The Lord's Prayer - Our Sanctification

Okay, last week we started into Romans chapter 6, and we're doing a diversion this week to John chapter 17. And the reason we're doing that is because even though the identification truths are not really delineated until you get to Romans 6, they really are talked about in John 17. when the Lord Jesus prays to His Father about certain things that He would like to see done.

Every time I say this, somebody comes up afterwards and says, Oh, no, you don't really mean that, do you? John 17 is the real Lord's Prayer, not that other thing. This is really the Lord's Prayer because, one, He's the one that prayed it. If you look at the other one, It was the apostles in a Jewish environment asking him how they should pray. And if you study the content, it's all Jewish. Where John 17 is the Lord Jesus Christ talking to the Father primarily about us in the church.

So I thought maybe the best way to start today is let's read John 17 from verse 6 through 26. And maybe help put it in context. Let's see. Let's get everybody involved. You want to want to. Peggy, would you read like. two or three verses, say three, and then you can read the next three, next three, until we get through 26. And then we'll go back. We're going to spend a couple of weeks in these verses, only from an identification standpoint. So think identification as you read through them. Okay, go.

I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou didst send out of the world. Thine they were, and theirs it is been me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those who have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but are still in the world.

And I am coming to you, Holy Father, protected by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I was keeping them in your name, which you have given me. And I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition, so that the scripture would be fulfilled. But now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world, so that they may have my joy made full in themselves.

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

Sanctify them by His truth. Your word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified with the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on me through their breath. That they all may be one, as thou art in me, and I in thee. And they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which Thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them endow me that they may be perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast sent me, and has loved them as Thou sent me.

Father, I will obey also whom thou hast given me to be with thee where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known me, but have known me, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

In this interesting part of scripture, we get to kind of look over the shoulder of the Lord Jesus Christ as he talks to his Father about certain things. And primarily what he's talking about in verse 20, who are the objects of his prayer? It's the disciples and us. So all of this conversation between the Lord Jesus and His Father has to do with, not Israel, has to do with the disciples and us. And it's interesting, we talk a lot about the object of our faith must be based on fact and not necessarily promise. But this is all promise here, because it's before the fact. It's before the cross and it's before our identity in the cross. And so he's asking the Father for certain things to take place.

Now, so, you know, not to be silly about it, but do you think the Father would listen to Christ and say, well, I'll give you three out of five? You know, I'll give you one, seven, and nine. How about that? You think he got them all? Okay. So, those who would be saved through their word is us. So he's talking about us. Right? Talking about you and me. So you can go through here and put your name in there. And the Lord Jesus is specifically talking about you. Okay?

Now, in verse 14, I have given them thy word, and the world has hated them because they are not of this world, even as I am not of this world. Why does the world hate these people? Why does the world hate you? Why? Because they hated Christ and we are in Him.

That's exactly right. One of the problems with being identified with Christ is that you're in the same position in the world as He is. And He specifically says here, hey look, they hate me. So guess what? They're going to hate you. So if you're the representative or the epistles of Christ on the earth, You may think that your mission is to make friends with the world, but trust me, they don't like you.

And I think that this is a distinctive truth that lots of believers need to learn. Not that you walk around, you know. You don't have to get the megaphone and go to Coors Field and stand out there and yell repentance to everybody coming out of the game for the world to hate you. You don't have to do that.

Why do they? I mean, what is it about you that's just as offensive to the world? What is it? Well, number one, we don't talk like they do. We don't talk like they do? Well, look at it this way. Why was Christ rejected and hated? Why? Just by the very fact of his presence. He pointed because he wasn't sinful.

So, you know, this is not one of those issues where you go out and try to make this happen. If you walk in the Spirit and abide in Christ, the world isn't going to be too fond of you just because of who you are. And you don't get merit badges for this. This is just part of the deal.

So based on what we're studying in regards to identification, why in verse 16 does the Lord say they are not of this world? It's because he's not of this world, right? So, again, you have to relate yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ. Is the Lord Jesus Christ an earthly man? Where did he come from? He came from heaven, didn't he? So he's not from the line of Adam, as we've talked about in identification. He's an entirely new and different man who shows up on the planet from a source different than Adam showed up, right? So he's not from here.

So where are you from? Pittsburgh, right? Where are you from? The same place. You know, you're born from above. So you really are not from this planet. So your origin and your home is in heaven. How often do you think about it yourself being, I'm from heaven. He says, where are you from? You know, Colorado is full of immigrants. Everybody's from somewhere. Where are you from? If you said heaven, you'd have to explain yourself.

But that's really the truth. So what's interesting too is that where he's from, the Lord Jesus is from, he has a crown, his rest is there, his position is there. And our identification with Him is totally not of this world. So if that's true, how come we try so hard to be of this world? Sure. That's the problem we have. We have these two natures. One of them is from here. The other new one isn't. So therein lies the struggle. Now, down to verse 19.

The Lord Jesus said, for their sakes, sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Now, can you explain in what sense did the Lord Jesus sanctify himself? What's sanctifying? Sanctification means to be set apart. So the Lord Jesus set us set himself apart. What does he mean? What did he do? Set himself apart from what?

Somebody flip over Colossians 1.19 and 20.

I'm sorry, Colossians 1.19 and also Colossians 2.9.

Read 1.19. Okay, and somebody else, 2-9.

Okay, so here's the Lord Jesus Christ, who is a man, a human being, and God the Father has determined that in Him all fullness of God, the Godhead, should dwell in Him. A man. A man. And then, what is the fullness of the Godhead? What is that? The reason God does everything is because of His glory. He wants to manifest His glory and to glorify Himself. In other words, He wants to manifest the sum total of His intrinsic attributes to His creation. And they all read down to Him. So He's going to do it in a man. That's the amazing thing to me, that it's a man. And so if you find yourself identified with him, what's your part in the glory? Did you get some? Because you're in Christ, what's true of Christ is going to be true of you. You alright with that? You're heavenly people.

Now, setting himself apart, what did he set himself apart from and to? If this is who he is on the two side, what did he sanctify himself for their sakes from? How did that all fit? What happened there? He's not identified with Adam when he shows up on the planet, but when he's on the cross... Oh, isn't that interesting?

Once he's made sin, what happens to him? He's separated from God, right? And then, once he separates, it's interesting, he's made sin for us, which means he's separated from God, right? As a man. Then he dies, and he separates again. What does he separate from? All of the sin that he was made, right? Your sin, nature, and mine. Then what happens? He's resurrected.

Now, as we've talked about the last couple of times, Last week we talked about Romans 6, where the discussion is, when did you get united to Christ? At what event in Christ's existence were you united with Him? When He died. So you go into Christ at the point that He dies.

Did that make sense when we talked about that? Why it's then? Because when He's separating from sin, you're going with Him. Do you understand that? When He separated from your sin nature, you went with Him. So He's been set apart for your sake, so that you could go with Him. Does that make sense? No? I mean, it's a spiritual concept. I used this example. My fingers were straight then.

You're a human being with a sin nature attached. And if you study Romans very much, you'll find out that those who don't believe, the sin nature itself has been condemned in the cross, Romans 8, 3. So every human being is going to live and go and exist in all eternity, wherever that sin nature is, they're attached to it.

They can't get free from it. You see that? So Romans 8 says that what the law could not do was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, what did he do? He condemns sin in the flesh. So that sin nature is condemned. And if you're attached to it, what's your prospects? You're condemned too.

Okay? But if you, through faith in the person and work of Christ, you are identified and baptized into his death, when he dies, what happens to you? Separation happens. Right? Now what? Where do you go? You don't just float around. You're now united with Christ. And so now wherever he goes is where you're going to go. You're separated from Adam. Now Adam might still be existing or is still existing in you, thinking he wants to dominate and control you, but positionally, you're now identified with Christ resurrected. Do you see that? That's what I think the sanctification means, that he set himself apart to set you apart for your sake. What is the appointed means by which we are sanctified? Did you understand the question?

I gave you Ephesians 5.25. Ephesians 5 talks about relationships, but I think it has spiritual content too. Husbands, love your own wives even as Christ also loved the church and has delivered himself up for it in order that he might do what?

Set it apart. Purifying it by the washing of water by the word, that he might present the assembly or the church to himself glorious, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that it might be holy and blameless. So if you want to do it personally, put your name in there. You could say that he might present Craig to himself glorious. Craig has no spot, no wrinkle or any such thing, and that Craig is holy and he's blameless because of the work of Christ. Isn't that something?

And he does it through the truth. How does that connect those dots for me? How does he do it through the truth? Okay, what's the truth? This is it right here, right? What does he tell you in here? Like in John 17, he tells you what he's going to do. In these other verses he tells you what he's already done.

Is that truth? So you learn the truth and so what happens? What's positionally true of you becomes practically true of you. That's how the truth works. The truth is designed specifically to set you apart in Christ conditionally. so that that's what your frame of reference is.

Does that make sense? Because if you don't have that frame of reference, or you don't know that information, or you don't know the truth, how can you possibly be free? Because you don't have any object for your faith. You see that? Truth means the facts and the doctrines of your position in Christ.

And the fact is that we're in union with the Lord Jesus, who is the root and source of all of the people that he sanctifies. You see that? Does that make sense? No? Yeah? I've said before that whatever you read and study of the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever is true of Him is true of you, other than His deity. It's all true of you, too. Okay.

And verse 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." There's this interesting talk here about oneness. And the Father and the Son have a oneness. What is that oneness that they have? They all belong to the same Greek fraternity, right? It's a heavenly fraternity. The characteristics are the same. What else is the same about them? Same holiness? Same glory? What else? Same life? There's a oneness between the Father and the Son, even though there's distinct persons, right?

Hard to understand that, because we think in individual units. You know, I'm different than Courtney, and Courtney's a different person than me. And although the Word of God tells us that we're both one in Christ, I'm not sure, other than the Word of God telling us and we believe it, we don't know quite how that functions. I'll tell you the guy now who does know how it functions, and that's Hal Malloy. He knows exactly how that thing goes together. So the Father and the Son have a oneness together with the two of them, well, the three of them, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So what's the Lord Jesus asking here? What's He asking about you and me? that you might be a good Presbyterian, a good Christian? What? What's he asking for?

That you might have the same oneness that he and the Father have. That doesn't mean, or I'll put it this way, that's a much greater thing than being a member of the nation of Israel, isn't it? Huh? I mean, think about what the Lord Jesus is actually asking the Father for, for you. He's saying, Father, we've got this oneness. You and I have this. and I want them to have it. Do you see that? So, is he talking about identification in John 17? Sure is.

Now, it's interesting here because this relationship is such that if we don't understand it, well, first of all, if we don't know it, If we don't know that the Lord Jesus even talked to the Father about this oneness, then what chance do we have of ever walking in it or realizing it as part of our life? We have no chance.

It's interesting that the principles that God uses is, first of all, He lets you know. You've got to know something first. Isn't that right? You have to know what to believe. So you study the Word. find out these things. And here's one that's kind of an interesting thing. The son says to the father, you and I are one, I want them to be one too. And so you say, well, gee, I'm still working on the salvation part. What do you mean by this? And so it takes the book of Romans and some other places for us to begin to even apprehend what he's talking about.

That there's a oneness of life that every single believer possesses in Christ. And you know what? It's exactly the same oneness that the Father and the Son have. And nobody else has ever talked about that way. Nobody. Only the Church. Only members of the body of Christ.

And that's what your identity is. And God works with us from that viewpoint. You see that? He works with us from that oneness. Now, is that just something that he prays about and you have this transaction on the cross so we're all one in Christ and then that's the end of it?

And then you don't get to kind of get a handle on it until you go home to be with the Lord? What do you think? Do you think that's for something for us to know now and to walk in now? I think so too. What's your role in it? Do you have a role to play in this? How many think you do? How many say, no, not really? Oh, boy. I only got three hands. The rest of you are all chickens. You don't know, do you? I mean, it's hard. Do you think about how difficult it is to just say, well, is this really what God means? Is this really what he has in mind for me? Dare I believe this? This oneness thing?

Answer, yeah. If he said it, why wouldn't you believe it? But you can't go to God and say, you know what, I grew up in Missouri, and in Missouri it's the show me state, so until you show me I won't believe it. Nah, no fair. If he told you in his word, what's your reaction? Okay, I don't understand it necessarily, I understand the concept, and I believe you.

Now, from that point on, would the Spirit of God make this a real thing for you? Absolutely He will. To walk in oneness. I would say that the more we apprehend this truth, the more we'll walk in the light. And we'll walk in conscious possession according to this truth. And I dare say that that, in fact, is what is known as a walk that's worthy of the high calling of God. The high calling of God is this oneness with the Father and the Son. And our walk is to be worthy of that.

If it's not, it's either because we're ignorant or we don't believe it. We don't believe that we've been exalted in this really high position of oneness with the Father and the Son. We have been. And you know what? We're to walk according to that. And people say, well, you walk by faith. And I love to say, well, I know you believe Christ paid the penalty for your sins. He died on the cross. Okay.

How about believing this? This is a hard one, isn't it? Because you look around in your life and you say, well, I don't see any evidence of oneness. I don't see any evidence of this high calling, this high walk. Right? What's the problem with that? You're looking at your condition and not your position. Your position is what is to be believed. Not what a crummy job you're doing in your condition. Because how is this walk effectuated in you? Who's the power of this walk? Your strength? No way. You can't do this. It's the Spirit of God. But this is what he's going to affect in a believer.

Let's look up some of these other verses that kind of contribute to this. The talks of oneness with him and the Father look up the following verses and indicate what kind of oneness is mentioned. Ephesians 4, 3. John, you got a Bible? Be indeligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Okay, the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The Spirit of God, the unity of the Spirit of God. What is that? It's exactly the same thing that the Lord Jesus talked about in John 17. What's the unity?

That they all may be one, Father, as we are one, that they may be one in us. Not only positionally, but from a practical standpoint. We as believers are to function from this position that we have. Oneness in Christ. And it's the Spirit of God who does it. See, the Spirit of God does all this. Give me a break. We couldn't do this even if we knew about it.

Ephesians 4.13. OK, that means we all got to leave here and go down and join the Baptist church.

What's the unity of faith? of the faith. What is it? Is every Christian to believe the same thing? Does the Word of God allow for denominations? Huh? What do you think? Does it? But boy, we got it here, don't we? We got the truth here. What is the deal here? What is the unity of the faith? Are we all to believe precisely and exactly the same thing? That doesn't sound very democratic to me. Are we or aren't we? What do you think? Absolutely we are. Exactly we are. Make it real simple.

Is there any other method, any other means, or any other way of salvation other than faith in the person and work of Christ? Any other way? Do you know of any other way? Does that believe in the same thing? Absolutely it is. Is there any other understanding in the Word of God about oneness with Christ other than knowing identification? No, there isn't.

So are you entitled to your subjective opinion? What do you think? I mean, I'm standing up here giving you my subjective opinion every Sunday. What gives me the right to do that? Why aren't you standing up and challenging me? What do you think? Are you entitled to your subjective opinion? Am I? What do you think? Now you can speak publicly, I won't tell anybody.

There's only one truth. And why is there only one truth? Can you connect that? Why is there only one truth? You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Why is there only the truth? What's that? Because the truth is a person. It's a him. It isn't a bunch of doctrines. It's a him. And what you find with Christians, I think, those that begin to grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus, it's amazing how similar they are in their doctrine.

The best example I've ever heard was Verne Peterman when he first came here and he spent days with Hal Malloy. And after that time, Verne said, except for one small thing, Hal and I agreed on everything. And they never met each other. Granted, they're both engineers. Maybe that has something to do with it. Isn't it interesting that that's the way it is? Yet we, all of us, have these relationships in our lives of people who are, you know, from covenant, charismatic, I don't know, you name it.

And their whole viewpoint of Christianity is different than yours. And you both aren't right. Well, maybe one of you is. I mean, have you ever sat in a Bible study and had this little thought process go around, well, my doctrine is different than yours, and that's okay? No, it's not okay. It's not okay, because there's only one truth. And the issue is this. It's not becoming a theologian.

It's knowing Christ. And Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So you're not going to meet and know a different Christ than I know. Do you see that? And when we all go to glory, we're not going to sit down and debate the nuances of Christ. We're not going to do that. Because we're all going to agree. Do you see that? We can divide over doctrine, but you can't divide over Christ. Because he's the same.

So we should all have the same trust, hope, and confidence in Christ. That's one unity we ought to have. Same trust, same hope, and same confidence. We should all speak of the same righteousness. We all plead the same blood, don't we? We're all born of the same truth and the same promise. And we are all children of faith. Okay, who's reading? Acts 4, 32. They were all of what?

One heart. Which resulted in this communal type setup they had. The communal type setup didn't equal the one heart. It's the other way around. You see that? So you find, I think, in bodies of believers that are united in Christ, that things like that begin to take place. Not that everybody throws anything in the pot, but if somebody needs something, somebody else is there to help them. You know, that kind of thing.

Colossians 2.2. We're knit together in love. You know what's interesting about that? You can't help it. You know that? We can't help but love one another. We can't help it. You know why? Because we all have the same life. We can't help but do that.

When you get involved in a body of believers like this or you're first a believer, I was kind of amazed that There were some of these people that I kind of knew as Christians before I became one, and I thought they were really weird. And after I became a believer, I found out that I began to like them. I even like being around them. You understand what I mean? There's a love between believers because of the same life that knits us together. It's part of the life.

I gave Ephesians 4.3 again, the bond of peace. It's interesting we have a union of a bond of peace between us. In other words, even though strangers might want to interfere here, they can't.

1 Corinthians 1.10. Okay, Courtney, you read it. Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Isn't that interesting? Isn't that interesting? We're not supposed to have the same mind and the same judgments about things. Where did we screw that up? I mean, seriously. How can we all have the same mind? How is that possible? That's right. We have the very mind of Christ. So Christ doesn't think two contrasting thoughts at the same time. That doesn't happen. And so, it's interesting as we are conformed to the image of Christ, it's interesting this unity. Now, does it destroy your individuality? You're all going to say no, but I'm going to say explain what you mean. How does it not destroy your individuality? How can you be unique and still be one? Body concept. That's right. And your body functions based on one mind. Well, most bodies do.

So I look at it this way. If you've ever seen a fairly expensive diamond ring with a lot of cuts in it, when the light hits it, the facets come out of it and one will strike you different than you, but it's still the same diamond. You see that? We all are the epistles of Christ and manifest certain characteristics of His glory. We're all gifted different, but it's the same mind and it's the same judgment. See that?

And what's interesting is that God has designed us to be one with Him, with His Son, but in such a way that we're interdependent on each other, just like a body works. And those of us who played football, we weren't sure that all the parts were working together. And if they didn't, they broke. In this prayer, how does Christ describe a union between Him and the Father?

It's a simple question. It's a oneness. I could probably spend a lot of time just repeating that because to think about the fact that the God of the universe has orchestrated a plan where I and you are going to be one with Him just blows me away. That's why most Christians are much more comfortable with the Jewish legal doctrine, because it's the one that scares you to death. What is this about? The God of the universe has determined that I'm to be, and you're to be, one with Him. One. It's the thing that is the most, in my mind, the most mind-boggling thing there is about my salvation in Christ. To be one with the God of the universe. He never talks in the Old Testament or any place else about anybody else being involved in this kind of oneness. Nobody.

So, the question of the day is, what do you think the highest union in existence is? Think about all the unions. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Us and Him. Marriages. What's the closest union you can think of? It has to be the Trinity. Okay. I even think there's one closer than that. There it is. Isn't that something? That the Lord Jesus Christ is 100% man and he's also 100% God, united into this one entity, a man. Isn't that something? I mean, he's God and man, and he's 100% on each side. That sounds like an oxymoron. Some people have described this with, and I don't know how to define this word. It's called a hypostatic union. It's a union of deity with humanity. Oh, good. OK, good. So I actually Googled hypostatic. Oh, really? You probably found out something about water. Oh, hey, that's a good source.

Basically, there is a Greek word, hypostasis, and it says about that in Christian theology, hypostatic union, also known as the personal union and the mystical union, is the dual nature of Jesus Christ as being simultaneously God and man. It's very interesting when you think about that because you have a human nature that's complete in itself, right? And it is in union with a divine nature. How does that work? You have a whole human existence, nature, everything, life, and it's in union with deity. And the Lord Jesus desires that we enter into that. Isn't that something? There's a link.

In other words, our oneness in Christ How do I say this? We're not in hypostatic union with them. I wouldn't say that. They wouldn't say that, would they, Courtney? There's another one here. Hypostatic union is a theological term used with reference to the incarnation to express the revealed truth that in Christ one person, hypostasis, subsists in two natures, the divine and the human. Hypostasis means literally that which stands as a basis or foundation that is thus came to be used by the Greek philosophers to denote reality is distinguished from their appearance. So basically, it's not interesting.

And do you ever think have you ever considered that the human side of Christ and the divine side of Christ would ever have different thoughts about things? Or how about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Did they ever have? diverse opinions about anything? They don't, do they? They never do. Even though they're diverse persons, they never differ in thought or aim or end or objective or motive. They never differ. And so the Lord Jesus, being 100% God and 100% man, this union, it's interesting that what this union fosters is the same viewpoint, the same mind, the same end, the same goals. Sounds robotic to me. What do you think? Is that what he's really talking about? Is that we're going to be all these unionized robots? What do you think?

You're still going to have your free will? Really? What is free will? Do you have free will now? Who's got free will? Oh, you're too smart. You're right, you don't have... But you know what? In Christ, you have free will. Because now you're finally free to do what your heart's desire is, and your heart's desire is to glorify Him. You see that? The life that you have is free now to do everything that you always wanted to do, which is to glorify God. Hal Molloy, right now, this moment, is exercising his free will to do what? to behold the glory of the Lord.

He would never will other than that. Well, what's interesting is as we grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus, here, our will comes in line. We would never want to do anything other than that either. You see that? That's what union means, but union means freedom. Because we're created to exercise our wills to glorify God. So we do have free will? I don't think we do here. Christ or Adam.

How do you do that? By beholding him. Okay. And how do you behold him? You have a choice. You have a choice to do what? To believe or not? I know who I was out of Adam. And I know who he is. And who I am in him. I have a choice to walk. Do you always have that? Maybe put it this way. Does a young believer have the same choice as a mature one? Yeah. So more and more you're trying to make the correct choice. Yeah, the free choice. Do you feel like a believer at some point you can talk about sin having dominion over him?

The non-believer certainly is in that position. He has no choice. The non-believer has no free will. But the believer does. Not all the time though. Well, all the time you have that choice. Well, let's think about that for a minute. Let's say I'm a believer, which I am, and I'm walking in the faith. I'm saying, because I want to, not because I'm forced to. I've exercised my will and I want to.

How do I get restored? Do I need to be restored or can I just do it myself? What do you think? Would you ever in and of yourself and on your own decide, I need to get back right with the Lord? Or do you think that's somebody acting on you? What do you think? Do you think the Spirit of God is involved there anywhere? Yeah, sure He is. And do what? He doesn't violate your will. But he's in the business of restoring you.

I'm telling you, I don't know about your sin nature. My sin nature would continue to control me without the Spirit of God, I think. That's the point. Only the believer has the will to respond to the Spirit of God. That's right. And the great thing about the freedom of being in Christ is that as you grow as a believer and you recognize Whenever I exercise my will to choose sin, you know what I choose? Bondage. How stupid is that?

As I grow in the knowledge and grace and the conformity to Christ, I exercise my will to do what? Freedom. Freedom to do what? To do what I want to do, which is to behold the glory of the Lord. So the thing about free will is that I'm the independent unit and I can pick this and I can decide. Free will is always doing the will of God. That's what freedom really is. Because he created us that way. We will not be fulfilled by anything other than God. Nothing. If it isn't of God, you're in bondage. It's just the way it is.

You see that? You have a question? I think what I'll do next week, I'll pick up where we left off and then try to get through the rest of John 17 if we can. Let's close. Dear Father, how we thank you for our union with you that's in your Son, our Lord Jesus. We speak of these things and I guess we are like the Ephesians We need to Have our understanding and we need to be enlightened about these things that we might know them and rest in them father We thank you that they even are the truth the truths that are true of us We thank you we pray in your son's precious name. Amen. I