That They May Be One

“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).

The unity Jesus speaks of here is a unity in the truth, particularly the truth that the Father sent His Son for the salvation of the world. Hence, the unity we pray and work for is a unity in the gospel. The gospel teaches us that we look to the cross of Jesus Christ and not to ourselves for salvation. We look to one outside of us for salvation and not to our own works. We understand the gospel truly even now, but we do not grasp it completely.

He has taken stubborn, recalcitrant, and sinful people like us and transformed us. He has given us love for Him and for one another. Such a redeeming work has already begun in us, and we are called upon to maintain the unity of the Spirit now (Eph. 4:3). And yet we await the day when the work begun will be completed to the praise and glory of our God and Savior.

—Thomas Schreider, That They May Be One