Commenting on the apparent tension in this verse between God's sovereignty (the Father giving) and human responsibility (the one coming), Spurgeon writes,
I was once asked to reconcile these two statements, and I answered, “No, I never reconciled friends.” These two passages never fell out; they are perfectly agreed. It is folly to imagine a difference, and then set about removing it. It is like making a man of straw, and then going out to fight with it. The grand declaration of the purpose of God that he will save his own is quite consistent with the widest declaration that whosoever will come to Christ shall be saved.
Take, then, these two truths, and know that they are equally precious portions of one harmonious whole. Let us not quibble over them, or indulge a foolish favoritism for one and a prejudice against the other; but let us receive both with a candid, large-hearted love of truth, such as children of God should exhibit.
We are not called upon to explain, but to accept. Let us believe if we cannot reconcile. Here are two jewels, let us wear them both.”
From a sermon preached in 1762 entitled "Broad Doctrine and High Doctrine."
