Christ’s Teaching on Election? John 17:1-11

Text:  “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth;…)”

Romans 9:11.

          “Therefore (a conclusion) hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth (hardens and continues to harden) (margin: ‘makes stubborn‘).

Romans 9:18.

God morning, Divinely elected Christian!  You and I are saved and Eternally secure today because of a choice Almighty God made in Eternity - (before the foundation of this world) - to redeem us from our vile sins.  God alone is God.  God alone chose whom He would save out of the entire world, and whom He would refuse to save from their sins.  At all times, God alone is Sovereign in the choices He makes.  He speaks, and who can stay His hand?

“But our God is in the Heavens; He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.”          (Psalm 115:3)

“IN Whom (Christ Jesus) also we (the elect) have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh ALL THINGS after the counsel of His own will; that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.”  (Ephesians 1:11-12)

Oh yes, beloved Christian friend, God alone is God - and His Sovereign will is perfect and all things are done according to His own perfect will.  Amen.  And praise His Holy Name!

Christ’s prayer in John chapter 17 clearly reveals the full Sovereignty of Almighty God in two distinct aspects: God the Father’s Divine Election in Eternity of souls to save; and God the Son’s power to grant Eternal life to all the Father has graciously given Him to save. Hallelujah!  What Eternal grace!

John 17 lifts the veil off Eternity and shows mere mortals such as we things that took place in Eternity - ‘…before the world was…’  What a revelation!

“And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.”  (V.5)

God’s Choice: (V.2)  Verse two of our selected Bible reading for today clearly sets forth the truth that the Lord, our Father in Heaven, made an Eternal choice to save particular souls and to give those chosen souls to His dear Son, Christ Jesus, that He might save them, in time, by His Sacrifice on the Cross.

“…that He (God the Son) should give Eternal life to as many as Thou (God the Father) hast given Him.” (John 17:2)

Election: This choice of souls by God the Father, made in Eternity, is repeatedly taught in Scriptures.  For example, see verses 2; 6; 7; 9; 11; 12; 24; of John 17:)

“I have manifested Thy Name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me; and they have kept Thy Word.”  (John 17:6)

That a Divine choice was made is further evidenced in verse nine of our selected Bible passage:

“I pray for them (those the Father chose to save); I pray NOT for the world (those whom the Father chose not to save!), but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine.  And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them (the redeemed souls).”  (John 17:9-10)

God is Sovereign in all things and especially in the choices He makes!

God’s Power:  In Eternity, God the Father gave God the Son all power to save the souls of those whom God the Father had chosen (elected) to give Him to save.  Verse two again proves this fact:  “As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He (Christ Jesus) should give Eternal life to as many as Thou (God the Father) hast given Him.”  (John 17:2) 

This power to save and to keep for all Eternity is taught even earlier in John’s Gospel account:

“But as many as received Him (Christ Jesus), to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe (trust) on His Name; which were born, not of blood (natural human blood), nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (supernatural birth).” (John 1:12-13)

“All that the Father hath given Me shall come unto Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out (Christ has power to keep us!).”  (John 6:37)

Thought:  God has the power to make Eternal choice of whom to save, and whom not to save!  If God had not this power, He would not be Supreme God.