Calvary Road Baptist Church

“The Lord Jesus Christ Praying For Future Believers” Part 2

John 17.20-26 

Please locate John 17.21: 

“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” 

Let us remind ourselves that our Lord Jesus Christ’s high priestly intercessory prayer began with Him praying to His heavenly Father for Himself, in John 17.1-5. Next, the Lord Jesus Christ prayed for the eleven men who were with Him at the time, who had been with Him in the Upper Room, had been His disciples for three and half years, and were walking with Him from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane. That portion of His prayer for the men then with Him is found in verses 6 through 19.

Recollect that it was in verse 20 that the Lord Jesus Christ began praying for future believers, those who would believe on Him through the ministry of the Word begun by the apostles of Jesus Christ. In verse 20, we find those of us who are the beneficiaries of this portion of the Savior’s prayer. Beginning with verse 21, we learn what He sought from the Father for those of us in this group.

Verse 21, which we will see is very similar to what we will find in verse 23, has four parts: (1) “Father, art in me,” (2) “and I in thee,” (3) “that they also may be one in us,” and (4) “that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”

Before we consider the four parts of the verse, there are important considerations: First, it is beneficial to recognize its implications. This is an undeniably significant verse in God’s Word, its place acknowledged by almost every person who has written a commentary on this portion of the Bible.

Starting with the fact that this is the Savior’s high priestly intercessory prayer to the Father and that we are privileged to possess a record of the interaction of the Second Person of the Trinity praying to the First Person of the Trinity, we are also given insight into the nature of their relationship and how it bears upon those of us who would come to believe in Jesus Christ.

Next, we benefit from recognizing unity as a concept. Throughout the New Testament, believers are not only directed to love one another but emphasis is also placed on the importance of the unity that is the direct result of believers loving one another. You can love those with whom you have no unity, but there can be no unity with those for whom you do not share a mutual love.

Indeed, it can be forcefully argued that an entire book of the Bible, Paul’s letter to the Philippian congregation, was written to address the disunity that resulted from two Church members whose relationship came to be characterized by a lack of Christian love one for the other. Not only is the Christian’s love for other Christians addressed repeatedly throughout the New Testament, but in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian congregation, we find an entire chapter devoted to the topic.[1]

I raise this matter of love because of the correlation between love and unity and between unity and love. Love is essential because it reflects the very attribute of God and because with faith, hope, and love, it is love that is alone of the three eternal. Once we are in the presence of Christ in glory, there will be no more need for faith, and hope will by then have been realized. Only love remains throughout eternity.

How crucial is unity? We will see as we examine verse 21. But before we do that, let us recognize that there is only one thing more important than unity. It is truth. Let us be reminded that the apostle of unity, Paul, was more than willing to cast his unity with the Apostle Peter to the wind rather than abandon clarity concerning the truth of the Gospel, Galatians 2.11-18. Listen to Paul’s account of what happened and why: 

11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.

12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,

16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.

18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 

Because Simon Peter’s conduct had been inconsistent with the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith, the Apostle Paul could not maintain a pretense of unity with him. Rather than allow disunity to continue or to hypocritically pretend there was unity in the absence of consistent truthfulness, Paul rebuked his brother in Christ.

Paul’s confrontation with Peter not only illustrated the importance of truth but also forever destroyed the absurd notion that the Apostle Peter was the supposed first pope. Thus, we learn not only that truth is more important than unity, but that unity is so essential that when it calls for confrontation to correct a serious error, such confrontation must take place.

Third, we need to recognize the damage caused by faulty ecclesiology, a wrong view of the doctrine of the Church. To clarify what I mean, let me point out that the vast majority of those who choose to comment in writing on this verse since the Protestant Reformation, as well as those who take it upon themselves to teach and preach on this text, cause harm by their faulty and woefully undeveloped ecclesiology, in my opinion. I fear I am something of a 21st century Lone Ranger in this regard, without so much as the close companionship of a Tonto nearby.

I believe the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ is important. Your understanding of what this congregation is and how you and your membership in this Church fit into God’s plan for the ages has a significant impact on how you live your Christian life. While the doctrine of the Church is not a cardinal doctrine, it is an important doctrine that affects how other portions of God’s Word are understood and applied.

Such is the case with this verse. Without question, this verse deals with the matter of unity. Also, without question, this verse draws an analogy between the unity that exists between the First and Second Persons of the Triune Godhead and the unity the Savior prays for among future believers like us in this verse.

That said, what a believer and Church member believes about the Church of Jesus Christ will significantly influence what that individual believes the Lord is referring to concerning unity as it is dealt with in our text. That means if you’re wrong about the Church, you’re liable also to be mistaken about Christian unity.

The most recognizable characteristic of the prevailing view of the Church throughout Christendom in the world is its universality, the denial of the essential congregational reality of the Church of Jesus Christ at this time in history. That, my friends, can lead to tragedy. Compromise and error are the results.

The Roman Catholic Church believes the Roman Catholic Church is the universal visible church. The Orthodox branch of Christianity believes that the Orthodox branch of Christianity is the universal visible church. On the other hand, Protestantism is convinced that its view of the universal, invisible church is correct.

I am persuaded all three views of the Church are erroneous. I embrace a view that I am persuaded is 2000 years old. I am not alone in my conviction. Before the end of the first century, the apostolic father, St. Clement, expressed a similar sentiment.[2] And the first known Anabaptist confession, known as the “Brotherly Union,” written in 1527, shows Swiss and Southern German Anabaptists also rejected the Protestant view of the Church and suffered persecution for it by Protestants.[3]

I am convinced Scripture reveals that one is born again into the family of God, not the Church. I dispute the notion that every Christian becomes a member of the universal, invisible church via Spirit baptism because Spirit baptism, according to John the Baptist, was authenticated by signs. No such authenticating signs have been evident since Acts chapter 19.

Not to worry. Everyone who has trusted Christ as his personal Savior will go to heaven. Those who are born again into the family of God, who have received the Spirit of adoption, will all go to heaven. The Church of Jesus Christ, however, is another thing.

There is so much confusion about this issue in contemporary Christianity. The Church of Jesus Christ, which the Savior brought into existence before His ascension, which was empowered on the day of Pentecost not brought into existence on the day of Pentecost, is a congregation.[4]

Remember, the evening before He was crucified, the Lord Jesus Christ led the Church of Jesus Christ, His “little flock,” from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane, with a stop along the way to offer up the prayer containing our text. The Lord and the eleven had observed the Passover, but without the Lord’s mother, the Lord’s siblings, or His close friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus being in attendance. Why?

I submit that the only reasonable explanation for the absence of family members and close friends at that Passover meal and His introduction of the communion of the Lord’s Supper was that the Church of Jesus Christ was, at that time, comprised of only the eleven, the “little flock.” The others would be added to the Church subsequently.

To summarize, though it is always suitable for believers everywhere to get along with each other and to display agreement concerning the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith, the unity for which the Savior prayed is a unity that is a matter of empirical fact achievable only in the congregation. I am persuaded great harm has occurred down through the centuries because Christians have unwittingly sacrificed unity in their congregations for an imaginary and unattainable unity among all Christians everywhere, the supposedly but not truly existing at this time universal, invisible body of Christ.

Let us now approach our consideration of this verse with the understanding that the Lord Jesus Christ desired unity based upon truth in the congregation, that group of born again, Scripturally baptized believers in Jesus Christ. After His resurrection, others would be added to the Church. The Church would then be duly constituted to undertake the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ and administer the two Church ordinances.

When a congregation devotes themselves to Christ and His service and demonstrates love for one another, their unity based upon truth will be an answer to this portion of the Savior’s prayer. The importance of this verse acknowledged, the importance of spiritual unity accepted, and being wary of the damage caused by a bad ecclesiology (a faulty understanding of what the Bible teaches about the doctrine of the Church), let us address the text in four parts.

The four parts of verse 21 are, (1) “That they all may be one,” (2) “as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,” (3) “that they also may be one in us,” and (4) “that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” 

First, The Phrase “That they all may be one.” 

The Savior’s desire was for future believers to be one. I take the Greek word translated one, the Greek word ἓn, as referring to spiritual unity, a oneness of mind, heart, common goals, and singleness of purpose. This is because this form of the word for one shows that “[t]he disciples are to be kept by God not as units but as many.”[5] The word conveys the notion of unity.[6] However, the unity sought by the Savior, from the Father, should be understood as not including uniformity of thought and opinion within a congregation.

Too many who occupy positions of spiritual leadership in congregations fail to adapt their leadership model and their appreciation of individual Christians’ differences to Paul’s assertion in First Corinthians 12.4-6 that in a congregation 

“there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.” 

Spiritual unity in a congregation is not uniformity of thought, expression, or approach in the conduct of that Church’s ministry or the solutions of problems encountered. In short, unity is not the same thing as uniformity. Those who insist upon uniformity in a congregation identify themselves as people who do not grasp the concept of spiritual unity. Sadly, it is a widespread problem in our day, when spiritual leaders presume to model their philosophies after their service in the military, which leadership style the Lord Jesus Christ soundly condemned for spiritual leadership, Matthew 20.25-28: 

25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. 

Let us wrap up this phrase by nailing down our understanding of who the Lord Jesus Christ is referring to in His use of the word “they.” Disagree with me if you want to, but I am persuaded that the firmest grasp of the achieving of spiritual unity will recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ to this point had been praying to the Father for the eleven men, His “little flock,” the “these” of verse 20. However, he refers to the “them” of verse 20, subsequent believers involved in local Church ministry. Can spiritual unity exist between believers in Christ who know each other but do not worship or serve God in the same congregation? Yes, spiritual unity most certainly can exist. That said, spiritual unity is most likely to be achieved amongst members of the same congregation, which is to say, members of the same Church. 

Next, The Phrase “as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee.” 

Let us be careful to understand that the unity for which the Lord Jesus Christ prayed is a unity that is analogous to the unity that exists between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The unity that has characterized the Persons of the Triune Godhead throughout eternity is a unity that is not achievable among Christians. Are we clear on that? Between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, there is an organic unity of the divine nature that is not comparable to the unity the Lord Jesus Christ prays for between Christians or the brethren of a congregation.

That said, the oneness that exists between the Father and the Savior is a unity believers should study, admire, reflect upon, and seek to emulate in so far as it is possible while we live in these bodies of flesh. It is a standard which ought to be pursued by every believer in Jesus Christ, recognizing as the Apostle Paul remarked to the Philippians in 3.12, 

“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” 

Do we fall short of achieving this unity this side of heaven? Yes, we most certainly do. Achieving a measure of spiritual unity is fraught with difficulties. We must be vulnerable with each other. We must be honest with each other. Sometimes our love for each other will have to be tough. But for a measure of unity to be achieved, we must love each other and to love each other. We must choose to be vulnerable. However, unity is worth the expense, so long as it is not achieved at the cost of truth.

Our attitude should reflect the Apostle Paul’s attitude, expressed in Philippians 3.13-14: 

13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

Third, The Phrase “that they also may be one in us.” 

Notice the context in which the unity the Savior prayed for was sought for us by Him. I am persuaded there are two important contexts, with one contextual consideration being quite important and the other contextual consideration being profoundly important.

The quite important context in which this unity was prayed for by the Savior and will be granted in answer to His prayer by the Father is the context of the local congregation. As I stated, spiritual unity is a far more practically achievable possibility by those involved in the same ministry, engaged in corporate worship and collective evangelism together, and subject to the same ecclesiastical authority of their duly constituted Church. Our local Churches are given to us by the Savior as the practical means for achieving the unity that is vital to living for Christ and advancing the Gospel.

However, vastly more important than this contextual consideration is seen by the words “one in us.” There can be no spiritual unity between any individuals in a congregation, no matter how committed we are to a task, a goal, or an objective, unless we are individuals who are in a family relationship with God the Father, are sheep of the Good Shepherd, and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. In short, only people who are saved from their sins through faith in Christ, who own God as our heavenly Father as children in the family of God, and who are led by the same indwelling Spirit of God, can hope to experience spiritual unity even in a congregational setting.

Thus, though the unity enjoyed by believers in Jesus Christ, and especially the unity enjoyed by believers in the same congregation, is not the same as the unity that characterizes the relationship that exists with the First and Second Persons of the Trinity, the unity that Christians can enjoy is reflective of the unity that has existed in the Godhead throughout eternity. 

Finally, The Phrase “that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” 

I am assuming that the world to which the Lord Jesus Christ refers in this phrase is the world that lies in wickedness, is the entirety of the unsaved human race arrayed in opposition to the Person, Plan, and Purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the world of First John 5.19: 

And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.” 

We understand that unsaved people are unreasonable and irrational, claiming to bow in reverence to science, to reason, and logic. However, they are instead unscientific, unreasonable, irrational, and illogical. Let us remember what Paul wrote about the unsaved to the Romans in 1.28: 

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.” 

The sinful disposition of every unsaved human being predisposes them against God, the Son of God, and the purpose of God. What can be more irrational than that? By the way, they are also predisposed against the people of God. So, what are we to do to evangelize the lost, despite their predisposition against us and everything we hold dear?

We pray. We witness. Yet, something else is crucial in seeking to bring about the salvation of those who populate this evil world system, those born dead in trespasses and sins. You already know. That which is of crucial importance to glorifying God, exalting Christ, and overcoming the stubborn and irrational predisposition of unsaved people against the claims of Christ is our unity. Our unity is one of the strongest attestations of our love for one another, as well as being the single most significant point of contention with our unsaved friends, family, and loved ones.

If you have been a believer in Christ and a Church member any length of time, you have observed it yourself. The snide remarks about Christians, especially Church members. The accusations of wrongdoing. The planning of gatherings usually coincides with Church services. The vacation plans always seem to conflict with Church services. It is a typical pattern. Anything and everything to slight and denigrate our unity because the unsaved know more than many Christians realize how vital our demonstrations of unity are.

Think, for a moment, what unity can achieve in the minds of unsaved family members, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and others who have the opportunity to observe you and me as we live our lives, serve our God, and seek to exalt our Savior. What we cannot explain to them because of their stubborn and willful refusal to think logically, rationally, and reasonably, we can show them by our unity.

Let us not be naïve about this. If you are a Christian, you have a connection with me, and I have a connection with you that does not exist between you and your unsaved spouse, between you and your unsaved family members, or between you and anyone else you know who is not a believer in Jesus Christ. What we must do, then, is consciously and conscientiously put our relationship with each other on display for all to see. It is difficult for them to deny what can be seen with their own eyes. It is difficult to refute what they observe between two people who have nothing in common but the Savior. Therefore, we must display our unity for them to see it.

What is at stake with our displays of unity? What is at stake is the undeniable reality that the Father sent His Son. How best can we convey to our lost loved ones, neighbors, colleagues, and friends that God sent Jesus Christ? Our open displays of spiritual unity, especially within the context of the congregation, are invaluable testimonies to our lost family members, friends, and loved ones. 

Let us commit ourselves to be useful to our heavenly Father’s response to His Son’s prayer.

Let us love one another in ways it is impossible to love those who reject Christ and dishonor God, thereby demonstrating to the lost that which will best compliment our witness to them and our prayers for them.

We want them to be persuaded, not so much by our flowery oratory or the persuasiveness of our personalities, but by that they see with their own eyes and recognize in undeniable ways; our unity.

That is what convinces the lost that Jesus Christ was sent by the Father to seek and save what was lost.

__________

[1] 1 Corinthians

[2] Ante-Nicene Fathers, The Writings Of The Fathers Down To A.D. 325, Volume 1, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., revised edition), pages 5-21.

[3] http://www.anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php/Schleitheim_Confession_%28source%29 2/1/2018

[4] Explained in my book, The Church of Jesus Christ: 28 Truths Every Christian Ought To Learn, (Monrovia, CA: Classical Baptist Press, 2019), pages 18-24.

[5] Lidija Novakovic, John 11-21: A Handbook On The Greek Text - BHGNT, (Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2020), page 200.

[6] Ibid., page 208.

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church