Believe and be saved: John 17-21

Continuing with our believe theme from Part 2 We’re taking a walk through the entire book of John from beginning to end focused on Salvation.

Amount of times the word ‘believe’ is used in John 17-21: 8

Total amount of times – ‘Believe’ is found: 89

John 17

John 17:2

2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to [a]all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I glorified You on the earth, [b]having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Salvation cannot be lost: Jesus has authority over all flesh, to ALL God the Father gave Him. That He may GIVE eternal life. This give isn’t temporary, and all those who are saved have already been given (past tense).

Jesus is Lord. Jesus is God: Eternal life is given to us so we may know God – the ONE true God and Jesus Christ. Jesus is NOT being described as a separate being here but the one eternal true God. Verse 5: because of the glory Jesus had with the Father BEFORE the world was.

Jesus 17:6-9

“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;

Jesus is Lord God. Verse 8 they truly understood that I came forth from You. Not I was created by You.

Salvation cannot be lost: Verse 6: They have kept your word and believed. They are Yours. How did they come to believe? Jesus gave it to them and they received them and understood! They believed! How come they are saved and can’t lose salvation? Because those who the Father has given Jesus belong to God! They are his sheep! They cannot and will not be lost. They truly HAVE eternal life.

John 5:24 whoever hears my words and believes HAS eternal life! John 8:47 – whoever hears the word of God is of God.

John 17:17

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 [c]son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

Jesus is talking about the apostles here. Jesus is not glorified yet but he kept them safe except for Judas ‘the son of perdition’ or the man ‘doomed to destruction’

John 17:13

13 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. 14 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. 15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them [d]from [e]the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Salvation cannot be lost: so that they may have My joy made FULL in themselves. How can we have His joy made FULL if we could lose that joy by our own will and sins? Verse 14 we read they are not of the world even as Jesus is not of the world. We know Jesus isn’t going to lose salvation obviously so it’s clear he is connecting the apostles not being of the world as He is not of the world. They are saved already to the uttermost. Verse 16 again Jesus doubles down they are NOT of the world as HE is not of the world. Why would Jesus say this if we could lose our salvation?

John 17:20-21

20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may [f]believe that You sent Me.

Salvation cannot be lost: He’s not just praying for the apostles but for all believers.

John 17:22-23

22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected [g]in unity, so that the world may [h]know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

Jesus is Lord: Verse 22 so that believers may be ONE just as WE (Father and Son) are one. I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity. There is ONE God. These are not separated beings.

Salvation cannot be Lost: if Jesus is in the Father, and Christ in us and they are ONE. This CANNOT be broken. How is it that you think you can remove yourself or “Un-Christ” yourself once you have been justified by faith? Why would Jesus make this profound statement if we are to believe salvation is something that can be lost?

John 17:24-26

24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

25 “O righteous Father, [i]although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Jesus is Lord: Verse 24 – Jesus pre-existed before the foundation of the world. He is ONE with the Father. Jesus is not suggesting he was a separate entity before the foundation of the world. The Bible makes clear there is one God and Jesus is making this clear as well.

John 18

John 18:4-6

4 So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and *said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He *said to them, “I am He.” And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. 6 So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Truly Truly Jesus is Lord God: Verse 4 John write “knowing ALL the things that were coming upon Him.” Know not some, not most, but ALL the things. Verse 5 Jesus says “I am He.” when he said this it was so powerful they drew back and fell to the ground. Jesus is Lord. Why does John make it a point to say and Judas also who was betraying Him fell to his knees? In John 13:27 when Judas took a piece of bread Satan entered him.

What Jesus says “I am He” is so powerful that even Satan himself bowed before the mighty all powerful God.

We see the same “I am He” used in Isaiah 43:10

10″You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. 11″I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me.

There is one God and one Savior: – there was no God formed before Him and will be none after Him. There is NO savior besides God. Jesus refers to Himself as savior and himself as Lord. Jesus is God! Jesus is Lord and Savior! He choses us, we Believe, He saves!

John 18:37

 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

Jesus is Lord: People have an earthly Mother and Father. People are born into the world. Jesus entered into His own creation and came into the world.

Salvation cannot be lost: If you are of the truth (Saved. You believe) you hear his voice. If you hear his voice and believe you are saved (John 5:24).

John 19

John 19:7

The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”

Jesus is Lord God: John knew this, the Jews who didn’t believe knew this is what Jesus was saying, and the Jews reading this would have understood fully what the term Son of God meant here.

A great article about this can be found here. Son of God: “The claim to be of the same nature as God—to in fact be God—was blasphemy to the Jewish leaders; therefore, they demanded Jesus’ death, in keeping with Leviticus 24:15. Hebrews 1:3 expresses this very clearly, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.”

John 19:34-35

34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.

He saw this and testified. His testimony is true, and he knows he’s telling the truth. Doesn’t think he’s telling the truth. He knows, so that others may believe.

John 20

John 20:13

13 And they *said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She *said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.

This is off topic but I wanted to point this verse out because I’ve had non-believers tell me that the teachings in scripture are misogynistic. In His resurrection the first person Jesus appears to is a woman. A former prostitute for that matter who’s testimony would not have exactly been well respected. None the less our Lord loves all His children equally both male and female.

John 20:17

17 Jesus *said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”

Salvation cannot be lost: Mary is clearly one of the Lords sheep because Jesus said “My Father and your Father, My God and your God.”

John 20:21-23

21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, their sins [c]have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

Here is another verse the IF read out of context appears to mean that Jesus gave the disciples personally the power of salvation. So if someone went to Peter, confessed their sins and Peter said.. “No. That’s too big of a sin you are not forgiven.” Jesus will honor this and send this person to eternal damnation? If that’s what we are asserting then we need to just throw out the rest of the Bible and claim Jesus either changed His mind or was lying many many times about who saves, and how we are saved.

So what does it mean? Let’s look at what He did in Verse 22. He breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is God and has the power to forgive sins. The Holy Spirit is in the apostles. They are to go out and preach the Gospel to the world. The Holy Spirit works through ALL believers (not just the apostles or priests) in order that people may come to believe in Jesus Christ. And this is how we are saved. John 8:24 – “That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” 

John 20:24-25

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called [d]Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

Why did Thomas doubt? Because Jesus had not revealed himself yet. It is not Thomas who came to believe on his own but Jesus who will enable him to believe. The fact that he didn’t physically see Jesus return is irrelevant. Read on.

John 20:26-29

After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been [f]shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then He *said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing. 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.

Jesus is Lord: Jesus reveals himself to Thomas as Lord God by commanding do not be unbelieving, but believing. When Jesus says ‘have you believed because you seen me?’ he isn’t saying this because he wasn’t sure why Thomas came to believe in Him. No. Jesus knows all. Don’t miss the point.

Salvation cannot be Lost: Another note here to point out is Jesus says “Peace be with you” 3x – Father – Son – Holy Spirit. When we are saved we have peace with God because we have Christ in us. We cannot have peace with God if our salvation can be lost by our own sins and will.

John 20:30-31

Therefore many other [g]signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is [h]the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

Salvation cannot be Lost: Self explanatory.

John 21

John 21:7

7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved *said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea

Salvation: We know salvation is secure for Christs sheep and those he loved. We hear this many times in the book of John.

11:34 – Jesus loved Martha – 11:36 Jesus loved Lazuras – 14:21 And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him. – 16:27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

We love Him because He loved us first.

Finally if we believe we have eternal life! John 11:25-26

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Summary:

Jesus is God (John 5:16-18), our salvation is in Christ and Christ alone (John 3:35-36). There is no other name on which we can be saved. It is by believing in Him that we are saved. Jesus reveals himself to us, we turn from our sin, accept Him as Lord and savior, and we have eternal life. (John 9:35-38).

Jesus died for my sins and your sins. Not some of your sins, not most of your sins, but all of your sins past, present, and future.  When Jesus reveals Himself to you turn from your sin and place your full faith and trust in Him.

When you accept this offer of salvation and trust in Him you can know that whoever believes in Him HAS eternal life and He WILL raise you up on the last day. This is NOT a maybe or as long as you believe AND (insert actions here) rather a guarantee from an all powerful, all loving, eternal God.

I sincerely hope you’ve read the entire book of John with me and pray the Holy Spirit has revealed to you the truth of the gospel.

For those who reject the idea that Jesus is God: Even if you think the Bible isn’t God’s word one thing is for sure. The Author of John clearly is telling us that Jesus is God. John believed this, the Jews that rejected Jesus killed Jesus for claiming to be God, and the early Christians absolutely believed Jesus was God so much so that they too were killed for proclaiming this. Even the Apostle Paul killed many Christians before he came to believe in Christ. Once He did he ended up writing 14 books of the New Testament. Clearly something extraordinary happened 2000+ years ago. 

For those who subscribe to the idea that salvation can be lost:
Having a mostly Roman Catholic family and growing up in an area where Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion is what really motivated me to write this in the hopes that I can reach even one of my Roman Catholic friends/family or if it be God’s will anyone who will listen. The Catholic Church teaches you that Eucharist is the Sacrament of Salvation and that you must take this ‘medicine of eternal life’ in order to maintain this salvation. This Sacrament is only available through the Church and can only be made into the literal body/blood of Christ through a Catholic Priest.

Missing Mass is considered a mortal sin, that sin is imputed to you, and you can lose your salvation by simply missing Church. Even if you don’t miss Church & partake in the Eucharist you can leave the Church, commit a mortal sin, then have that sin imputed to you and lose your salvation the minute you walk out of Church.

I implore you to please pray and examine this because this is NOT the gospel. It is Christ who saves, perfectly and to the uttermost by all of those who BELIEVE in Him! This is repeated over and over and over in the gospel. If you think that salvation is in your hands by your good works, prayers to the saints, indulgences then it is with all the love in my heart that I ask you to call out to Lord to reveal the truth to you.

I was very careful to mostly quote scripture in these articles so that you can see that it is not MY interpretation. It is not MY words this is God’s word. This is what Christ said about salvation. I’m not trying to win an argument I’m trying to point you to Christ.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

I believe this. Do you?

Resources:

https://www.gotquestions.org/

https://www.biblegateway.com/