There is perhaps no greater encouragement for us as believers than to know that Jesus prayed for us before our very existence. His prayer, recorded in John 17, contains the Lord’s petitions not only for His current disciples but also for you and me — as those who would come to “believe through their word” (17:20). Jesus’ prayer specifically had us, the future recipients of salvation through the gospel given to the apostles, firmly in mind.
A further look at Jesus’ requests for His followers reveals some important truths related directly to Isaiah 40:8, as well as keeping before us the proper purpose and mission of our cooperative efforts in Christian education and ministry preparation.
Foremost, we should note carefully from Jesus’ request for us in 17:20 that our current faith is a direct by-product of an ever-forward chain of gospel proclamation. We would come to faith today, as Jesus’ prayer anticipated, by being hearers and believers of the word which had been given to and witnessed by those earliest disciples. As Paul states in Romans, our faith has come by hearing the word of Christ (Romans 10:17) and is dependent upon generations of faithful witnesses that long preceded us.
This same gospel word, once and for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3), must continue to go forward today through us as individuals, and collectively in our churches and institutions because it is the very power of God unto salvation for those who have yet to believe (Romans 1:16). Evangelism, to which we are all called and to be equipped for, must never sway from the firm commitment that belief in Christ unto salvation is a God-promised result of His unfailing word.
What Jesus specifically desired in His prayer for all disciples is shown in asking that the Father would “sanctify them in the truth” (17:17a). The world around us may speculate, as Pilate did, at Jesus’ arrest — What is truth? (18:38). However, Jesus left no doubt by following His immediate petition with the very object, “your word is truth” (17:17b). Not only is evangelism dependent upon the very word of God to bring us to faith, likewise any efforts we make towards discipleship comes also from the sanctifying truths and power of the word itself.
All sanctification, whether first unto salvation, or following towards Christlikeness, necessarily derives from the very word of God.
At Clear Creek Baptist Bible College, we hold these principles — namely the inspiration, infallibility, inerrancy and sufficiency of the word of God — as unchangeable foundations for both individual life and institutional aim. Educating and equipping those called into Christian service is necessarily governed by a dedication to providing students with a comprehensive education rooted in the Bible.
We maintain that the Bible is the principal adjective in our name and therefore in our training in evangelism and discipleship. We are thankful for your part as Kentucky Baptists in serving with us as present-day subjects of our Lord’s prayer.