Category: eternal security of the believer

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The Lord’s Prayer — for You

In anticipation of his death, Jesus prayed with and for his disciples. The prayer he prayed is recorded for us in John 17. In this prayer Jesus prayed for the disciples who were with him then, and for all who would believe in him in the future.

It is important for us to remember that Jesus continues to intercede for his people in heaven now, at the Father’s right hand. Reading John 17 is a wonderful way for us to restore the assurance of our relationship to him. The prayer emphasizes two facts about the Lord’s people.

First, his people do not belong to the world (John 17:6-8). They have been given to Christ out of the world. Christ has revealed to them the true nature of God and the true knowledge of God. This is eternal life (John 17:3). Believers no longer belong to the world. Rather, they belong to Christ and Christ is glorified in them (John 17:10).

This is because they received his word, understood his word, and believed his word (John 17:8). His disciples were not perfect, but they had the right commitment. This is true of all believers in Jesus. His prayer applies to us today, even though we are far from perfect (John 17:20).

The second fact about his people is that they (we) continue to live in the world (John 17:11). In his prayer, our Lord speaks of two human communities: “the world,” and those whom God has taken “out of the world.” He is not referring to the world of nature or of ordinary humanity. Jesus is talking about the world as it is organized in opposition to God.

Although we belong to God and his Son (John 17:9-10), we still live among the people who belong to this world. This places upon us a responsibility to love our neighbors and to make known to them what Christ has made known to us in the gospel. We live in this present world as Christ’s representatives.

As we read Jesus’ prayer for us, we learn that while we are here in this world, he is praying for our preservation. “I pray for them,” Jesus says, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name” (John 17:9, 11). The Lord Jesus had us in mind as he prayed. Believers today stand in the same relationship with him as the original disciples did in that day. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message” (John 17:20).

Christ prayed then and he is praying now. He is our advocate and representative in heaven (1 John 2:1-2). The book of Hebrews teaches that this fact is the basis for our assurance of salvation and our access to God in prayer (Hebrews 4:14-15).

If your faith is in Jesus, you may be sure that he is in heaven praying for you because you belong to him. I invite you to re-read John 17 to learn more about this. God will never fail to answer a prayer of his Son.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Not Perfect, but Protected

The disciples of Jesus were far from perfect. Yet John 17 says they had been given to Jesus out of the world. Jesus had given them the true knowledge of God. Jesus said that his disciples had “accepted” his words about God. They “knew with certainty” that Jesus had come from God. They “believed.”

But they were not perfect men. They had the same shortcomings as we have. For example, we  can remember how the disciples argued among themselves about who was the greatest. The brothers James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to burn up some Samaritan villages. Thomas had a skeptical attitude and seemed to question everything.

Jesus knew that they would fail him. They would be scattered and leave him at the time of his death. He predicted that their most outspoken member, Peter, would deny him three times before the rooster crowed the next morning. In the upper room at the last supper he patiently put up with their questions and interruptions. They did not grasp the seriousness of Jesus’ last words to them before his death.

Yet he looked upon them with love and he prayed for them to be kept by the power of the Father’s name. “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name” (John 17:11). Jesus is going away and leaving the disciples in this world. So he prays to the Father in heaven for their safe keeping. His prayers for them assure them of their eternal security. “They are yours,” Jesus prays.

Their assurance of eternal life did not come from their faithfulness. Their faith and obedience were often weak and faulty. But Jesus prayed for their preservation (“protect them” — v. 11), and their sanctity (“sanctify them” — v. 17). This fact (Jesus’ prayers for us) is also the basis for our assurance of salvation as well.

The book of Hebrews has a lot to say about Jesus’ present ministry of intercession for his people. It is called his “High Priestly Ministry.” Unlike the imperfect priests in the Old Testament who had to offer repeated sacrifices for their own sins, Jesus’ priesthood is perfect because he is perfect and his sacrifice is perfect.

His priesthood is permanent. “Now there have been many of those (Old Testament) priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:23-25). Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. His permanent priesthood means salvation is forever.

The security of salvation is Jesus’ perpetual intercession for believers. John MacArthur said, “We can no more keep ourselves saved than we can save ourselves in the first place. But just as Jesus has power to save us, he has power to keep us.”

Does the Father answer the prayers of his beloved Son? I cannot imagine our heavenly Father ignoring or dismissing a prayer of Jesus. The Son would never ask for anything outside of the Father’s will. If our Lord asked the Father to protect and guard his people, that request would surely be granted.

Those first disciples and believers today (v. 20) belong to God and also to Jesus. “They are yours,” Jesus prayed. “All I have is yours, and all you have is mine” (John 17:9-10). If we are Christ’s by faith, we are included, not excluded. We are secure in him, not because of our perfect obedience and faithfulness, but because of his perfect sacrifice on the cross, and his present ministry of intercession for us at the right hand of God.

John 17 pictures this. Read it to see how Jesus prays for those who are his own.

Pastor Randy Faulkner