Grace

This brings us to the next thought. For while it is true that in ourselves we cannot come to Christ and so lie under God’s just condemnation, the main point of these verses is that God has nevertheless acted in grace toward some. Earlier this was expressed by saying that Christ died for the sheep; in other words, by the doctrine of a particular redemption (v. 11). In this section we are told that Jesus has given eternal life to the same people (v. 28), and that these are those whom God has given him (v. 29).

You cannot trace the origins of our salvation farther back than that. In this, as in all things, the origins are to be found in God. Some say, “But surely God called them because he foresaw that some would believe.” But it does not say that. Others say, “He chose them because he knew in advance that they would merit salvation.” It does not say that either. What it does say is that the initiative in salvation lies with God and that this is found, on the one hand, in God’s electing grace whereby he chooses some for salvation entirely apart from any merit on their own part (which, of course, they do not have) and, on the other hand, in Christ’s very particular atonement by which he bore the penalty for the sins of these people.

恩典

这给我们带来了下一个想法。因为，虽然我们靠着自己确实无法来到基督面前，因此会受到上帝公义的谴责，但这些经文的要点是，上帝仍然以恩典对待某些人。早些时候，这句话是通过基督为羊而死来表达的。换句话说，是根据特定救赎的教义（11节）。本节告诉我们，耶稣已将永生赐给了同样的人（第 28 节），而这些人就是神赐给祂的人（第 29 节）。

我们救恩的起源无法追溯到更远的地方。在这方面，就像在所有事物中一样，起源都可以在上帝身上找到。有人说：“但神呼召他们，肯定是因为他预见到有些人会相信。”但它并没有这么说。其他人则说：“祂选择了他们，因为祂事先知道他们会得到救赎。”它也没有这么说。它确实说的是，救恩的主动权在于神，并且这一点可以在神拣选的恩典中找到，借此祂选择一些人来得救，完全不考虑他们自己的任何功绩（当然，他们也没有），另一方面，在基督非常特定的救赎中，祂为这些人的罪承担了惩罚。