John 17:14–19 (WEL) “I have given them your message, and the world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 “I am not asking that you would take them out of the world, but that you would keep them safe from the evil. 16 “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 “Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is the truth. 18 “As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. 19 “For their sakes, I sanctify myself, so they may also be sanctified by the truth.”
V14 “I have given them your message, and the world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
What is God’s message? Mosaic Law does not save from God’s wrath, for it was to convince and convict people of their sins (John 1:17, Romans 3:20–12, Galatians 3:10, and Galatians 3:19–25).
This is the message that Jesus preached—Repent and believe.
Belief is accepting God’s message as true. Jesus is the Messiah (John 4:25), Jesus is the Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7 and Ephesians 5:2), Jesus is the only mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), Jesus is the only name (Acts 4:12), Jesus is the only Savior (Isaiah 43:11 and 1 Timothy 4:10), Jesus is the only truth, way, and life (John 14:6).
The word world refers to the worldview, laws, lifestyle, and character traits of the sin nature (Ephesians 2:1). Jesus is not of that system; He is of God’s system of life.
Our sin nature (me first) does not like God’s message, for our sins are exposed, God’s judgment is assured, and we want to be thought by all that we are good people. Another reason is that people think they can contribute to their salvation, and when they learn they must yield and accept the Gospel of Jesus, they rebel as their own free choice.
Jesus has exposed that most Jews, especially the elite, are vile sinners, and they are too arrogant to accept and believe it. Compare: Isaiah 2:10–12 (EHV) Go into the rocks, and hide in the dust, from the terror of the LORD and from the glory of his majesty. 11 The proud eyes of mankind will be brought low, the arrogance of man will be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. 12 There is a day coming for the LORD of Armies, a day against everyone who is proud and arrogant, against everyone who is lifted up—he will be pressed down.
V15 “I am not asking that you would take them out of the world, but that you would keep them safe from the evil.”
Jesus prays for all believers to be protected from evil—evil lifestyle, worldview, rules, etc.
Comments:
(Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary) “all evil in and of the world.”
(Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible) “But he prayed that the Father would keep them from the evil, from being corrupted by the world, the remains of sin in their hearts, and from the power and craft of Satan. So that they might pass through the world as through an enemy’s country, as he had done. They are not left here to pursue the same objects as the men around them, but to glorify God, and to serve their generation. The Spirit of God in true Christians is opposed to the spirit of the world.”
V16 “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”
We believers are no longer in the world’s kingdom of darkness but have been transferred into God’s kingdom of light. See Colossians 1:13 and 2 Corinthians 5:17.
We believers are now justified and being sanctified. We have put on Christ’s worldview, lifestyle, character traits, desires, and hope.
We are different from the world. We must have the thoughts, desires, words, and deeds that please God.
V17 “Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is the truth.
Sanctify is to separate. Here it is to separate from the world’s kingdom and system to be more and more aligned with God’s kingdom and system of life.
Your word is truth. The Bible in its plain, normal sense is the only 100% truth in existence.
Truth helps us to know false from true, evil from good, pleasing to God from displeasing to God, etc.
Truth is reality. There is only one truth. It is what conforms, aligns, with reality.
(Word Pictures in the New Testament (6 Vols.)) “First aorist active imperative of hagiazo. To consecrate or set apart persons or things to God. See Exodus 28:41; Exodus 29:1, Exodus 29:36; Exodus 40:13. See Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 5:23). This is done in the sphere (en) of truth (God’s truth), God’s Word (not human speculation, but God’s message to us).”
V18 “As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.
Jesus had a mission, a commission, and a service to complete.
We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:16–21). Compare Romans 12:1–2.
(Holman Commentary) “To all believers everywhere he issued a ringing admonition: ‘Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him’ (1 John 2:15). Worldliness is more an attitude than an act; it has to do not so much with what we do as why we do it.
“Perhaps the contrast to separation by isolation is separation by infiltration. The disciples were able to go into the world because they were not of the world.”
V19 “For their sakes, I sanctify myself, so they may also be sanctified by the truth.”
Sanctification is a separation of two things. In the Bible, it is a separation from evil to righteousness, from the devil’s kingdom to God’s kingdom, from enemies of God to friends with God.
We cannot sanctify ourselves, but Jesus can. Compare 1 Corinthians 6:11, Hebrews 10:14, and Ephesians 5:26.
Some definitions of sanctification:
(Zondervan Dictionary of Bible and Theology Words) “Making something or someone clean or holy. In theology, sanctification refers to God’s work of transforming believers so that the legal declaration of innocence (justification) is progressively worked out in life experience through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary) “the process of God’s grace by which the believer is separated from sin and becomes dedicated to God’s righteousness. Accomplished by the Word of God (John 17:7) and the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:3–4), sanctification results in holiness, or purification from the guilt and power of sin.”
Sanctification as separation from the world and setting apart for God’s service is a concept found throughout the Bible. Spoken of as “holy” or “set apart” in the Old Testament were the land of Canaan, the city of Jerusalem, the tabernacle, the temple, the Sabbath, the feasts, the prophets, the priests, and the garments of the priests. God is sanctified by the witness of believers (1 Peter 3:15) and by His judgments upon sin (Ezekiel 38:16). Jesus also was “sanctified and sent into the world” (John 10:36).
We need Jesus to separate from the world’s influences and slavery; Jesus was always sanctified and separated from personal evil.
The more we read, study, and memorize the word of God, the Bible, the more food of truth we will have. Then, the Holy Spirit can grow us into a greater sanctification.
We learn:
- About truth.
- About sanctification.
- About Jesus’s prayer life.
Questions:
- What is your definition and standard of truth?
- How is your prayer life?