John 6:44 NIV - "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day."
John 6:65 NIV - 'He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them."'
For some reason these verses only appear in John, and not the other gospels. I don't claim to understand it, and I don't like it much, but this appears to be the case.
I've often said that the night my own father died, he appeared in my room. We had a discussion and argument before he disappeared into eternity with one almighty scream.
But during the proceedings at one point he blurted out "... I always was doomed! I didn't really have any choice!"
I was an atheist back then (1979) but even I had a sense of ethical unfairness. I argued back "That can't be right!"
He replied, "Oh, it's right all right. You can see that from here!" ("here" being his spiritual state immediately after death I'd presume). He was able to see some future events (or more accurately he was being shown - I'll give an example later).
But later in the same exchange he cried out "I was WILLING..." (to do the cruel stupid things that condemned him in the first place, and to keep doing them right to the end of his earthly life). I know that at least one (Catholic) uncle tried to warn him, but he just took no notice.
But I don't understand it, and it's a mystery, one that I don't like much.
The Bible also says God searches the heart, and I think that if He considers someone is wondering about Him and / or Christ, He'll do something to try to draw them. But we can still say "no".
On the future events, I said I was an atheist. He made a few predictions, some rather forbidding, but amongst the less disturbing were two items -
1. "You'll become a Christian" and
2. "You'll meet a pastor. You'll think he's great, but all he'll do is discourage you even more."
Those statements were word for word. I became a Christian nearly 4 years later (late 1982 - he died in January 1979).
I also met a pastor for whom I developed an enormous amount of respect. But as the time came for me to leave his church (I got married and moved a fair distance from the parish, and he had cancer - he died about four months after I got married), he said to me in his office "I owe you an apology".
I asked him why. He replied, "You needed encouragement, and all I've done is to discourage you even more!"
I said "That's interesting. You know I've quite often told you about my father turning up the night he died?" He nodded tentatively. I continued "Want to know one of the things he said?"
I think he knew it wouldn't be good, and I got this sort of reluctant nod. "He said, ''"You'll meet a pastor. You'll think he's great, but all he'll do is to discourage you even more!'".
I continued "And you've just quoted him back to me almost word for word!"
He blurted out "You really did see your father that night!"
After the discussion had cooled down a bit, he added, "I tend to discourage people. I don't mean to, but I do".
I still have an enormous amount of respect for the pastor. I learnt a lot from him, and he was prophetic. If he said he thought something would happen, I found it did sooner or later. Right now I'm working through one of his more unusual predictions, but I still don't know where its going to lead.
As for being drawn by the Father, as my father said, even though he "always was doomed", it was somehow still "right" as he could "see that from here..."
I don't understand it, and I don't think I will until I die myself and those sorts of mysteries are explained to me.