John 16:13 and John 17 - The Holy Spirit and Jesus' Prayer Before His Betrayal

In John chapter 16 there is further teaching on the Holy Spirit, the Comforter of all those who believe on Jesus.  One verse in particular stands out:

V12-13 "I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever  he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."

It is a precious truth that the Holy Spirit is the best teacher of believers.  He will teach all truth, he will not speak of himself, but of those things which Christ taught, and which are taught in all the Bible.  He will show us things that God will reveal, but not the things of which we have no need to know.

Chapter 17 is the great prayer of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane just prior to his betrayal and arrest.  Some people think the Lord's prayer begins "our father who art in heaven" but that prayer was taught to the disciples by Jesus, as how they should pray.  John 17 is Jesus true prayer to his Father.  As his disciples lay sleeping, Jesus first prays for himself, then for the disciples that were with him, and finally for all those who will believe on Jesus through all time until he comes again.

V1-5 Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent......and now O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."

These are huge verses.  Jesus says that the Father has given him power over all flesh, that all who will have eternal life were given Christ by the Father.  And eternal life of believers is found in this: believing in the true God and the Lord Jesus Christ who the Father sent to redeem his own.  Then Jesus prays of the time when he was with the Father before the world was, and asks that he be glorified with the glory he had then.

The Security of the Believer

The Security of the Believer..

Can a believer ever be lost?  I was saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in 1987, and attended a Brethren assembly until April of 2001 when a series of incidents led to almost all of the members leaving that church.  Until the day that I left that church and prayed for the Lord to show me the truth from His Holy Word, I was always afraid of losing my salvation.  It was after that prayer that the beautiful word "grace" became real to me, and I believed what Jonah said, "Salvation is of the Lord." (Jonah 2:9)  Our salvation is by grace, and not by anything we can do of our own will..  I finally saw that faith is a gift of God, and I knew that it wasn't me who kept myself, but the Lord who kept me..

What does the bible say about this change of heart?

Eze 11:19 "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh":

Eze 36:26 "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh"

1 Peter 1:5 says that believers are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

Since that time, I have seen many debates online concerning whether or not the believer is eternally secure, some of them becoming very volatile.  I do believe the bible teaches that believers are secure, and choose to let the bible speak:

First and foremost I am "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith...." (Hebrews 12:1)