John Calvin Commentary John 6:40

"For this is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son, and believeth on him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." — John 6:40 (ASV)

And this is the will of him who sent me. He had said that the Father had committed to Him the protection of our salvation; and now He also describes the manner in which it is accomplished. The way to obtain salvation, therefore, is to obey the Gospel of Christ. This point He had, indeed, briefly touched on earlier, but now He expresses more fully what He had spoken somewhat unclearly.

If it is the will of God that those whom He has elected shall be saved, and if in this manner He ratifies and executes His eternal decree, then anyone who is not satisfied with Christ, but instead indulges in curious inquiries about eternal predestination, desires, as much as they can, to be saved contrary to the purpose of God. The election of God is in itself hidden and secret; the Lord manifests it by calling, that is, when He bestows on us this blessing of calling us.

They are madmen, therefore, who seek their own salvation or that of others in the whirlpool of predestination, not keeping the way of salvation which is presented to them. Moreover, by this foolish speculation, they attempt to overturn the force and effect of predestination; for if God has elected us to this end, that we may believe, then take away faith, and election will be imperfect.

But we have no right to break through the order and succession of the beginning and the end, since God, by His purpose, has decreed and determined that it shall proceed unbroken. Besides, as the election of God, by an indissoluble bond, draws His calling along with it, so when God has effectually called us to faith in Christ, let this carry as much weight with us as if He had engraved His seal to ratify His decree concerning our salvation.

For the testimony of the Holy Spirit is nothing other than the sealing of our adoption (Romans 8:15). Therefore, to every person, their faith is a sufficient attestation of the eternal predestination of God, so that it would be a shocking sacrilege to carry the inquiry further; for the person who refuses to assent to His simple testimony offers an aggravated insult to the Holy Spirit.

Whosoever seeth the Son, and believeth in him. He uses the words see and believe, in contrast with what He had previously said; for He had reproached the Jews with not believing, even though they saw (John 6:36).

But now, speaking of the sons of God, with the sense they have of the power of God in Christ, He links it to the obedience of faith. Moreover, these words show that faith proceeds from the knowledge of Christ. It is not that faith desires anything beyond the simple word of God, but rather that, if we trust in Christ, we must perceive what He is and what He brings to us.