Very well said. The "whole world" does not mean everyone in the world.
In the book of Revelation, it states, "The whole world marvels after the Beast.." (talking of the man of sin)... well, obviously, the born again elect of God will not be a part of that "whole world scenario" that marvels after the beast. The elect will not be deceived... therefore, the "whole world" does not mean every individual on the planet.
"Father I pray NOT for the World, but for those whom You have given Me."
Again, Jesus is not praying for those who are not His.
"Having loved His OWN who were in the world." Notice, His own are in the world, but this does not include the entire world.
Kind Regards
PM
Thank you for being a polite and gracious poster on this forum. Regarding your texts.
John 17:9
Christ died for all man (not just for the elect), but no one except the believer has remission of sin (John 3:16, Acts 17:30, 1 Tim 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9, Rev. 22:17)
John 6:43-45 (see also John 7:17; John 12:39-40)
Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.
Calvinist suppose that those given and drawn are the Calvinistically elect. However, in context, those given and drawn by the Father to His Son are the believing remnant who are in covenant relationship with Him, having “heard and learned” from Him. (John 6:45) “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.” (John 8:47) Otherwise, God would have gladly given and drawn them to His Son.
Rather, God gave this grace to those who were of Him. This passage has nothing to do with Calvinism. It’s a dialogue between Jesus and the unbelieving Jews. The Jews insisted that they were right with God, and Jesus declared the opposite: “I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.”[bless and do not curse] (John 5:42) “He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.” (John 7:28) “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” (John 8:19) “You are from below.” “You are of this world.” (John 8:23) “You will die in your sins.” (John 8:24) “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham.” (John 8:39) “You are of your father the devil.” (John 8:44) “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.” (John 8:47) “You have not come to know Him.” (John 8:55) Jesus diagnosed their problem: They rejected Him because they rejected the Father. “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me.” (John 5:43) That’s the “reason” why they rejected the Son. If they had received the Father, they would have received His Son, and would not have rejected He and all of the prophets before Him: “It cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.” (Luke 13:33) That’s why Jesus repeatedly invoked the Father in His dialogue with them. At John 5:19, He pointed out that His message was exclusively the Father’s, and that if indeed they had heard and learned from the Father, then they would have come to Him. (John 6:45) At John 7:17, Jesus pointed out that if indeed they did really wish to do the Father’s will, then they would know whether His message was from God. At John 8:42, Jesus pointed out that if indeed God was their Father, as they had proclaimed (John 8:41), then they would have loved the Son, whom they instead tried to kill. (John 8:59) At John 10:26, Jesus pointed out that the only reason why they rejected Him, was because they were not of His sheep, and He and the Father were One. (John 10:30) They were not of His sheep, because they were not of the Father’s sheep, either. If they were of the Father’s sheep, then the Father would have gladly given (John 6:37) and drawn them to His Son. (John 6:44) This passage has nothing to do with Calvinism.
