Wholesale or Retail

There is a difference in the free enterprise system  between wholesale and retail. The system depends on both to work. One is broad and the other is specific. A company can often buy wholesale and pay a smaller price for buying a greater quantity, and then turn around and sell the product to specific people for a larger price, making a profit. This profit allows businesses to grow, to hire people, and to drive our economy. Though not a perfect analogy, it does serve a purpose in understanding something Jesus said in John 6:37, a passage very much favored by John Calvin in the 1600's.

"All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." Calvin saw four of the five tenets of his religious philosophy in this one verse. They are Unconditional Election (All the Father gives Me); Limited Atonement (All the Father gives Me); Irresistible Grace (Shall come to Me); and Perseverance of the Believer (I will certainly not cast out). Pretty convincing at first glance if you ask me. The question hinges on wholesale or retail.

God operates in both realms. There are times God "gives" A person to become one who serves him in some specific way. This sometimes happens outside of salvation and sometimes within it. The famous passage in Romans 9:10ff concerning the twins, Jacob and Esau, is an example of retail choice outside of salvation. God choose Jacob over Esau to be the one through whom Jesus would eventually be born, because in the nature of the case only one of them could become the ancestor of the Messiah. However, this choice did not cause either to be lost or saved. An example of a retail choice within salvation was the selection of the twelve, but this did not guarantee their individual salvation as we saw with Judas (see John 17:12).

I believe in John 6:37 God is operating in a wholesale way. We know that God desires that all be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth according to 1 Timothy 2:4. We also know that the work of God was for people to believe the One He had sent. (Jn.6:29) God had worked before the foundation of the world to bring about the salvation of the world (Eph.1:4) and He was still at work during Christ's days on earth drawing people to His Son who has the words of eternal life (Jn.6:44). God was giving men opportunities to choose the follow His Son, and giving His Son opportunities to persuade men to follow Him. But, in it all, men had a choice. We see this in John 6. The disciples' grumbling turned to withdrawal and Jesus was left at the end of the day not with crowds of thousands, but with twelve and one of them was destined to betray him (6:64). The gospel was offered wholesale to all who were in the crowd that day. At the end of the day there were only 11 retail customers.

The same is true today. God puts many in my life who are potential "buyers" of salvation. But not everyone makes the decision to "buy." (Or more accurately to be bought, Acts 20:28.) The seeds are scattered in a wholesale way over all the ground. But, only some will take root and grow and produce a crop. My advice is that if you ever fall under the sound of the voice of the Savior, you best pay attention lest your opportunity passes and you are lost.