Bread of life

Can we do anything to lose our salvation?

It’s a question that’s been asked for nearly 2,000 years since the days of Jesus and the foundations of the church soon thereafter.

In John chapter 6, Jesus is teaching some of those who have followed him into Capernaum after he and his disciples had crossed the lake, where Jesus had walked on the water. Just before that, Jesus had fed the multitude (described in John as “about 5,000 men were there.”) with the loaves and fish.

We pick up in John 6:35-40:

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Well, that’s pretty encouraging. “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.”

Jesus affirms that when you have come to him for salvation and believe that he is Lord and was raised from the dead, you are firmly in his grip and can never be cast out. That’s a very reassuring truth.

But I think there is something else going on here while Jesus is addressing this crowd. Remember the context here. These people had just been fed, and fed very well, by Jesus shortly before this.

These people weren’t really searching for Jesus and who he was and what he could do for them spiritually and their salvation. These people were in search of more food.

They were happy to receive the benefits of the power of Jesus but were unwilling to submit to and accept him as Lord.

I think that’s why Jesus talks about being the bread of life. He uses the phrase “I am” for one of the seven times he uses that phrase in the book of John.

The “bread” Jesus is talking about is himself and that if we devote ourselves to him and seek his guidance, we will find true life.

Too many times I think we are looking at God like he’s the genie from Aladdin that sits on a throne with the sole purpose of granting our wishes and desires. That’s not how God works.

Is God interested in your goals and does he have your best interests at heart? Yes, he is and he does. But these people Jesus was talking to totally missed out on who he was because they were too concerned about their own selfish desires.

Take some time this week to spend some quiet time with God and listen instead of making the entire conversation about you. Ask him to reveal his plan for you and he will.