The Gospel of John ~ Chapter 17, Part 6
Verses 17 – 19
The Great High Priestly Prayer, Part 6

http://gracedoctrine.org/the-gospel-of-john-chapter-17-part-6-verses-17-19/

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Chapter 17 Outline:

Vs. 1-5, Christ Prays for Himself.
Vs. 6-19, Christ Prays for His Disciples.
Vs. 20-26, Christ Prays for His Church.

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Outline of this Study:

• Exegesis & Principles of John 17:17-19
• Principles of Sanctification
• Principles of Bible Doctrine as the "Truth"
• The Commissioning of Believers by the Lord Jesus Christ
• Jesus Sanctified (Set Apart) Himself
• Summary of the Second Portion of Our Lord’s Great High Priestly Prayer

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Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, (If You have - Trusted in Him for Eternal Life), it is important to prepare yourself to: Take-in God’s Word and/or Participate in a Communion Service, so take a moment to name, cite, or acknowledge your sins privately, directly to God the Father. This will assure that you are in fellowship with God the Father & the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry will then be able to teach you as the Holy Spirit is the real teacher.

1 John 1:9 says— “If we confess [simply name, cite, or acknowledge to God the Father] our sins [known sins], He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins [known sins] and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [all unknown & forgotten sins].”

For those of you who have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord & Savior, please see: The Salvation Message @ the end of this document.

2 Pet 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

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Vs. 6-19, Christ Prays for His Disciples.

Now we turn to John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”

The Greek reads: 

“ἁγίασον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ· ὁ λόγος ὁ σὸς ἀλήθειά ἐστιν.”

Transliterated it reads: 

“HAGIASON AUTOUS EN TE ALETHEIA; HO LOGOS HO SOS ALETHEIA ESTIN.”

Here we have, “The Mechanics of the Disciples Protection,” in the phrase, “sanctify them in the truth;”

“HAGIASON AUTOUS EN TE ALETHEIA;”

HAGIASON is the Verb HAGIAZO - ἁγιάζω (hag-ee-ad'-zo) in the Aorist, Active, Imperative, Second Person, Singular that means, “set apart as sacred to God, to separate from profane things and dedicate to God, to make holy, consecrate, sanctify, purify, and cleanse.” In our passage, it means, to be sanctified, and particularly the sanctification of your Christian daily walk.

Overall, sanctification means you are appointed by the Justice of God as ar/is/toc/racy forever. It therefore refers to God’s plan for aristocracy. Your a/ris/to/cratic function is maturity adjustment to the justice of God.

The Constative Aorist Tense views the action as a whole, where this is the continuation of Jesus’ petition for TEREO and PHULASSO, (protect and guard) His disciples while they remain here on earth in Satan’s Cosmic System.

The Active Voice in the Second Person, Singular:  Jesus is petitioning God the Father to provide for the disciples’ protection by means of His Word. The Word of God the Father resident in the soul of the believer protects Him from Satan’s Cosmic System. This is part of the Predesigned Protocol Plan of God the Father for the Church Age believer.

The Imperative Mood is not a command but a request, entreaty, or petition. This is a part of Christ’s petition prayer, as He is subordinate in His humanity to His superior God the Father. Jesus continues to apply the Problem-Solving Device of Authority Orientation on behalf of His disciples.

AUTOUS is the Pronoun AUTOS - αὐτός (ow-tos') in the Direct Object Accusative Case, Masculine, Third Person, Plural that means, “them,” referring to the disciples. These are the ones in view during this portion of Jesus’ prayer, but the same desire of Jesus is for all believers.

EN TE ALETHEIA is a clause in the Dative Case, Feminine, Singular, beginning with the Preposition that means, “in” or “in the sphere of.” It is followed by the Article HO “the,” and the Noun that means, “truth.”

Therefore, we have the context of this “HAGIAZO” (sanctification) that Jesus is praying for. It is Experiential Sanctification which is our guardian and protection when we are in Satan’s Cosmic System. Our protection is accomplished in the sphere of God’s truth which is His Word, Bible Doctrine, when it is resident within your soul. This nullifies human speculation or viewpoint as a form of protection while in Satan’s Cosmic System. Our true protection is God’s message to us found in the completed Canon of Scripture, especially the Mystery Doctrines for the Church Age.

So, ALETHEIA means the whole system of doctrine by which the believer is protected through the daily function of the Grace Apparatus for Perception (GAP), which also means he is progressing inside the Plan of God.

If a believer is not protected, that means he does not want protection, because he is negative toward God’s Word. It is negative volition toward God’s Word that puts one out from under protection, but with God’s Word, you have protection from the Evil One as you utilize God’s Power System (GPS).

So, we have, “Sanctify them (the disciples) in the sphere of truth, (i.e., Bible Doctrine).”

Next, we have a definition for ALETHEIA, “Your word is truth.”

“HO LOGOS HO SOS ALETHEIA ESTIN.”

HO LOGOS is the Article for “the,” plus the Noun in the Subject Nominative, Masculine, Singular that means, “a word, (as embodying an idea), a statement, or a speech.” Here it means, God the Father’s “Word,” which is Bible Doctrine, the completed Canon of Scriptures.

HO SOS is the Article once again, plus the Substantival, Possessive Adjective that is used in the Nominative, Masculine, Second Person, Singular, that means, “your or yours.” Here in the singular, it is “Your,” referring to God the Father. It is His Word that protects us through Experiential Sanctification.

ALETHEIA is once again the Noun in the Nominative, Feminine, Singular that means, “Truth.”

ESTIN is the Verb EIMI - εἰμί (i-mee'), “to be, is, are, etc.,” in the Present, Active, Indicative, Third Person, Singular that means, “is,” identifying the timeless general fact of what God’s Word is. It is eternal truth.

So, we have, “Your (God the Father’s) Word is Truth (Bible Doctrine).”

Our complete translation of John 17:17, “Sanctify them (the disciples) in the sphere of Truth; Your (God the Father’s) Word is Truth (Bible Doctrine).”

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Principles of Sanctification

Sanctification is a technical theological term for the status quo of the Royal Family of God in three phases of God’s Plan for your life. The term means, “to be set apart to God for a special purpose.” We, the Royal Family of God are set apart to God in three ways from salvation to the eternal state.

• Phase One, “Positional Sanctification,” which the unbeliever receives instantaneously at the moment of salvation, where you are made pure and holy, washed clean, (LOUO - Bathed, John 13:10a), with the result of God’s imputation of His perfect righteousness, as well as the indwelling of all three members of the Trinity.

L.S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, Volume 7, states regarding Positional Sanctification, “This is a sanctification, holiness, and sainthood which comes to the believer by the operation of God through offering of the body and shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are saved have been redeemed and cleansed in His precious blood, forgiven all trespasses, made righteous through the new headship in Him, justified, and purified. They now are the sons of God. All of this indicates a distinct classification and separation, deep and eternal, achieved through the saving grace of Christ. It is based on facts of position which are true of every Christian. Hence, every believer is now said to be sanctified positionally, holy, and by so much a saint before God. This position bears no relationship to the believer’s daily experience more than that it should inspire him to holy living. His position in Christ is, to be sure, according to the Scriptures, the greatest possible incentive to holiness of life… Positional sanctification is as perfect as He is perfect. As much as He is set apart, believers, since they are found to be in Him, are set apart. Positional sanctification is as complete for the weakest saint as it is for the strongest. It depends only on one’s union with and position in Christ. All believers are classified as “the saints.” So, also, they are classed as the “sanctified” (cf. Acts 20:32; 1 Cor 1:2; 6:11; Heb 10: 10, 14; Jude 1:1).”

See also:

2 Thes 2:13, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”

Eph 1:3-8, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love ⁵He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, ⁶to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. ⁷In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace ⁸which He lavished on us.”

Heb 13:12, “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.”

Sanctification refers to salvation at which point the baptism of the Holy Spirit enters every believer into union with the person of Jesus Christ. It is analogous to the believer receiving a new nature, being made a new spiritual creature or new spiritual species, 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15.

This sanctification is seen in a type from the Old Testament, where Aaron and the priests where set apart for service unto God, Ex 28:41; 29:1, 36; 40:13.

Ex 40:13, “You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to Me.”

Notice they were clothed with “holy garments.” This is analogous to the Church Age believer being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, God the Father and God the Son at the moment of your salvation.

This clothing is made possible because of the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the Cross and your non-meritorious act of faith in it. Therefore, our sanctification is made possible by His work on the Cross, which has been the case since Adam and the Women sinned in the Garden of Eden, as noted in the type given in Gen 3:21.

Gen 3:21, “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”

In the Church Age, we are all believer priests set apart for service unto the Lord, 1 Peter 2:5, 9, because we have been set apart and clothed with God’s perfect righteousness.

1 Peter 2:5, “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Following Verse 5, Peter discusses Christ as the “corner stone,” so we know the context is our salvation, which gives us entrance into this sanctification.

Positional Sanctification also means you have eternal security, John 10:28-30; there is no way you can ever get out of your relationship with God.

Characteristics of Positional Sanctification:

• It is not an experience; it is neither emotional nor ecstatics.

• It is not progressive. It cannot be improved in time or in eternity.

• It is not related to human merit. We are not in Christ because of what we do, but because we believed in Him and God the Holy Spirit did the work of entering us into union with Him.

• It is obtained in total at the moment of salvation through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

• It is understood only through cognition of the pertinent Bible doctrine.

• It is eternal in nature; it cannot be changed by God, angels or mankind.

Implications of Positional Sanctification:

• We share the perfect righteousness of Christ, 2 Cor 5:21.

• We share the eternal life of Christ, 1 John 5:11.

• We share the election of Christ, Eph 1:4, (holy and blameless).

• We share the sonship of Christ, Gal 3:26.

• We share the heirship of Christ, Rom 8:16.

• We share the priesthood of Christ, Heb 10:10.

• We are transferred into the kingdom of the Son of His love, Col 1:13-14.

The proof that imperfect believers are absolutely Positionally Sanctified, and therefore saints is discovered in 1 Corinthians. Corinthian believers were unholy in life, (e.g., 1 Cor 5:1-2; 6:1-8), but they are twice said to have been sanctified, (1 Cor 1:2; 6:11).

1 Cor 6:11, “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

Likewise, the sanctification of an inanimate object, such as the gold of the temple or the gift on the altar, Mat 23:17, 19, indicates that a moral change in the thing sanctified is not demanded for Positional Sanctification.

By your position as a believer in Jesus Christ, you are rightly called, “holy brethren” and “saint.” You have been, Heb 10:10, “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,” and are a new spiritual species by reason of now being, Eph 4:24, “created in righteousness and true holiness.” Therefore, Positional Sanctification and Positional Holiness are “true” sanctification and holiness.

In 1 Thes 5:23, we are given the three aspects of our Sanctification, (Positional, Experiential, and Ultimate), and the design of protection each gives to the believer, as Jesus prayed for in John 17:15-17.

In John 17:15, Jesus prayed for the believer’s protection and guardianship, (TEREO), and in 1 Thes 5:23, Paul also prays that we are protected in all three aspects that make up the Trichotomous believer. That is protection in spirit, soul, and body, which makes up the new creature (new spiritual species) in Christ.

1 Thes 5:23, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely (HOLOTELES - in every part, i.e., Positionally, Experientially, and Ultimately); and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved (TEREO – guard and protected) complete (HOLOKLEROS), without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this verse, HOLOTELES is related to our sanctification in all three aspects, Positionally, Experientially, and Ultimately. It is the Greek word translated, “entirely,” and is an Adjective which is a compound word that comes from HOLOS that means, “whole or complete,” and TELOS that means, “an end, the fulfillment or completion of anything.” Therefore, HOLOTELES comes to mean, “entirely complete and perfect, complete in all respects.”

Then in relation to our physical and spiritual makeup, as born-again believers, God uses a similar word, HOLOKLEROS. It too is a Greek Adjective compound word made up of HOLOS that means, “whole or complete,” and KLEROS that means, “what is obtained by lot or that which is allotted to your charge,” or even, “an allotted portion.” It means that which is granted to you.  Therefore, HOLOKLEROS has also come to mean, “complete, whole, or entire,” with the connotation of, “complete in all its parts,” that is “in no part wanting or unsound.” We could then say that there are no deficiencies in any aspect and that you have protection in all respects to your spirit, soul, and body.

You see that is the desire of our Lord and Paul in their prayers. And that is the desire of God for you. In all aspects of your spiritual being; spirit, soul, and body, God wants you to be complete and perfect, not wanting for anything. In order to accomplish this, God has provided through His Word the three categories of sanctification respectfully, Positional, Experiential, and Ultimate. How does each protect you, related to that the specific aspect it is associated with in your “new creation” make up?

Spirit: At the moment of your salvation, you were given a new human spirit, as one of the 40 things you received at the moment of your salvation. With that human spirit, you were entered into union with Jesus Christ, and therefore placed positionally in Him. Your human spirit is that thing in you that provides for your eternal life in Christ, where the Baptism of the Holy Spirit seals you as a guarantee of your eternal life. It is an Eternal Life that cannot be taken away, John 10:28. Therefore, you are protected positionally by the imputation of your human spirit at the moment of your salvation from the Eternal Lake of Fire. Likewise, the human spirit is your guarantee, (along with the indwelling Holy Spirit), that you have an eternal position in Christ.

Soul: Our soul is the basis of our thinking for both time and eternity. Our soul can either think in terms of cosmic viewpoint or Divine viewpoint. God has given us His Word, especially the mystery doctrines for the Church Age in order to protect us from Satan and his schemes and cosmic viewpoint. When we perceive, metabolize, and apply God’s Word in faith through the filling of God the Holy Spirit, we are walking in our sanctification, and therefore have experiential sanctification. The filling of the Holy Spirit and application of God’s Word are the protection for your soul experientially from cosmic viewpoint while living in Satan’s cosmic system.

Body: The body represents our Ultimate Sanctification in that God has provided a body for our soul and spirit for both time an eternity. In time, our body is corrupted with sin and the sin nature. That is why we need Experiential Sanctification, i.e., to overcome this body of corruption, Rom 8:21; 2 Peter 1:14; 2 Peter 2:19. At the same time, we have Positional Sanctification, creating us as a new spiritual species in Christ. Therefore, in eternity, God will give the believer a new resurrection body, 1 Cor 15, which is a perfect body that no longer has the Sin Nature in it. It will be an indestructible and incorruptible body. It will live forever and never be tainted by sin ever again. God’s provision of the resurrection body is our protection for the eternal state.  That is why it is called, Ultimate Sanctification.

In summary, the protection (TEREO) in 1 Thes 5:23 is as follows, using the order of the three parts of the Trichotomous believer; spirit, soul, and body.

Positionally - The Human Spirit - Your new life in Christ, being born again, protected from the Eternal Lake of Fire.

Experientially - The Soul - You’re protected from Satan’s schemes to corrupt your way of thinking by God’s Word and Holy Spirit.

Ultimately - The Body - Your new resurrection body that is without sin and evil evermore, Rev 21:27.

Remember though, that in your “position in Christ,” you stand righteous and accepted before God forever and will ultimately receive a resurrection body. Yet, just because you are holy and sanctified in position, do not conclude from this that you are holy or sanctified in your everyday life. Your Position does not mean you are living a holy life unto God. That is a matter of Experiential Sanctification.

• Phase Two, “Experiential Sanctification” is the second form of sanctification. This type of sanctification is what is in view in our verse, (John 17:17). It is for the believer only. It is the function of the spiritual life after salvation.

It is our daily walk with Christ, being filled with the Holy Spirit, 1 John 1:5-9.

It is Accomplished When:

• We utilize 1 John 1:9; cf. Lev 5:5; 16:21; 26:40; Num 5:7; Neh 9:2; Psa 32:5; 38:18; 1 Cor 11:28-31; James 5:16, (the Rebound technique), which is the confession of our sins. In John 13:10b, it is the Greek word NIPTO, the washing of the feet, i.e., the filth or sin we pick up in our daily walk.

• When we confess our sins, it results in the filling of God the Holy Spirit, Eph 5:18, because we are “cleansed from all unrighteousness.”

• The next step is to take in the Word of God on a consistent basis by means of the Grace Apparatus for Perception (GAP), and being obedient to the Word of God resident within our souls (i.e., Faith Rest Application).

• That produces experiential or spiritual righteousness, which is also your residence, function, and momentum inside God’s Power System, (GPS).

All of this is wrapped up in Jesus’ statement, “Sanctify them in … Your Word.”

L.S. Chafer, (Systematic Theology, Volume 7), states regarding Positional Sanctification, “While all believers are said to be sanctified every whit (iota) positionally, there is never a reference in any of these Scriptures to their daily lives. Such an aspect of sanctification and holiness is found in another and entirely different body of truth which may be termed experiential sanctification. As positional sanctification is absolutely disassociated from the daily life, so experiential sanctification is absolutely unrelated to position in Christ.

Experiential Sanctification Instead May Depend:

• On some degree of Yieldedness / Obedience to God.

• On some degree of separation from sin.

• On some degree of Christian growth to which the believer has already attained.”

• Result of Yieldedness / Obedience to God.

Whole self-dedication to God is your reasonable service in worship of God, Rom 12:1.

Rom 12:1, “Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

By doing so, you are classified as set apart unto God and this is by your own choice that has a finality or completeness to it. This means that within the sphere of your own knowledge of yourself, you definitely choose the mind and will of God as the rule for your life. This yielding to the will of God is accordingly complete and final. This is what we call self-determined separation unto God, which is a key factor of experiential sanctification.

Rom 6:22, “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification.”

Sanctification cannot be experienced as a matter of feeling or emotion any more than justification or forgiveness can. A person may nevertheless be at peace and full of joy because he believes these things to be true in his life. So also, yielding to God results in a new filling of the Holy Spirit, which is not experienced or felt, that results in walking / living in the holiness that is God, which has the result, either suddenly or gradually, of experiencing the +H / joy of God.

It is not the sanctification itself that is experienced: It is rather the blessing of the Spirit made possible through sanctification, or said another way, the deeper life of separation unto God. Therefore, Experiential Sanctification works in such a way as to have its effect upon your daily life, and acts in contrast to your positional and ultimate +S, which are in no way related to daily living.

Result of Freedom from Sin:

The Bible takes full account of the many sins of Christians, for example, Rom 1:28-32; Gal 6:19-21; 2 Tim 3:1-9. It does not teach that only sinless people are saved, or kept saved; on the contrary, there is faithful consideration of, and full provision made for, the sins of saints. These provisions are both preventive and curative; 1 John 2:1-2 is the key.

1 John 2:1a, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” This relates to the prevention of sin in the believer’s life.

1 John 2:1b-2a, “And if anyone (believers) sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, ²and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins.” This refers to the cure of sin in the believer’s life.

There are many Scriptures that warn us “not to sin,” but in addition, believers are told that if they fall into sin, they have abundant provision from God for its cure. These things are not written to encourage any believer to sin; they however are written so that “we do not sin or do not keep on sinning.”

Rom 6:1-2, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? ²May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”

This is one of the great provisions of God’s grace in the eternal keeping of His children.

From this and other passages, we see that a son of God does not need to sin, because the Savior has died for him, Rom 6:1-14, he has a message written to him, 1 John 2:1-2, and he is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit, Gal 5:16.

Gal 6:16-18, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law (i.e., sin).”

It is the purpose of the Father that His children be free from sin in order that He may have fellowship with them, 1 John 1:3b, “for indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

The basis upon which believers have fellowship with the Father and His Son is specified in 1 John 1:7; therefore, we must “walk in the light as He Himself (God) is in the light.” This means to live by the power of the Spirit and instantly to confess every known sin. “Walking in the light” = the Balance of Residency = the Filling of the Holy Spirit via the confession of your sins plus maximum Bible Doctrine in the soul ready for application = Experiential Sanctification.

Because of the Advocate’s defense of the believer, and because of the believer’s confession of sin, God is free to forgive and cleanse him from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9.

In addition, believers cannot say they have no sin nature, 1 John 1:8, this would be to deceive themselves. We can also not say that we have not sinned, 1 John 1:10, this would be to make Him and His testimony to what is in man untrue.

Has any child of God reached complete deliverance from sin? That question should never be confused with the facts concerning Positional Sanctification, nor with the truths connected with Experiential Sanctification through yieldedness to God.

The answer to that question is: While the believer is definitely trusting the sufficiency of the Spirit and fulfilling every condition for enablement, he will be Divinely kept from sinning, Rom 6:14; 8:2; Gal 5:16.

Rom 6:14, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

That statement rests on the Word of God.

Yet, the believer never reaches a place where he cannot sin. And when he does not fully trust in the Divine provisions, he will give over to sin and sin temptation.

On the other hand, the Scriptures plainly teach that in spite of the fallen nature, there is deliverance for the believer from bond-servitude to sin through union with Christ in His death and resurrection, Rom 6:1-10, and through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to enable him, Rom 8:2; Gal. 5:16.

Gal 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”

Rom 8:1-4, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. ³For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

We will realize victory over sin experientially, as long as we claim the Divine provisions for overcoming sin by faith.

The Old Sin Nature, with its incurable disposition to sin, remains in every believer so long as he is in his present body. He is therefore disposed to sin.

Yet, all believers have died to sin in Christ’s sacrifice, Gal 5:24; Col 3:3, even though not all claim the riches which are provided for them by His death in their daily walk.

But for those who do claim the Divinely provided cure and prevention assets, victory awaits experientially. And he should recognize and acknowledge that the victory is due to the efficacious work of Christ on the Cross and that all the glory is the Lord Jesus Christ’s.

Result of Christian Growth:

All believers start out immature in wisdom, knowledge, experience, and grace related to the spiritual life. Yet, in all of these areas, we are appointed to grow up spiritually, 2 Peter 3:18, where we do not just have a “head knowledge” of the Scriptures and doctrines, but that we have growth that manifests God to others. That means making Him known to others through your words, deeds, and actions, just as our Lord did during His incarnation, John 17:4, 6-7

John 17:4, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given to Me in order that I do it.”

John 17:6a, “I caused Your name to be made known (manifested) to the men whom you gave to Me out from the world, they were Yours and You gave them to Me…”

In Verses 4 & 6a, we have Christ operating under Experiential Sanctification, which caused others to know who God the Father is. Having made the Father known to the disciples and others was Christ’s manifestation ministry under Experiential Sanctification.

John 17:6b, “… and they have guarded your teaching (in their souls).”

John 17:7, “Now they have come to know that all things whatsoever You have given to Me are from You.”

In Verses 6b & 7, we know that Jesus walked Experientially Sanctified, because there are results in the lives of other people, “they guarded your teaching” and “have come to know.”

This is how you know you are walking Experientially Sanctified; by others coming to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ through your witness, and/or others having learned Bible Doctrine, as a result of you being in their lives.

Therefore, we all are commanded in 2 Peter 3:18 to, “grow, in the sphere of grace and knowledge, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

This also means that we personally are “… with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:18)

In other words, when we look in the mirror at our own lives, we see Christ in the reflection.

This type of transformation will have the effect of setting you more and more apart from Satan’s Cosmic System to God, and to that very extent, you will be more sanctified experientially.

As you know, Experiential Sanctification also means that you are “blameless,” but remember that you are never “faultless,” because you still have an Old Sin Nature, “flesh,” that will trip you up from time to time. But in grace, we have the way of escape from our flesh and that is the rebound technique of 1 John 1:9.

For example, a grade school child laboring to form his first letters at school may be blameless in the work he does, but the work is certainly not faultless. There too, a believer may be walking in the full measure of what is his understanding today, yet he must know he is not now living in the added light and experience that will be his tomorrow through growth. That is why 1 John 1:9 also says we are “cleansed from all unrighteousness.”

This principle also tells us that we should never believe that “we have arrived” at the pinnacle of our spiritual growth and maturity. No! In fact, as long as we are alive, there is always room for more spiritual growth.

Therefore, there is a relative perfection within our imperfection. That is, a believer who is quite incomplete, immature, and given to sin may nonetheless “abide” in the Vine of our Lord and have Divine Good production, where they may have fellowship with the Father and with His Son.

There is also imperfection within perfection. That is, those who are saved and really incomplete, immature and given to sin are even now Positionally Sanctified and complete “in Him,” the Lord Jesus Christ.

To understand Experiential Sanctification in the broadest and most general meaning of the word, remember that Christian growth and Experiential Sanctification are not the same; the former is a cause and the latter its effect. And, as you grow into the image of Christ by the Spirit, you will be more and more set apart unto God.

To state that you will be more Experientially Sanctified as you grow in the sphere of the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, does not question your present purity or victory in daily life, it only states that you will be more set apart as you develop in the likeness of our Lord.

Therefore, the absolute concept of Experiential Sanctification is related to the filling of the Holy Spirit. The relative concept of Experiential Sanctification is related to the degree of spiritual growth through perception, metabolization, and application (PMA) of Bible doctrine.

This is why Experiential Sanctification depends upon:

• Some degree of yieldedness / obedience to God.
• Some degree of separation from sin.
• Some degree of Christian growth to which the believer has already attained.

There are three agents of sanctification emphasized in Scripture:

• The Holy Spirit, 1 Cor 6:11; 2 Thes 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2.
• The Son, Heb 10:10.
• The Truth of God the Father, John 17:17; Eph 5:26.

Eph 5:26, “That He might sanctify her (the Church - Experientially), having cleansed her (LOUO - Positionally) by means of the washing from the water of the Word (Bible doctrine).”

1 Peter 1:22, “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart.”

2 Cor 7:1, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”                                       

                 

James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

• The Word of God through the Gospel provides Positional Sanctification.

• The Word of God through GAP and faith application provides Experiential Sanctification.

1 Thes 4:3-8, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, ⁵not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. ⁷For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. ⁸So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”

2 Tim 2:21-22, “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. ²²Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”

• Occupation with Christ provides Experiential Sanctification.

1 John 3:1-3, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ²Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. ³And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself (Experiential Sanctification), just as He (Jesus Christ) is pure.”

1 Peter 3:15-16, “But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; 16and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.”

Heb 12:14-15, “Pursue peace with all men (experiential sanctification), and the (positional) sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.” (Esau example follows.)

So far under Phase Two, we have noted: Experiential Sanctification is the function of the spiritual life after salvation.

• It is our daily walk with Christ, being filled with the Holy Spirit, 1 John 1:5-9.

• It is accomplished when we:

           a) Utilize 1 John 1:9.

           b) Have the filling of God the Holy Spirit.

           c) Take in the Word of God on a consistent basis.

           d) Produce experiential or spiritual righteousness.

• It depends upon:

           a) Some degree of yieldedness / obedience to God.

           b) Some degree of separation from sin.

           c) Some degree of Christian growth to which the believer has already attained.

• There are three agents of sanctification emphasized in Scripture:

           a) The Holy Spirit, 1 Cor 6:11; 2 Thes 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2.

           b) The Son, Heb 10:10.

           c) The Truth of God the Father, John 17:17; Eph 5:26.

• Our Experiential Sanctification also builds capacity for Divine blessing in time and eternity. As our spiritual righteousness increases, our capacity increases, and therefore our blessing in time from God increases. When we execute the Plan of God by reaching spiritual maturity, then we have the conveyance of our escrow blessings for time, because we have the capacity to enjoy them from our spiritual righteousness. Blessings in time also mean blessings in the eternal state, Dan 12:3; Acts 20:32; 26:18; 1 Cor 3:12-15; 15:41; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev 2-3.

Acts 20:32, “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

Dan 12:3, “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

1 Cor 15:41, “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. ⁴²So also is the resurrection of the dead.”

• Phase Three, “Ultimate Sanctification,” is the third type of sanctification which identifies the believer in the eternal state, Phil 3:21; 1 John 3:1‑2.

Phil 3:21, “Who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

1 John 3:1‑3, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ²Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. ³And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

When we die or are taken home by means of the Rapture, our Old Sin Nature is left behind, and we receive a resurrection body that is perfect and incorruptible, 1 Cor 15:50-58. Therefore, it represents the believer in his resurrection body in the eternal state and carries the concept of having a resurrection body. In eternity, every believer will have a resurrection body, 1 Thes 4:13-18.

L.S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, Volume 7, “The ultimate aspect of sanctification, which is related to the saved one’s final perfection, will be his (the believer’s) in the glory. By His (God’s) grace and transforming power God will have so changed every child of His—In spirit, soul, and body—that each will be “like him” and “conformed to the image of His Son.” He will then present them “faultless” before the presence of His glory. His Son’s Bride will be free from every “spot or wrinkle.” It therefore becomes all Christians to “abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thes 5:2)

God the Father is the agent of our Ultimate Sanctification in the eternal state, Rom 8:28‑29; 1 Cor 1:8; Eph 1:4.

Rom 8:28‑29, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Until the Rapture of the Church occurs, all Church Age believers who die go to heaven in an interim body where there is equally great happiness and blessing to all believers, whether they are winners or losers, 1 Cor 13:12, (face to face with the Lord).

1 Cor 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. ¹³But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

At the Rapture, all Church Age believers receive their resurrection bodies, both winners and losers, both those already in heaven, “the dead in Christ shall rise first,” 1 Thes 4:16, and those alive on the earth, “and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, and so we shall always be with the Lord,” 1 Thes 4:17.

Therefore, Ultimate Sanctification is the state of being blameless before God, possessing a resurrection body, 1 Cor 1:8; Eph 1:3-8; 1 Thes 5:23.

1 Cor 1:8, “Who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Eph 1:3-8, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love ⁵He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, ⁶to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. ⁷In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace ⁸which He lavished on us.”

“Blameless” is the special work of God the Father in eternity future, where we are free from any blame or guilt regarding our sins. We are declared and kept innocent of all wrong doing, sin or evil. Therefore, based on the efficacious work of Jesus Christ upon the Cross, all fault and blame has been removed forever, and we will be kept in that state eternally.

1 Thes 5:23, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Therefore, for all of eternity we will be holy and pure, set apart for service unto our Lord.

Once again, “Ultimate Sanctification,” is the third type of sanctification which identifies the believer in the eternal state, Phil 3:21; 1 John 3:1‑2.

Phil 3:21, “Who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

1 John 3:1‑3, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ²Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. ³And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

At the resurrection we are given capacity righteousness for eternity.

• Capacity righteousness for eternity is the righteousness given by God to every believer at the moment of resurrection as a part of Ultimate Sanctification. It is the capacity righteousness of the eternal state so that you will be able to receive your rewards. In addition, you will never have a bad moment in the eternal state.

• Ultimate Sanctification begins when the believer receives his resurrection body. There are two categories of life in the resurrection body: human life, given by God at physical birth, and eternal life, given by God at the new birth.

• The resurrection body is the new righteousness given to us at the resurrection or rapture of the Church that will give us the capacity to enjoy all the blessings of eternity.

2 Pet 3:13, “But on the basis of His promise, (the Divine promise for better things in the eternal state), we are looking forward with confidence to new heavens and a new earth in which perfect righteousness lives.”  This is revealed as an encouragement for having integrity in time.

• Perfect righteousness given at Ultimate Sanctification is the God-given capacity for greater blessing in the eternal state.

Following the Rapture of the Church, at the Judgment Seat of Christ, winners receive the conveyance of their escrow blessings for the eternal state and will be presented to God the Father in the royal court of heaven, 1 Cor 3:10-15; Rev 3:5.

Rev 3:5, “He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”

Ultimate Sanctification converts the body of Christ into the Bride of Christ, Rev 19:7.

In Ultimate Sanctification, the Church is resurrected aristocracy, and therefore different from all other resurrections, 1 Cor 15:23 with 1 Peter 2:5, 9.

The Royal Family of God shares in the coronation and triumph of Jesus Christ at the Second Advent, Rev 19:1-6, 11-16. Therefore, the bride must be prepared prior to the Second Advent.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Having completed our study of Sanctification, we now turn to the other topic of John 17:17 which is “truth.” 

John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the sphere of Your Truth; Your Word (Bible Doctrine) is Truth.” 

Therefore, we will study...

Principles of Bible Doctrine as the “Truth

John 18:37-38. “Jesus answered (Pontius Pilate), “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” ³⁸Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”

Pilate, in asking that universal question, revealed his own and the world’s ignorance of who God is. The truth was standing right in front of him, yet he did not know the truth, and therefore did not see the truth standing in front of him, just as the world does not know nor see the truth that is God.

Psa 89:14, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.”

• God is absolute truth or as we also call it Veracity.

The Greek word for Truth is ALETHEIA and means “truth, truthfulness, or reality.”

Joseph Thayer says, “It is that which frees the mind from pretending, deceitfulness, and hypocrisy.”

Truth is defined as, “Conformity to knowledge, fact, actuality, or logic; fidelity to an original or standard; reality and actuality. It is a statement proven to be or accepted as true. It is sincerity; integrity; honesty. Truth is most commonly used to mean correspondence with facts or with what actually occurred.”

God reveals Himself to mankind and angels through His Word which can only be absolute truth as He Himself is absolute truth. That is why He is called, “the God of truth” in Psa 31:5; Isa 65:16.

Therefore, Bible doctrine is absolute truth and perfectly reveals the holiness of God.

The setting forth of God’s truth is in the Bible. It, being the Word of God, is true in all its parts. There is a vast array of truth, themes, and subjects about which man could not know by himself, yet the Bible supplies this dependable information.

Psa 12:6, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.” (Seven being the number of spiritual perfection.)

• God is faithful to every word He has said.

Num 23:19, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

Heb 10:23, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

The faithfulness of God is the unfailing source of comfort and assurance to those who are right with Him, or partakers of His covenants of promise.

• When Christ said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” He was revealing first that He was a member of the Godhead, that He was true Deity, and secondly His character and nature in Deity and humanity, “truth” absolute correctness.

Remember also that the Bible is called the “mind of Christ,” 1 Cor 2:16. Therefore, we again see that the Word of God is absolute truth, 2 Cor 6:7.

Truth is that which the Lord brought with Him when He came down from heaven.

John 1:17, “For the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

John 18:37, “… for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.”

James 1:18, “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth.”

• It is only as God brings us to a knowledge of the “truth” that He can deliver us completely from our three enemies; ourselves (OSN), the Cosmic System, and Satan.

The whole purpose of the Gospel and the object of salvation is to bring us to the “truth” about God.

Eph 1:13-14, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

• In the Old Testament, the basic Hebrew word for “truth” is EMETH. EMETH means stability, certainty, and trustworthiness. It means that which produces faithfulness, stability, and security; therefore, truth is firmness, security, and integrity of mind.

If you lack faithfulness, stability, and security, it is usually because you lack Truth, (i.e., Bible Doctrine in your soul).

Many ask how do I know if I am learning “truth” or receiving truth? Well, truth will cause you to be stable, certain and sure.

Pro 23:23, “Buy truth, and do not sell it, also buy wisdom and instruction and understanding.” (i.e., Bible Doctrine)

1 Peter 1:22, “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, ²³for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.”

Psa 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Col 1:23, “If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”

• Truth is something we must be taught. It does not come naturally.

Psa 25:5, “Lead me in Your truth and teach me: for You are the God of my deliverance.”

John 8:31-32, “If you continue in My Word then are you My disciples indeed. And you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”

• Truth is something that must be taught. This is why fathers are told in Isa 38:19, to make truth known to their children, and in Mat 22:16, our Lord taught the way of God in truth.

This is why the apostle Paul tells us that God’s will for all mankind is to “be saved and then to come to the knowledge of the truth,” 1 Tim 2:4.

• God desires truth to be within us, 2 Cor 11:10, “As the truth of Christ is in me….”

Without truth, it is impossible to worship God properly, John 4:23-24, “Worship in spirit and truth.”

This is why if a pastor really loves and worships the Lord, he will, 2 Tim 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

1 Tim 2:7, “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.”

And He will feed the flock of God. John 21:15-17, “If you love Me, feed My sheep, ... lambs...” Feed them what? Truth.

2 Cor 13:7-8, “Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved. ⁸For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.”

Col 1:5-7, “Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel ⁶which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; ⁷just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf.”

• Bible Doctrine is the truth, and keeps on being the truth, and will always be the truth. This is the basis for protection of the believer.

Psa 40:11, “You, O LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.”

Psa 91:4, “He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His truth is a shield and bulwark.”

“Bulwark” is the Hebrew word SOCHERAH (so-khay-raw’), used only here in the entire Old Testament. It means, “something that surrounds and protects, a wall that is built for defense, someone or something that protects or defends something such as a belief, idea or way of life.” The LXX uses KUKLOO which means, “to surround or encircle,” (Luke 21:20; John 10:24; Acts 14:20; Heb 11:30; Rev 20:9). Therefore, SOCHERAH is used to describe how the truth of God’s Word provides protection to the person who trusts in Him. It is the Word of God that surrounds and protects the believer in the Christian way of life under Experiential Sanctification. Therefore, Bible Doctrine (truth) surrounds us and protects us. As in John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the sphere of Your truth.”

Truth protects us and keeps us from deception. This is why the apostle Paul warns us that in the last days, Truth will be rejected and deception accepted, 2 Thes 2:10-11; 2 Tim 3:5-8; 4:1-4.

Jesus is praying to the Father for our protection by means of the truth, so that we do not fall away. Our Experiential Sanctification sets us apart by the daily function of GAP (the Grace Apparatus for Perception = the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit), which is the intensity of our daily study of God’s Word, and is the process of building your very own ECS (Edification Complex of the Soul). Having an ECS, you are protected from Satan’s Cosmic System and your Sin Nature.

In GAP, God the Holy Spirit teaches us the Word of God. That is why He too is called “truth,” John 14:17, 26; 1 John 5:6.

1 John 5:6, “This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.”

In John 17:17, Jesus Christ is recognizing the doctrine of Divine Decrees, the fact that God the Father had a plan for believers during the intensified stage of the Angelic Conflict. This means that, first of all, GAP is provided for all believers in this Age, and Jesus Christ petitioned God the Father in prayer to provide what had already existed in the Divine Decrees for our protection.

That is why “sanctify” is in the Imperative Mood: it was already a part of the plan of God and Jesus Christ is now calling on the Plan of God to go into operation for the intensified stage of the Angelic Conflict.

Believers are “sanctified” or “set apart” or “protected” (TEREO) from Satan’s Cosmic System by means of the ECS.

2 Tim 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

Eph 4:21-25, “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, ²²that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, ²³and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. ²⁵Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.”

Eph 6:14, “Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”

God’s righteousness loves to see His truth in action, especially in you!

No unbeliever can produce this; no carnal believer can produce this; only the believer who functions under GAP consistently, day by day, can have an ECS in the Cosmos.

This is one of the most vital things in the world for the believer and Jesus is petitioning the Father for their sanctification, especially sanctification in Phase Two, (your daily Christian walk), where the ECS is constructed with the resultant protection from the Cosmos and reflected glory of God from your soul.

When we do not consistently take in the truth, we stop going forward in the Plan of God. Gal 5:7, “You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?”

• This truth, Bible Doctrine, will be with us for all of eternity, 2 John 1:2, “For the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever.”

Proverbs 21:28, “The man who listens to the truth will speak forever.”

• To some the truth is offensive. Gal 4:16, “So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?”

The Rejection of the Truth - Outline of those who do not know the Truth:

• The first Scripture of the New Testament that deals with unbelievers rejecting the truth is found in John 8:40, 44-47. Here our Lord is contesting with the religious leaders of His day, the Pharisees, regarding their rejection of God’s truth which was the manifestation of the Second Person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ in His First Advent.

• John had this scene in mind when he wrote in his first epistle in 1 John 2:21b, “No lie is of the truth.”

• These self-righteous, legalistic, religious leaders rejected God’s truth and grace of providing a Savior. They were too caught up in themselves and their own works, because they had been deceived by Satan. They had swallowed the satanic lie that salvation is found in your own good works and deeds. That is why our Lord said, “You are of your father the devil, the father of lies.”

• Our Lord also had this scene in mind when He told the disciples in the Upper Room in John 14:17a, “The Spirit of truth the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him.”

• Those who are deceived and have rejected the truth for salvation are of or a type of the Antichrist, as noted in 2 Thes 2:10, 12.

2 Thes 2:10 & 12, “And with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved…. ¹²In order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”

• These Pharisees who rejected the truth were the forerunners of many to follow during the Church Age. Of the false and legalistic teachers of the Church Age, we are given, 2 Peter 2:1-3, 21-22. In both of these passages, we see that some of these false teachers may have been believers who have gone astray.

• Likewise, throughout the Church Age, the people too will reject the truth and instead follow the lie, 1 Tim 4:1-4; 6:3-5; 2 Tim 2:16-18; 3:1-9; 4:3-4; Heb 10:26; James 3:14; 1 John 1:6; 2:4.

In 2 Tim 2:16-18, “Gangrene” is GAGGRAINA – a cancer like disease.

Thayer notes, GAGGRAINA, “A gangrene, a disease by which any part of the body suffering from inflammation becomes so corrupted that, unless a remedy be seasonably applied, the evil continually spreads, attacks other parts, and at last eats away the bones.”

In 2 Tim 3:1-9, regarding who Jannes and Jambres are, Charles Ryrie notes, “Jannes (he vexes) and Jambres (foamy healer). Though these names do not appear in the Old Testament, in late Jewish, pagan, and certain early Christian writings, they are applied to the Egyptian magicians who performed counterfeit miracles in opposition to Moses (Ex. 7:11, 22). They are symbols of the folly of opposing the truth.” (Bold mine)

A.T. Robertson notes, “Traditional names of the magicians who withstood Moses (Targum of Jonathan on Exodus 7:11).”

Weirsbe notes, “Paul compared the apostate teachers to the Egyptian magicians Jannes and Jambres, who opposed Moses by imitating what he did (Ex. 7:11ff). Satan is an imitator, and his imitation gospel and church will spread in the last days.”

• Sometimes, even mature believers are the object of falsehoods and rejection of the truth as we see Paul rebuking Peter and other hypocritical believers in Gal 2:14.

Gal 2:14, “But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

• As for those who teach and support false doctrines of the world, God’s judgment will be brought upon them, Rom 1:18, 25; 2:8-9.

Rom 1:18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

Rom 1:25, “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

Rom 2:8-9, “But to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. ⁹There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek.”

• What is the Pastor to do in these times of apostasy? 2 Tim 4:2, 5; Titus 1:13-16.

2 Tim 4:2 & 5, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction….⁵But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

• How should the believer treat those who are deceived and do not know the truth? 2 Tim 2:24-26; James 5:19-20.

James 5:19-20, “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, ²⁰let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul (PSUCHE – also means life) from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” 

You will lead him in the avoidance of the 3^rd stage of Divine Discipline the Sin Unto Death judgment, 1 Cor 11:2-30; 1 John 5:16-17.

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John 17:18, “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world;”

The Greek reads: 

“καθὼς ἐμὲ ἀπέστειλας εἰς τὸν κόσμον, κἀγὼ ἀπέστειλα αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν κόσμον;”

Transliterated it reads: 

“KATHOS EME APESTEILAS EIS TON KOSMON, KAGO APESTEILA AUTOUS EIS TON KOSMON;”

KATHOS is a Comparative Subordinating Conjunction from KATA – κατά (kat-ah'), “according to,” and HOS - ὡς (hoce) “as.” It comes to mean, “as, just as, to the degree that, in the same way, etc.” Here, the Lord is comparing the Plan of God which sent Jesus into the world to manifest the Father with Jesus sending the disciples into the world to do the same and build the Church.

EME is the Pronoun EGO - ἐγώ (eg-o'), “I”, in the Accusative, First Person, Singular, referring to Jesus Christ. Jesus is referring to Himself as the One sent by the Father, “Me.”

APESTEILAS is the Verb APOSTELLO - ἀποστέλλω (ap-os-tel'-lo) in the Aorist, Active, Indicative, Second Person, Singular that comes from APO - ἀπό (apo'), “from or away from,” and STELLO – στέλλω (stel'-lo), “to arrange, prepare, gather up, or to restrain.” So, it is the opposite of gathering up or restraining which means, “to send away.”

Thayer notes its usage as being, “to order (one) to go to a place appointed.” Therefore, this word comes to mean, “to send with a commission.”

BDAG defines it here as, “to dispatch someone for the achievement of some objective, send away/out.”

The Active Voice in the Second Person refers to God the Father, (the person Jesus is praying to), as the One who sent Him into the world.

The Constative Aorist Tense views the entirety of the action of God the Father sending His Son into the World.

The Indicative Mood is for the reality of the Father’s commission. Because there is no pronoun used for the Father here, we can add “You” and say, “You sent.”

APOSTELLO at times functions to denote the task and authority of the minister, while the other synonymous word PEMPO – πέμπω (pem'-po), which we have previously seen used in the Upper Room Discourse, indicates more of the action of sending itself. So, the authority that Jesus has to send out the disciples is in view, which is equal to that of the Father who has sent His Son.

For the Father’s sending of the Son see, John 3:17; 17:3, 8, 21, 23, 25.

John 3:17, “For God did not send (APOSTELLO) the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

John 17:3, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

EIS is a Preposition in the Accusative Case that means, “into.” This ties together the Pronoun above used for Jesus and the place where He was sent which follows.

TON KOSMON is the Accusative, Masculine, Singular of the Article HO, “the,” plus the noun KOSMOS – κόσμος (kos'-mos), which means, “world.”  Here it simply refers to planet earth and the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, during His First Advent, where He was sent by God the Father.

So far, we have, “As You (God the Father) sent Me (God the Son) into the world.”

In the second half of the verse we have, “I also have sent them into the world;”

“KAGO APESTEILA AUTOUS EIS TON KOSMON;”

KAGO is a Pronoun from KAI, “and” and EGO, “I”, in the Nominative, First Person, Singular, which means, “and I, but I, I also, or I myself.” Here, in comparison to the Father sending the Son, we will say, “I also.”

APESTEILA is once again the Verb APOSTELLO - ἀποστέλλω (ap-os-tel'-lo), but this time in the Aorist, Active, Indicative, First Person, Singular, and means, “I sent.” Jesus is referring to His commissioning of the eleven for the Church Age as in John 20:21. Here the pronoun is already given in KAGO above, so we will simply say, “sent.”

John 20:21, “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent (APOSTELLO) Me, I also send (PEMPO) you.”

APOSTELLO also lies behind the title the Eleven would later receive, and that being, “Apostle” first used in Romans 1:1, where Paul is now added to make 12 Apostles.

Prior to this, Jesus APOSTELLOed the 12, (which at that time included Judas Iscariot), to go out and evangelize during His incarnation, Mat 10:5; Mark 3:14; 6:7; Luke 9:2; John 4:38.

Mark 3:14, “And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send (APOSTELLO) them out to preach.”

Luke 9:2, “And He sent (APOSTELLO) them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.”

AUTOUS is the Pronoun AUTOS - αὐτός (ow-tos'), “he, she, it,” in the Accusative, Masculine, Third Person, Plural.

In the Third Person, Plural it is referring to the disciples in the Upper Room.

EIS is once again the Preposition in the Accusative Case that means, “into.”

TON KOSMON is also used once again in the Accusative, Masculine, Singular and means, “the world.”

So, we have, “I (Jesus) also sent them (the disciples) into the world.”

Our complete translation of John 17:18 is, “As You (God the Father) sent Me (God the Son) into the world, I (Jesus) also sent them (the disciples) into the world;”

Therefore, just as Jesus was commissioned by the Father to manifest Him in the world, the disciples have been commissioned by Jesus Christ to reveal Him to the world. When Christ is revealed, the Father is manifested too.

Remember, as Christians, we are not of the world, but we are in the world to witness for Christ, and we keep our lives sanctified through His Word so that we are effective ambassadors for Christ. Therefore, Christ has actually sent us into the world to take His place in evangelizing and witnessing the Truth of God’s Word. He sent the Apostles first, and He also sends every believer.

Jesus Christ in His humanity is now absent from the earth. He is in a resurrection body at the right hand of the Father; glorified. But we are present on the earth and God has a purpose for our life. The only thing holding it up is our Edification Complex of the Soul (ECS). God’s purpose for the believer’s life cannot be fulfilled apart from building your ECS.

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The Commissioning of Believers by the Lord Jesus Christ

Every believer in Jesus Christ is in full-time Christian service. It is not a matter of dedication to full-time service but simply a matter of believing in Christ. Whether you know it or not, or try or try not, you are still in full-time Christian service for our Lord.

There are Five Categories of Full-Time Christian Service:

• Christian service related to our spiritual gift. All the spiritual gifts can be involved in witnessing.

• Christian service related to our Royal Priesthood. Every believer is a priest, representing himself before God, 1 Peter 2:5, 9; Rev 1:6, 5:10. There are three areas of Christian service related to our priesthood: giving, intercessory prayer and the execution of the Predesigned Protocol Plan of God for your life. As a Royal Priest, you should pray for people to have the opportunity to hear the message and be able to respond without fear of reprisal.

Rom 10:1, “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them (Jewish unbelievers) is for their salvation.”

• Christian service related to our Royal Ambassadorship. Every believer is an ambassador, representing God to a lost and dying world, 2 Cor 5:20; Eph 6:20; Philemon 9. As an ambassador, you are responsible and have the privilege to proclaim the gospel.

Christian service related to our Royal Ambassadorship includes:

• Witnessing or personal evangelism.

• Missionary function which includes evangelism.

• Spiritual gift function.

• Administrative activity in many categories of Christian organizations and groups.

• Christian service related to invisible impact for Christ. This is the ultimate in Christian service, because we have a phenomenal testimony to billions of angels, as well as those in our periphery, Heb 12:1-3.

Heb 12:1-3, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ²fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

• Christian service related to our job (inside or outside of the home). Your function in life is part of your full-time Christian service; therefore, witnessing is related to the Laws of Divine Establishment.

There are three categories of evangelism: the spiritual gift of evangelism, the Pastor-Teacher, and every believer as a Royal Ambassador. Your spiritual gift is not an issue in witnessing; it is the responsibility of every believer.

Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and in Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The baptism of the Holy Spirit, at the moment of your salvation, is the establishment of your commission in Christ to witness to the lost and dying world. And since every believer is baptized by the Spirit in the Church Age, every believer is entered into full time Christian service as ambassadors for Christ.

Eph 6:15, “And having shod your feet (put on your combat boots) with the preparation of (readiness to communicate) the gospel of peace.”

2 Cor 5:18, “Now all things are from God who has reconciled Himself to us through Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”

2 Cor 5:20, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We beg you, (invite you), on behalf of Christ to become reconciled to God.”

2 Tim 4:5, “Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry.” This applies to every believer, not just the Pastor-Teacher.

The Church Age believer has two areas of responsibility in witnessing for Christ, 2 Cor 5:14‑21.

• The witness of the life, 2 Cor 3:3, 6:3.

2 Cor 3:3 “Being manifested that you are a letter from Christ, having been served by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tables of stone, but on the tablets of the human heart.”

• The witness of the lips, 2 Cor 5:20. Witnessing is the Royal Family communicating the gospel to an unbeliever on a personal basis. It is personal evangelism rather than mass evangelism. It is informal, conversational; whereby, one individual communicates the gospel to another individual.

Pitfalls in Witnessing:

• Avoid argumentation. You are to give information, not argue over its validity.

• Do not be sidetracked by false issues such as: Is the Bible the Word of God, or what about the people who have never heard?

• Deal with the individual alone wherever possible. Witnessing in front of others creates false issues by producing embarrassment, loss of prestige, or heckling.

• Avoid getting in a rut by always using the same approach. Flexibility comes with maturity.

• Avoid the false concept of having to witness to a certain number of people each day, or that an evangelist must have a large audience. A high I.Q. is not necessary to witness to those with a high I.Q. and vice versa.

• Motivation must come from Bible doctrine in the soul, not spiritual bullying, human pressure, or approbation lust.

• Avoid bragging about your experiences in witnessing.

• Do not judge other believers if you feel they are failing to witness. Apply the privacy of the priesthood.

Also keep in mind the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in relation to witnessing. He makes the gospel understandable to the unbeliever (Common Grace), so do not think you have to jump through hoops or have a detailed discourse when witnessing. Just tell them about the “good news” that Jesus died for their sins and is raised in eternal glory, just as they too can be, John 16:8-11.

John 16:8, “And He (God the Holy Spirit), at His coming, (the Church Age), will convict the world concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment.”

John 16:9 is, “On the one hand, concerning sin (the sin of unbelief), because they (the world), habitually and customarily do not believe in Me.”

John 16:10 is, “On the other hand concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you all will no longer see Me.”

John 16:11, “Even concerning the act of judgment, because the ruler of this world is, (has been and continues to be), judged.”

Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone, (John 3:16; Eph 2:8-9), and has nothing to do with giving up something or trying to make others over into the kind of person you want them to be.

• In witnessing, people often want the unbeliever to change their habits, their personality, or something else as a part of the gospel, but this has nothing to do with the gospel.

• When you try to work for salvation, you go deeper into debt, as far as your relationship with God is concerned, Rom 4:4-5. It is your faith that receives credit for righteousness.

Rom 4:4-5, “Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. ⁵But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”

No unbeliever accepts the Bible as the Word of God. No one believes the Bible is the Word of God until after he is saved. Therefore, in witnessing for Christ, the believer need only to make the issue clear, and the issue is always the person of Christ, not sin and not trying to add something to faith for salvation. So, just fire the weapon at that unbeliever (tell them of the good news) and let the Holy Spirit make the issue real to them.

“The gospel is the power of God with reference to salvation.” 1 Cor 1:18; Heb 4:12; Eph 6:17.

The believer must have the mental attitude of readiness to witness for Christ. You should be ready at any time in a conversation to present the gospel to anyone, Rom 1:15.

Rom 1:15, “Thus, for my part, I am ready to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”

The believer must not be ashamed to witness for Christ, Rom 1:16.

Rom 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.”

Rom 1:17, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith”.”

Witnessing for Christ is not spirituality, it is the result of spirituality. Witnessing for Christ is a production skill which results from the three spiritual skills: the filling of the spirit, cognition of the gospel, and execution of the protocol plan of God. Therefore, spiritual skills must precede production skills for the performance of divine good in witnessing.  This means that motivation for witnessing must come from metabolized doctrine, circulating by means of the Spirit, in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness of the right lobe of the soul.  Motivation must not come from approbation or power lust.

Common sense in witnessing. Most believers are lacking in common sense because of a lack of post-salvation renewing of the mind. There is also a great lack of common sense in the field of witnessing.

Some of the common-sense principles in witnessing are as follows:

• You should always stay with the subject of the gospel when witnessing. It is easy to get off the subject of the gospel because of all the questions the unbeliever will ask that are not a part of the subject.

• Do not try to get an unbeliever to live the Christian life or meet the standards of the Plan of God before he or she is born again. Do not try to superimpose Christian standards on unbelievers. Do not try to get unbelievers to give up something. Do not make an issue of the Christian way of life or commitment or lordship or baptism or joining a church or giving money. Never put the cart before the horse.

• Provide doctrinal facts so that the unbeliever can make a decision. Provide information about the work of Christ; make it simple; make it in your own language in your own way.

• Make the issue clear. Changing your life and stop sinning is not the issue. The issue is believing in Jesus Christ.

• Therefore, do not add to the gospel. Nothing is accomplished toward salvation by persuading the believer to give up his sins, to improve his personality, to feel sorry for his sins, to join the church, to give money.

• Do not try to force a decision for faith in Christ; this is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

• Remember that Divine Institution number one is freedom of volition. This includes the right of privacy in making a decision for Christ. It is not necessary to make a public decision. Always make evangelism a private issue between God and the individual.

• Provide gospel information but leave the results in the hands of God the Holy Spirit. The gospel must persuade the spiritually dead person to believe in Christ, nothing else. The persuasion must come from the content of the gospel; it does not come from salesmanship, begging, or emotional coercion.

• Avoid argumentation when witnessing. You are not trying to win a debate. You are to provide information, not argue over the validity of that information.

• Do not be sidetracked by false issues, such as, “what about people who have never heard the gospel?”

• If possible, always deal with the person alone. Witnessing in front of other people creates a false issue; the unbeliever may think that he is losing prestige by hearing the gospel in front of others.

Prov 11:30, “The production of integrity is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls.”

The analogy to witnessing, Mat 4:19, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.”

• You must have a desire to fish. You must be motivated spiritually. Consistency in learning doctrine determines both your motivation and effectiveness.

• You must be equipped to fish. You must know the gospel.

• You must go where the fish are located.

• You must use the right bait (doctrines) and be flexible.

• Fishermen stay out of sight. You never make an issue of yourself.

• You must be patient. Present the gospel, and if you get negative signals, get out of there.

The reward for witnessing is included in the believer’s eternal rewards, 1 Cor 3:11-16; Phil 4:1; 1 Thes 2:19.

Dr. Charles Goodell wrote: “It is a great hour when a surgeon holds a scalpel, at the end of which is life or death for the patient. It is a greater hour when a lawyer faces a jury, with a conviction that if he makes a mistake an innocent man will hang and his family will be disgraced. But the greatest hour any human being ever faces is the hour when he stands before men hastening to condemnation, and is commissioned to offer a pardon to last for eternities.” 

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We now begin the last verse of this portion of the Great High Priestly Prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ, where He is praying for His disciples, in John 17:19.

John 17:19, “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”

The Greek reads: 

“καὶ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἐγὼ ἁγιάζω ἐμαυτόν, ἵνα ὦσιν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἡγιασμένοι ἐν ἀληθείᾳ.”

Transliterated it reads: 

“KAI HUPER AUTON [EGO] HAGIAZO EMAUTON, HINA OSIN KAI AUTOI HEGIASMENOI EN ALETHEIA.”

The previous verse ended in a semicolon, so this verse is actually a continuation of the thought and also a conclusion to this portion of the prayer.

We begin with “For their sakes I sanctify Myself,” which is:

“KAI HUPER AUTON [EGO] HAGIAZO EMAUTON.”

KAI is a Coordinating Conjunction that can mean, “and, even, or also.” Here linking the previous sentence with this final statement. We will say, “and.”

HUPER is a Preposition in the Genitive case linked with AUTON below. It can mean, “over, beyond, of, about, or concerning.” In the Genitive case, it is typically, “of, concerning, about, for, in behalf of, or for the sake of,” Here our Lord is stating something that He has done and will continue to do for the benefit of the His disciples. So, we will say, “for the benefit of.”

AUTON is the Pronoun AUTOS - αὐτός (ow-tos') in the Genitive, Masculine, Third Person, Plural, which refers to the disciples, so we will say, “of them or their.”

[EGO] is a Pronoun in the Subject Nominative, First Person, Singular that means, “I.” It is in brackets, because it is a contested word in the original writings. If it were in the original, it would add more emphasis though to the subject. It is not necessary for the translation, since the next verb is in the First Person Singular. Therefore, either way we can say, “I”, referring to Jesus.

HAGIAZO is our familiar Verb in the Present, Active, Indicative, First Person, Singular that means, “to make holy, consecrate, or sanctify.”

The Progressive Present Tense describes a scene in progress and continuous action. Jesus Christ is describing, in an overview, His entire ministry, and what He is about to accomplish upon the Cross.

The Active Voice here, as in John 17:17 & 10:36, Jesus is setting Himself apart for holy service and sacrifice unto God.

EMAUTON is the Reflexive Pronoun, EMAUTOU - ἐμαυτοῦ (em-ow-too') in the Direct Object, Accusative, Masculine, First Person, Singular that means, “Myself.” Jesus has sanctified Himself for the work of the Father’s ministry so that the disciples would have a sufficient foundation in which to work from.

So far, we have, “And for their benefit I sanctify Myself.”

Principles:

• Jesus has sanctified Himself for the work of the Father’s ministry, so that the disciples would have a sufficient foundation in which to work from.

• He demonstrated how to build the Edification Complex of the Soul, (ECS), which causes one to walk in the plan of God towards its fulfillment.

• He was about to demonstrate the power of the ECS by enduring tremendous hostility and abuse on His way to the Cross, yet without sin as the sacrificial Lamb before its shearers.

• It was for our benefit that Jesus built His very own ECS, in order to fulfill the Plan of God the Father for His First Advent, which culminated with the Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension.

• Now we have a solid foundation to build upon, Jesus Christ, 1 Cor 3:9, 11

1 Cor 3:9, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”

1 Cor 3:11, “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

• Jesus Christ demonstrated for us what the unique spiritual life of the Church Age could be and how to build it.

• At the time of this prayer, Jesus is also contemplating the final phases of His mission. At the conclusion of this prayer and the Garden of Gethsemane scene, as depicted in the other Gospels, Jesus would separate Himself out as the Lamb to be inspected for defects before it could be offered, yet there were none! First to the Father in prayer, Mat 26:36-39, 42, 44; Mark 14:32-36, 39, 41; Luke 22:41-45; and then in the trials culminating in the Cross.

• Jesus demonstrated the power of the ECS for one who is set apart for the Lord and accomplished the entire will of the Father, thereby creating the avenue for our building of the ECS, separation unto God and accomplishment of His will. This is noted in the second half of our verse

Next, we have, “that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth,” which is:

“HINA OSIN KAI AUTOI EGIASMENOI EN ALETHEIA.”

HINA is a Subordinating Conjunction meaning, “that, in order that or so that.” Here it introduces a Purpose Clause, so we will say, “in order that.” This tells us why Jesus HAGIAZOed Himself; for the purpose that the Church Age believer also be HAGIAZOed.

OSIN is the Verb EIMI - εἰμί (i-mee'), “is, are, to be, etc.” in the Present, Active, Subjunctive, Third Person, Plural.

The Customary Present Tense refers to the anticipated ongoing state of the disciples, “to be sanctified,” that is not only being saved but having erected their very own ECS to fulfill the Plan of God the Father for their lives.

The Active Voice refers to the disciples as the ones being sanctified.

The Subjunctive Mood is for the probability of the disciples being sanctified based on Jesus sanctifying Himself. We will say, “may keep on being.”

This is closely linked with the next work, KAI, here meaning, “also.”

AUTOI is the Pronoun AUTOS - αὐτός (ow-tos') once again, but this time in the Subject Nominative, Masculine, Third Person, Plural. It is referring to the disciples as the ones to be sanctified. We will say, “they.”

HEGIASMENOI is the Verb HAGIAZO - ἁγιάζω (hag-ee-ad'-zo) once again, but this time in the Perfect, Passive, Participle, Nominative, Masculine, Plural. This word is closely linked to the previous AUTOI, “they.”

The Perfect Participle refers to a kind of action versus time of action. Therefore, it refers to the completed action of being sanctified or set apart for holy service and sacrifice to God, where the present results are emphasized.

The Passive Voice: The disciples receive this sanctification.

If this were standing alone in this sentence, we would translate it, “having been sanctified.” Yet, because of the sentence structure and the Present, Active, Subjunctive of OSIN above, we will simple translate HAGIAZO as, “sanctified,” referring to the probability of this ongoing action. But altogether it is, “may keep on being sanctified.”

EN is the Dative Preposition meaning, “by means of,” linked to ALETHEIA which is a Noun in the Instrumental Dative, Feminine, Singular meaning, “truth.” The anarthrous noun, (no definite article), calls special emphasis to the means by which the disciples are sanctified, which is Bible Doctrine (the Word of God) resident within your soul.

The translation for the second part of this verse is, “In order that they also may keep on being sanctified by means of the truth (Bible Doctrine).”

Our complete translation of John 17:19 is, “And for their benefit (sake) I sanctify (set apart) Myself in order that they also may keep on being sanctified by means of THE truth (Bible Doctrine).”

Principles:

• As applied to Christ, the word “sanctify” means, He separated Himself and devoted Himself to the work of redemption, and therefore it is through His action that the disciples were sanctified too.

• Our Lord “sanctified” Himself by building His very own Edification Complex of the Soul (ECS) in His humanity during His incarnation.

• He did it ahead of His disciples and us to show that it can be done in humanity.

• By building His own ECS from His humanity, He glorified the Plan of God the Father that will continue all the way to Cross.

• As a result, the believers of the Church Age also have the opportunity to build their very own ECS.

• You build your ECS by:

       a) Your volition. Are you positive toward Bible doctrine or negative (Apathy is also a negative.)?

       b) If you are positive, will you have the self-discipline to concentrate and to exclude other things that are important to you?

      c) Is there a place where you can get Bible doctrine consistently (Is there a Pastor-Teacher?)?

        d) Will you continue to take in, to GAP, under conditions of adversity or prosperity?

   e) Will you rebound consistently; have the filling of the Spirit consistently, in order to make GAP function?

      f) If you do, then over a period of time, you will build an ECS.

The beautiful thing about the ECS is that it is a series of literally thousands of decisions. One decision will not cut it! You have to stay with it.

So, in this last portion, Christ does not ask that His own should be forgiven, comforted, supplied with the good things of life, etc. All thought for these pales in the presence of His intense desire that they should be consecrated, i.e. inspired by the same consuming passion as was burning in His heart.

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Jesus Sanctified (Set Apart) Himself

As we have noted, Jesus sanctified or set Himself apart in many ways in the last week of His incarnation ministry, beginning with the entry into Jerusalem days before His crucifixion.

He foretold His disciples what was going to take place in Mat 20:18-19.

Mat 20:18-19, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, ¹⁹and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”

Jesus then set Himself apart by entering into Jerusalem as noted in John 12:12-19.

John 12:12-19, “On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ¹³took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” ¹⁴Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, ¹⁵“Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” ¹⁶These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him. ¹⁷So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about Him. ¹⁸For this reason also the people went and met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign. ¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.”

This was in fulfillment of prophecy found in Zech 9:9.

Zech 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Also compare with Isa 62:11 and Psa 118:26.

Christ’s procession was a type of victor’s procession. It was a procession indicating the victory to come. Typically, a victor’s procession comes after the victory is won. This was the way the Romans hailed their victors in battle. Yet, because God lives in eternity, in His eyes it was completed billions of years ago, even though in time, the victory had not yet occurred. Therefore, in fulfillment of prophecy and impending victory, Christ allowed this procession to occur, telling the people that their King and Savior had come.

This was the last broad public display of Christ setting Himself apart as the Messiah. This was ultimately a sign for the Jews and the world that their Savior-King had come, which was one of over 300 Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah that was fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice that the Old Testament prophecies are not just proclaiming the coming King. They also indicate His saving work!

Zech 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

But just as Satan influenced the woman in the Garden of Eden to confound and confuse God’s Word in the mentality of her soul in Gen 3:1-3, he did so with the Jews of Jesus’ time as well.

The prophecy of the ultimate rejection of the Messiah is found in Daniel 9:24-25.

Satan had parlayed the Hebrew’s lack of concentration and faithfulness towards the Word of God and Occupation with the person of Christ with their negative volition so that when the Messiah had arrived and publicly displayed Himself in exact fulfillment of prophecy, they were completely confounded as to who He was, and in emotional revolt of the soul, praised Him as the one who would solve their problem of Roman occupation.

They only remembered the first part of prophecy regarding Jesus as their King, and in their arrogance, completely forgot about their need for a Savior to free them from the slave market of sin.

Psa 118:22-29, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. ²³This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. ²⁴This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. ²⁵O LORD, do save, we beseech You; O LORD, we beseech You, do send prosperity! ²⁶Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD; we have blessed you from the house of the LORD. ²⁷The LORD is God, and He has given us light; bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. ²⁸You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You. ²⁹Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

John adds to the story what was truly going on in the hearts of the people of Jerusalem, John 12:16.

John 12:16, “These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.”

Luke tells us what was happening in the heart of Jesus Christ during this time, Luke 19:41.

Luke 19:41-42, “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, ⁴²saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! (His sacrifice and death upon the Cross), But now they have been hidden from your eyes”.”

Nevertheless, Jesus publicly presented Himself, setting Himself apart, demonstrating His service to them even though they would reject Him.

Another fascination example of our Lord setting Himself apart is seen in the account of our Lord being tried by Pontius Pilate.

As you may know, the Jewish leaders wanted to get rid of Jesus once and for all. Yet, because they were under Roman occupation, they could not take matters into their own hands and kill a criminal according to their Law. Therefore, they brought Jesus before the Governor, Pontius Pilate, hoping that he would execute our Lord.

Jesus was examined by Pilate and ultimately declared to be without fault by the Roman Procurator. At that point, not wanting to disappoint the Pharisees and rile up the crowd any further, he delivered Him to be judged by the assembled crowd. When the opportunity arose to decide the destiny of Jesus, the crowd and the Jewish leadership cried out saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.”

This was a very interesting process in light of the God’s Law regarding the typology of the Passover Lamb that was to be separated out from the rest of the herd, inspected for blemishes, slain, and consumed on the night of Passover.

Ex 12:5, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: you shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats.”

Lev 22:20, “But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.”

As an insult to the Pharisees hypocrisy, the TRUE Passover Lamb was inspected by a Gentile, who declared the Lamb worthy for sacrifice. (Remember that spot and blemish is analogous to sin, which our Lord was judged to have none.)

Then also notice what Ex 12:6 tells us:

Ex 12:6, “And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.”

Therefore, in fulfillment of the typology of the first of Seven Feast of Israel, once the Lamb was inspected, the Pharisees and the whole crowd decided the Lamb’s fate and He was sacrificed.

Mat 27:22, “Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!” ²³And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!”

Mat 27:26, “Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.”

Compare with Mark 15:13-20; Luke 23:18-25 (three times acquitted by Pilate); John 19:6-16.

Therefore, in the light of the God’s Law regarding the typology of the Passover Lamb, in essence what Pilate and the Pharisees had done was in fulfillment of the Jewish Law where the Passover Lamb was to be:

• Separated out from the rest of the herd. Fulfilled: When Jesus was arrested by the Pharisees in Gethsemane.

• Inspected for any spots or blemishes (sin) prior to being sacrificed. Fulfilled: When Jesus was tried by Pontius Pilate.

• If no blemishes were found, the Lamb was slain and sacrificed. Fulfilled: When Jesus was crucified.

• Then the Lamb was to be fully consumed. This is Fulfilled: When anyone believes upon the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.

And isn’t it interesting that the last part is also accomplished predominately by the Gentiles, Luke 14:16-24; Acts 13:44-49.

Matthew Henry notes regarding Luke 14:16-24, “The apostles were to turn to the Gentiles, when the Jews refused the offer; and with them the church was filled.”

So, you see that in both fulfillment of prophecy and types, Jesus Christ set Himself apart so that His disciples could be sanctified.

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Summary of the Second Portion of Our Lord’s Great High Priestly Prayer
John 17:6-19 - Christ Prays for His Disciples

There are three main aspects to this prayer for the disciples:

• He prayed that they might be kept, guarded, and unified, vs. 11, 15.

• He desired that the disciples might have His joy, vs. 13.

• He requested their sanctification, vs. 17, 19.

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John 17:6, “I caused Your name (God the Father’s) to be made known to the men (disciples) whom you gave to Me out from the world, (Satan’s Cosmic System), they (the disciples) were Yours (God the Father’s) and You gave them to Me, Myself, and they have guarded Your teaching.”

Here we see the primary ministry of Jesus during His First Incarnation; to manifest God the Father to the world. This verse also shows us a threefold relationship:

• Jesus was the One who revealed God’s name, (His essential nature and being), to men.

• The Father was the One who drew the disciples to Christ, John 6:44, 65.

• “The disciples” are the ones who have kept God’s Word.

John 17:7, “Now (prophetic regarding Pentecost +), they have come to know, that all things whatsoever You (God the Father) have given to Me (from eternity past) are from (the immediate source of) You.”

The disciples will fully understand at Pentecost all that Jesus had taught them up to this point, including the fact that Logistical Grace blessings are given by God the Father as part of His plan for our lives.

John 17:8, “Because I have given to them, (the disciples), the words, (Bible Doctrine), You gave to Me, and they received them, and they truly understand that I came from (the immediate source of) You, and they believe that You sent Me.”

Jesus taught the disciples all that the Father had designed Him to teach them. The disciples on their part learned what Jesus taught and would eventually believe it in total at Pentecost.

This was a type of the future ministry of God the Holy Spirit in the Grace Apparatus for Perception, John 14:26.

John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

John 17:9, “I keep on praying concerning them, I do not pray concerning the world, but concerning those whom You (God the Father) have given to Me, because they keep on being Yours.”

Jesus understands the principle that all believers are God’s children. Even though Jesus Himself is God, He prays from His humanity in His earthly ministry. This tells us that we too must “keep on praying”, for our fellow believers on a consistent basis, if for no other reason than the simple fact that they are God’s own possession, Eph 1:14; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9.

1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

John 17:10, “And every thing that is Mine is Yours and what is yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them.”

The Father and the Son are one, and everything done is to the glory of God.

Compare with John 15:8, “My Father is glorified by this, that you all bear much fruit, and become My disciples.”

John 17:11, “I am no longer in the world, (His impending departure, The Cross), but they are in the world and I come to You Holy Father. Keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, in order that they might keep on being one just as We are.”

Unity is an important aspect of being protected, (TEREO - PHULASSO), by God. Christ prayed that the entire group of disciples might maintain the unity of belief in the Father’s revelation as Jesus manifested it. In other words, the believer is guarded and protected by having the knowledge of God, the mind of Christ - Bible Doctrine in the soul, which also results in having unity with the Trinity experientially.

John 17:12, “While I was with them, I Myself was continually keeping them in your name. You gave them to Me (in the past with the result that they belong to me forever); and I absolutely guarded them, and not one of them was lost, (to eternal condemnation), except the son of destruction, with the result that Scripture might be fulfilled.”

Here again we see Jesus’ guardianship over His disciples in the Greek words TEREO and PHULASSO. He personally protected them while He was with them by teaching them God’s Word. The only one who was a casualty was Judas Iscariot who rejected Jesus’ words; therefore, Judas rejected God the Father and His grace provisions for salvation, and never came to a saving faith in the gospel of grace. This too was according to prophecy.

John 17:13, “But now I myself come face to face to You, (God the Father) and I kept on speaking (teaching) these things (Bible Doctrine) while in the world in order that they (the disciples) might keep on having and holding My joy (+H) made full in themselves.”

Here we see the provision for our protection; the Word of God. We also see what the result of this protection is; to have the happiness of God.

John 17:14, “I have given (taught) to them Your, (God the Father’s), Word. (i.e., Bible Doctrine) and the world, (Satan’s Cosmic System), hated them (the disciples) because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world.”

As a result of having God’s Word resident within your soul, you will have hatred from Satan’s Cosmic System.

1 Peter 4:4, “In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you.”

John 17:15, “I do not ask, (petition in pray), that You, (God the Father), take them, (the disciples), out from the world, (Satan’s Cosmic System), to the contrary that You guard them from the evil one (Satan).”

Jesus is praying for the disciples’ protection as they stand behind enemy lines as ambassadors for Christ.

John 17:16, “They (the disciples) are not of the world (Satan’s Cosmic System) just as I (Jesus) am not of the world.”

Here we note our POLITEUMA privileges as citizens of heaven.

Seven ways in which believers are not of the world:

• The believer has a different position, 1 Cor 15:22, “In Adam all die, but in Christ all will be made alive.”

• There is a different birth, John 3:5-7; Titus 3:5.

• There is a difference of service, John 8:44.

• There is a difference of purpose, 1 Cor 6:19-20; Rom 15:6.

• There is a difference of power, Gal 5:16.

• There is a different way of life, Eph 4:22-24; 2:13. The world’s way of life is either religion and legalism or anarchy and lasciviousness. In contrast, the Christian way of life is a supernatural grace-oriented system.

• There is a difference of destiny, John 3:18, 36. The world / unbeliever is headed for the Eternal Lake of Fire prepared for the devil and his angels; the believer is headed for heaven, his POLITEUMA.

John 17:17, “Sanctify them (the disciples) in the sphere of Truth; Your (God the Father) Word (Bible Doctrine) is Truth.”

Here we noted various principles of sanctification including Positional, Experiential, and Ultimate. This verse is focused on our Experiential Sanctification which is accomplished by having the Word of God Resident within your soul, by means of the filling of God the Holy. This constitutes our protection, while we live here in Satan’s Cosmic System.

John 17:18, “As You (God the Father) sent Me (God the Son) into the world, I (Jesus) also sent them (the disciples) into the world;”

Jesus is praying regarding His commissioning of disciples to witness to a lost and dying world. Just as the Father had authority to send Jesus, so Jesus has authority to send His disciples.

John 17:19, “And for their benefit (sake) I sanctify (set apart) Myself in order that they also may keep on being sanctified by means of THE truth (Bible Doctrine).”

Principles:

• As applied to Christ, the word “sanctify” means, He separated Himself and devoted Himself to the work of redemption, and therefore it is through His action that the disciples were sanctified too.

• Our Lord “sanctified” Himself by building His very own Edification Complex of the Soul (ECS), in His humanity, during His incarnation.

• He did it ahead of His disciples and us to show that it can be done in humanity.

• By building His own ECS from His humanity, He glorified the Plan of God the Father that will continue all the way to Cross.

• As a result, the believers of the Church Age also have the opportunity to build their very own ECS.

• You build your ECS by:

a) Your volition. Are you positive toward Bible doctrine or negative (Apathy is also a negative)?

b) If you are positive, will you have the self-discipline to concentrate and to exclude other things that are important to you? God and His Word will be your A #1 priority in life.

c) You will get to a place where you can get Bible doctrine consistently, (i.e. your right Pastor-Teacher).

d) You will continue to take in, to utilize the GAP, under conditions of adversity or prosperity.

e) You will rebound and have the filling of the Spirit consistently in order to make GAP function.

f) If you do these things, then over a period of time, you will build an ECS and have Experiential Sanctification, just as Jesus had during His incarnation.

The beautiful thing about the ECS is that it is a series of literally thousands of decisions. One decision will not cut it! You have to stay with it.

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Next, in Part 7 of John 17; we will look at the exegesis & principles of Verses 20 – 22, along with the:

• Doctrine of the Church
• Positional Truth
• The Doctrine of Glory

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A PERSONAL NOTE FOR YOU

John 6:47 says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.”

Notice again what John 6:47 says, “he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” It doesn’t say, “will have;” it says, “has.” Therefore, the very moment you believe Jesus Christ’s promise of everlasting life, you have it, and it can never be lost or taken away from you [John 10:28-29]. Furthermore, the gift of everlasting life [also called eternal life in Scripture] is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-18 says: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Eph 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I am here to tell you that Jesus loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His life for you. God the Father also loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His only Son for you by sending Him to the Cross. At the Cross Jesus died in your place. Taking upon Himself all of your sins and all of my sins. He was judged for our sins and paid the price for our sins. Therefore, our sins will never be held against us.

Right where you are, you now have the opportunity to make the greatest decision in your life. To accept the free gift of salvation and eternal life by truly believing that Jesus Christ died for your sins and was raised on the third day as the proof of the promise of eternal life. So right now, you can pause and reflect on what Christ has done for you and say to the Father:

"Yes Father, I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ,
died on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins."

If you have done that, I Welcome You to the Eternal Family of God !!!

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Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher: James H. Rickard
23 Messenger Street, Unit 3
Plainville, MA 02762

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