Jn 6:27-29 does NOT refer to a work God does but is speaking of a work, the work of believing, that God has given MAN to do.
In this context, Jesus gave those people the work of believing for them to do.
"Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed."
Jesus plainly tells them to WORK for the food that endures unto everlasting life. Jesus so to WORK, He did not say have faith only.
Yet note this important point:
It says God GIVES the gift of everlasting life...."give" means it's a free gift yet one must WORK in order to receive this free gift God GIVES. Proving once again God's free gift of salvation comes with CONDITIONS and one must WORK to meet those conditions and meeting the necessary conditions cannot, does not earn the free gift.
"Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" They asked what work THEY must do. Jesus did NOT tell them do not works just believe only as so many false teachers today would have told those people.
Instead, Jesus gave them work to do in v29, He gave them the work of believing for believing is a work it is not just a mental assent of the mind.
And this work of believing come from God, God is the source of this work that has been given to man to do for God certainly does not do the work of believing for men while men sit doing nothing.
So you are saying you can believe without Christ’s drawing?
Are you saying you can believe in Jesus without the conviction of the Spirit?
Are you saying that babies who die are not saved by God’s grace?
The order is:
1. God's work upon the heart (of which we cannot believe without this) (John 6:29).
2. Faith in Jesus as our Savior, and a belief in the gospel message that Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was risen the third day for our salvation (is what must happen when we first get saved). This is a process of salvation without works (Ephesians 2:8-9) (Titus 3:5).
3. Faith in God's instructions (in the New Testament) which means one does the work of faith (John 6:27). This is the eventual labor that they are to do that endures to everlasting life. The work of faith is rooted in our believing God’s Word in that He can work and operate in us. It is believing God that He can empower us to live a holy life. This is the eventual result of God's work upon the heart to believe. God gets the credit for us believing (even though we have free will choice involved because God is the initiator and illuminator of our being able to believe).
2. Faith in Jesus as our Savior, and a belief in the gospel message that Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was risen the third day for our salvation (is what must happen when we first get saved). This is a process of salvation without works (Ephesians 2:8-9) (Titus 3:5).
3. Faith in God's instructions (in the New Testament) which means one does the work of faith (John 6:27). This is the eventual labor that they are to do that endures to everlasting life. The work of faith is rooted in our believing God’s Word in that He can work and operate in us. It is believing God that He can empower us to live a holy life. This is the eventual result of God's work upon the heart to believe. God gets the credit for us believing (even though we have free will choice involved because God is the initiator and illuminator of our being able to believe).
So John 6:26-29 is describing things in reverse order.
Jesus desires them to ultimately do the work of faith, but that can only start or begin when God does the work upon their heart to illuminate them to the truth of God's Word, and to convict them of their sin whereby they are able to make the choice to first believe in the Savior and the gospel message by faith initially (Which is received as a gift). But salvation is not continually received over and over and over as a gift. Gifts come with responsibilities otherwise you can lose them if you don't take care of them.
Side Note:
In John 6:28, the Jewish crowd is asking what must they do in order to do the works of God. Jesus desires them to do the eventual work of faith, but it takes time to get there and certain things first need to happen. The first thing that needs to happen is GOD (i.e. the work of God - John 6:29). GOD needs to work upon their heart and convict them of their sin at the right moment in their life and show them the truth of His Word. Once the truth is illuminated to them under God's drawing and call, they are able to believe. But God gets the credit for a person initially believing in God for salvation. Then after a believer has first trusted in Jesus and the gospel for salvation, they then move on to laboring for the food (work of faith) that endures to everlasting life (John 6:27). Obeying God's instructions in the Bible is simply continuing in the faith. But faith does start off as a belief alone (without works). If this is not the case, then verses like Romans 11:6, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5 cannot be true. All of Scripture needs to be read in harmony together. We cannot believe one verse in the wrong way at the expense of others.