John Calvin, Commentary on Ezekiel, part 2 (chapters 13-20) 18.32
Meanwhile Ezekiel announces this very truly as far as doctrine is concerned, that God wills not the death of him that perishes: for the explanation follows directly afterwards, be you converted and live. Why does not God delight in the death of him who perishes? Because he invites all to repentance and rejects no one. Since this is so, it follows that he is not delighted by the death of him who perishes: hence there is nothing in this passage doubtful or thorny, and we should also hold that we are led aside by speculations too deep for us. For God does not wish us to inquire into his secret.
1658 · Richard Baxter, A Call to the Unconverted to Turn and Live 1
The words of this verse contain: 1. God’s clearing of himself from the blame of their destruction. This he doth not by disowning his judgments and execution according to that law, or by giving them any hope that the law shall not be executed; but by professing that it is not their death that he takes pleasure in, but their returning rather, that they may live: and this he confirmeth to them by his oath. 2. An express exhortation to the wicked to return, wherein God doth not only command, but persuade and condescend also to reason the case with them, why will they die? The direct end of his exhortation is, that they may turn and live.
1710–1714 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Luke 13.31-35
Jesus Christ has shown himself willing, freely willing, to receive and entertain poor souls that come to him, and put themselves under his protection: How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings, with such care and tenderness! 4. The reason why sinners are not protected and provided for by the Lord Jesus, as the chickens are by the hen, is because they will not: I would, I often would, and ye would not. Christ's willingness aggravates sinners' unwillingness, and leaves their blood upon their own heads.
1712 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Ezekiel 18.30-32
What an absurd thing it is for you to choose death and damnation rather than life and salvation. Note, The reason why sinners die is because they will die; they will go down the way that leads to death, and not come up to the terms on which life is offered.
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Revelation 3.20
The language here, in accordance with the uniform usage in the Scriptures (compare Isa 55:1; Joh 7:37; Rev 22:17), is universal, and proves that the invitations of the gospel are made, and are to be made, not to a part only, but fully and freely to all people; for, although this originally had reference to the members of the church in Laodicea, yet the language chosen seems to have been of design so universal (ἐάν τις ean tis) as to be applicable to every human being; and anyone, of any age and in any land, would be authorized to apply this to himself, and, under the protection of this invitation, to come to the Saviour, and to plead this promise as one that fairly included himself. It may be observed further, that this also recognizes the freedom of man. It is submitted to him whether he will hear the voice of the Redeemer or not; and whether he will open the door and admit him or not. He speaks loud enough, and distinctly enough, to be heard, but he does not force the door if it is not voluntarily opened.
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Romans 9.16
Not of him that willeth - This does not mean that he that becomes a Christian, and is saved, does not choose eternal life; or is not made willing; or that he is compelled to enter heaven against his own choice. It is true that people by nature have no desire of holiness, and do not choose eternal life. But the effect of the influences of God's Spirit on the heart is to make it "willing in the day of his power;" Psa 110:3. The meaning here is evidently, that eternal life is not bestowed because man had any original willingness or disposition to be saved; it is not because he commences the work, and is himself disposed to it; but it is because God inclines him to it, and disposes him to seek for mercy, and then confers it in his own way. The word "willeth" here denotes wish or desire. Nor of him that runneth - This denotes "strenuous, intense effort," as when a man is anxious to obtain an object, or hastens from danger. The meaning is not that the sinner does not make an effort to be saved; nor that all who become Christians do not "in fact" strive to enter into the kingdom, or earnestly desire salvation, for the Scriptures teach the contrary; Luk 16:16; Luk 13:24. There is no effort more intense and persevering, no struggle more arduous or agonizing, than when a sinner seeks eternal life.
1860–1863 · Adolf Wuttke, Christian Ethics, vol. 2: Pure Ethics Chapter I. The Moral Subject, I. The Individual Moral Subject, Man, A. Man as a Spirit, Section LXI. The Volitionating Spirit, Freedom of Will
The moral freedom of the will is distinctly presupposed in the Biblical account of primitive man. “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it” [Gen. ii, 16, 17]. God’s injunction addresses itself to the free will of man, and requires of him moral obedience. When, now, man nevertheless actually did that which was forbidden, he simply did the opposite of what God’s holy will was; and he thereby demonstrated in fact, though to his ruin, the reality of human freedom of choice. Scripture knows absolutely nothing of any other view of the true nature of man than that he was capable of freely choosing good or evil.
1871 · A. R. Fausset, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on Revelation 3.20
if any man hear—for man is not compelled by irresistible force: Christ knocks, but does not break open the door, though the violent take heaven by the force of prayer (Mt 11:12): whosoever does hear, does so not of himself, but by the drawings of God's grace (Joh 6:44): repentance is Christ's gift (Ac 5:31). He draws, not drags.
1872 · John Wesley, Sermons on Several Occasions 128
You describe him as saying one thing, and meaning another; as pretending the love which he had not. Him, in “whose mouth was no guile,” you make full of deceit, void of common sincerity; — then especially, when, drawing nigh the city, He wept over it, and said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, — and ye would not;” ethelesa kai ouk ethelesate. Now, if you say, they would, but he would not, you represent him (which who could hear?) as weeping crocodiles’ tears; weeping over the prey which himself had doomed to destruction!
1880 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 26 (1880) 1570
The failure of will is in you that perish, not in Christ who cries, "I would, but you would not." Yes and He adds, "How often would I." Not once was He in a merciful mood and pitiful to sinners for that time, alone, but He cries, "How often would I have gathered." Every Prophet that had come to them had indicated an opportunity for their being gathered and every time that Jesus preached there was a door set open for their salvation, but they would not be gathered and so He foretells their fate in these words—"Your house shall be left unto you desolate."
1912 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 58 (1912) 3324
"As I live," says the Lord God, "I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies," and to prove the sincerity of the oath, He cries, "Turn you, turn you from your evil ways: for why will you die, O house of Israel?" If you are not spared, but perish, it will not be because God is not merciful to you but because you are not merciful to yourselves! The text as it stands is a very earnest exhortation from God. It is directed, I doubt not, to all sorts of sinful men. And it is directed to such in all sincerity and honesty, for albeit we believe without reserve in the Doctrines of Sovereign Grace, we do not for a moment desire to lessen the force or explain away the reality of so earnest an appeal as this! We can preach from such a text with all sincerity and intensity—indeed, as much as if we did not believe in any Election of Grace! We would seek to give to all and every Scripture, the genuine meaning which it contains. But, dear Friends, solemnly penetrating and heart-searching as His exhortation is, and given as it is by God, Himself, if a man rejects it, he thereby adds to his sin. God calls to the sinner to turn, but turn he never will unless there is something more than the call!
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