Even Though He died for the sins of the whole world whom God loved, still He knew the world to be against God.  So how does He make this distinction and what does it mean?

John 17 contains a prayer that Jesus prayed for His disciples.  And not just for His Disciples, but for all who believe because of the word that they passed on.  In it He is emphatic concerning the fact that He is not praying for the world, but for those who are called out of the world to be His, and it is these whom God has given Him.  

He begins His prayer making it clear that He has authority over all of mankind, in order that for those, whom God has given Him; He then would give to these eternal life. 

In verse 6, these given Him were given from out of the world.  This cancels out the argument made by universalists that the whole world will be saved.  These whom God has given Him have kept God’s word.   Jesus has thus far in this prayer made a connection between the keeping of His word and eternal life.  In fact, there is a profound connection made between eternal life and knowing both the Father and the Son. Keep the word, and you will know both Father and Son.  Those who have a real aversion to God’s word have no desire to leave the world or its sin.  

In verse 9, Jesus again makes the distinction between the world and His own.  And this theme is continued throughout this prayer:

John 17:16  “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  17  “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. (NASB2020)

So this prayer was prayed just before Jesus was betrayed into the hands of the Sanhedrin, who came for Him in the company of the Roman guards and took Him to trial from the garden.  And this prayer was prayed likely only a day before He was to pray again to His Father from the cross: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” 

I feel that it would be fair to ask in light of Jesus former prayer: that took place just hours before; just who are these, whom Jesus is now praying for to be forgiven, when now He is on the Cross?  What Jesus knew from God’s own word that He says will save us is this:  He knew that there were men among His own Disciples, who had at this point forsaken Him.  He knew that there were men and women who had called out for His crucification, who would later believe.  He knew that there were men among the Sanhedrin, who would turn against the rest of their fellow leaders and follow Him.  He knew that there were Roman soldiers who would come to know Him.  He knew that there would be sinners, who were in this world, but who would when hearing the Fathers call would would willingly want to abandon their sin and believe and follow Him.  He knew that you and I would follow Him. We would each of His own be in our own time “in the world, knowing not what we were doing”, and all these would in time see their need for forgiveness. 

This need for forgiveness also tells us that there is a recognition of our sins that needed to be involved in this process of our forgiveness.  Knowing not what we do when we are in the world does not mean that a person does not know what he is doing when coming out of the world.  A world that for the most part has better things to do than to know Him. 

If you will notice there is a pattern throughout scripture and it is made clear in Jesus prayer.  It is this pattern where men in this world are drawn to God’s word and through it they come to desire to know God and with it comes the knowledge of His Son.  And Jesus then gives eternal life to those whom the Father has given Him.  And because of this we are in the world but we are not of it.  

If there is more love for the sins of this world than there is for the Father and the Son; then one is still in the world and of it. 

Do you love Him, or do you love the world and its sin more?