Neither for these alone do I pray [it is not for their sake only that I make this request], but also for all those who will ever come to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word and teaching, That they all may be one, [just] as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me. I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one [even] as We are one: I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and [definitely] recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them [even] as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You have entrusted to Me [as Your gift to Me] may be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory, which You have given Me [Your love gift to Me]; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. John 17:20-24
I will be honest I love John 17, it is my absolute favorite chapter in the Bible. John 17 just teaches us so much as to why Jesus came and did what He did for us. Several years ago our Father had me begin to ask the question, what is salvation? He had me ask believers, non-believers, and preachers what their definition of salvation was. To my surprise most struggled with a specific definition of what it means to be saved. Mainly I was told that it meant to go to Heaven. After several weeks of asking the question, God then asked me, do you see why I had you ask?
John 17 tells us plainly what salvation is. Salvation is us becoming one with our Father through Jesus Christ. To be saved means that we are perfectly united with God. It is just that simple. The glory that Jesus has, we now have. It is all a gift. It is all undeserved, yet it is all freely bestowed on us who have been called and chosen by God to be given it. We do not choose our Father, He chooses us. Then He uses us to serve the world and to show them that He loves them.
A benefit of salvation is that we will spend eternity as one with our Father, but salvation means being perfectly united with Him through our Lord and Savior Jesus.
2 comments:
I know what you are saying is true, but i feel like there is something left out.
a very bad person can get into heaven very easily.
please share more of your research.
Great question. Very simple answer: absolutely it is easy! That is what is so awesome about Jesus.
Think of Paul. He was a very bad person. He imprisoned the innocent, persecuted the believers, took their possessions, and was a willing participant in the death of Stephen. Yet he was always a chosen vessel of our Father, Galatians 1:15-17. None of the bad things that Paul had done stopped our Father's purpose and plan. So yes and amen, it is easy, Matthew 11:30.
It is all grace. It's all free. It's all based on what Jesus did, not on what we do. Read John 6 and you will see that Jesus said that we can only come to Him if our Father first draws us to Him. And then Jesus tells us that He will never loose any of us who have been given to Him. Nothing is hard for our Father, so it is easy. Isn't that great!
I will make some posts on salvation in the upcoming days that will expand on your question. Once again thank you so very much for commenting.
Brad
Post a Comment