John 17:21 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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John 17:21

Comments

They are one in the sense that they are united in Christ, even though they do not know each other, even though they come from different countries, even though they are separated and remote physically from each other. Wherever you go, you ought to be able to tell Christians by their distinctive character. They believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, in the creation of the world by God, and in the fall of man. They believe in the incarnation of Christ, the only Saviour. They believe in his suffering and his death on Calvary’s cross for sinners. They believe in the necessity of repentance and faith for conversion, and in the new birth. They believe in heaven, and they believe in hell. They are separate from the world, they love the things of God, they pray to God, their hearts have been changed, and they are concerned about lost souls, and they look forward to heaven. There is a great writer on John 17 in the 19th century who illustrated the oneness of John 17 quite brilliantly as a wheel with spokes. Now the spokes of a wheel, think of a cycle wheel or a very old fashioned cartwheel. The spokes of a wheel are not joined to each other, they are joined to a common hub, and we are one in Christ. We are one in that we are in him, joined to him. And what further proves this interpretation is this: ‘that the world may believe that thou hast sent me’ The world is never going to be persuaded to believe because people are all in the same denomination or all in the same world church. But they are going to be persuaded to believe when they see this common character of Christ in a person, when they see the fruit of the Spirit, when they see the marks of true conversion and godliness and love. That is what wins the world.In what way are the Father and the Son one? They are united in the truth. The three glorious persons of the Godhead do not contradict each other, they do not have different points of view, they think as one, they know all things, they are the truth.

Application

I cannot be united with a Mary worshipper. I cannot be united with a Catholic who teaches that salvation is by works, not entirely by grace. I cannot be united with some kind of liberal modernist Christian, so-called, who does not believe that Christ is the infallible Son of God, who does not believe that he died on Calvary to make an atonement for those who come to him, who does not believe in the new birth. He is following another religion. I cannot be united with him in the Truth.

Questions

There is a very foolish interpretation of this verse, and it is deeply mistaken and extremely foolish. It is the Roman Catholic interpretation which has become the interpretation of the so-called ecumenical movement which you will hear very frequently. The Saviour, they say, prayed that all Christian people, all over the world may be one in the sense that they may all join one big movement, the Ecumenical Movement, and ultimately the apostate Catholic church. So there is one organisation, and Christ prayed for organic, organised unity among all his people. Well that, of course, is an interpretation which betrays a complete lack of understanding of Scripture. This prayer, and its great principle, was answered at once. It does not wait for centuries and centuries for some organisation to come along and organise all Christian people into one organic united, some international church or national denomination. The prayer is that the people of God will be one even as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one, in other words, that they may share the divine likeness, that there will be a work in the hearts of true Christians which will mean they all have the same characteristics. No, we are joined together because we love him. So today there will be people worshipping in a remote mountain village in Nepal and they are one with us, because they have the same desire, the same love for Christ, the same marks of the Spirit, the same destiny in heaven, the same general characteristics.

Outline

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Introduction

John 17:21 Commentary and Bible Study