Cheryl Schatz

Peter, John chapter 5 comes before John 6 and in that chapter Jesus constructs the requirements for believing in Him. John 5:24 (NASB95) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. One must believe Him who sent Jesus (believe the Father), and must hear the word of Jesus. Jesus didn’t say that the person must have already believed that Jesus is the Messiah first before hearing His word. Rather, believing the Father brings people to hear the word of Jesus. See the Scripture below. Jesus also showed that the evidence of believing the Father would be what people do with His words. John 5:38 (NASB95) “You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. John 5:46–47 (NASB95) 46 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. 47 “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” Believing in Moses comes first, then believing in the words of Jesus. The disciples were given to Jesus, but they did not believe that He was the Messiah right away. They did not FIRST believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, BEFORE they became His disciples. If your interpretation is correct then you should be able to prove that the disciples who were given to Jesus, already believe that He was the Messiah BEFORE they were chosen as His disciples.