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John 17:6-19: Not of the World

John 17:6-19 NIV

6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

The World

Greek, kosmos “orderly arrangement” from the verb form, komizo, “tend to, take care of” (cf. Genesis 1:28; 2:15)

In The World

  1. The multitude of humanity inhabiting earth (John 3:16-17; 6:33; 12:47; 13:34; 17:20; 1 John 2:2; 1 Corinthians 4:9; 2 Corinthians 5:19)
  2. The corrupted order of man in rebellion to God (1 John 2:15-17; 5:19; Galatians 1:4; James 4:4)
  3. Spatially, every Christian dwells in a fallen world, living among fallen humanity (v. 15)

Not of the World

  1. Spiritually, every Christian dwells in heavenly places, with Christ and in Christ (v. 23, cf. Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 3:1-4)
  2. Every Christian is set apart (holy) from the world as God’s special possession (1 Peter 2:9-10)
  3. Every Christian’s conduct and way of life is to be set apart from this world, holy to God (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1)
  4. Every Christian is called to shine God’s light into the world to bring others out of it (Matthew 5:13-16)

We have been chosen, saved and set apart from the world in order that we may change the world!