“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
(John 17:20–23)

True Christian Unity Can Only Be Attained By Those Who Are Regenerated In Christ

Only when someone believes in Jesus Christ according to what the Bible—God’s Word—teaches are they among those brought into that unity Jesus is talking about in John 17:23 — “I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me.” So we can see here that people who, for example, hold firmly to the dogmas and sacramental system of apostate Roman Catholicism or the so-called “gospel principles” of the non-Christian cult of Mormonism have now excluded themselves.

When you read this passage of Holy Scripture carefully it becomes obvious that this prayer reached it’s fulfillment in Acts chapter 2 as God the Holy Spirit came upon the believers on that Day of Pentecost when the Church was officially born. Above in John 17:20-23 Jesus is talking about what the Holy Spirit would do inside genuine believers; but Who, at this point. had yet to come in power. Our Lord—God the Son— is praying to God the Father for the Person of God the Holy Spirit to come and indwell all people who will believe (Greek: pisteuo).

And we must keep in mind here again that this would be all those people who will place their complete “confidence in,” and “totally trust in,” Christ alone as their Savior. This is why the doctrine of justification is without a doubt a most central issue to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and further, it’s also why the Reformation happened in the first place. If you look at John 17:23 carefully you will see that first Jesus says — “I in them and You [Father] in Me.”

It’s only then that He says — “May they be brought to complete unity.” One would have to be in Christ as the Father was in Christ to ever even hope to have this kind of “unity.” If one does not pisteuo in Jesus—that is to “believe” by fully trusting through God’s grace alone; by faith alone, in Christ alone—then he has not been born again. And, if he is not born again, then God the Holy Spirit does not indwell him. As such then, he cannot possibly have this “unity” with God that the Master is praying for here.

As you see here at Apprising Ministries this a crucial truth which is currently being obscured e.g. by what is being taught by the Emerging Church 2.o trinity of apostates—Living Spiritual Teacher and EC guru Brian McLaren, universalist Emerging Church pastor Doug Pagitt, and his friend Tony Jones, the progressive “theologian in residence” at Solomon’s Porch, where their warped and toxic doctrine of an alleged “divine spark” in all mankind negates the need for even being born again.

In closing this, for now, Dr. Herbert Lockyer’s insightful comment now brings out the critical point:

Regeneration brings the Holy Spirit into the believing sinner. “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom. 8:9, KJV). “None of His.” How emphatic! Such a serious statement demands attention. Where the vital bond does not exist between the soul and Christ, the divine Spirit is not to be found.

Whatever virtues a person may possess or whatever attractions and qualities may adorn his character, if unsaved, he is destitute of the Spirit… The Holy Spirit unites us to Christ, making us “accepted in the beloved.” We are joined unto the Lord by one Spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).[1]

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Endnotes:

[1] Herbert Lockyer, All About The Holy Spirit [Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997], 137, emphasis mine)

See also:

UNDERSTANDING THE NEW SPIRITUALITY: GOD INDWELLS MANKIND

FULLER SEMINARY PROMOTING EMERGING CHURCH HERETIC DOUG PAGITT

ROB BELL AND SHANE HIPPS TEACHING MYSTICISM

MICHAEL DOWD & SPENCER BURKE—INTEGRITY AND EVOLUTIONARY CHRISTIANITY (PART 2)

REVEALING INTERVIEW WITH PASTRIX DEBYE SWILLEY EX-WIFE OF JIM SWILLEY

ST. PAUL DENVER UNITED METHODIST BUDDHIST-CHRISTIAN INTERSPIRITUAL COMMUNITY

APPRISING MINISTRIES WITH A PEEK AT THE COMING SOTERIOLOGY OF EMERGENCE CHRISTIANITY