Christ not only atones for the sin of his people, he not only lays down his life for his sheep,

but then he prays daily as our high priest and as our intercessor for our preservation, that not one of his people

for whom he has died will ever, ever be lost. The words of Jesus in John 17 bring the believe of such comfort to know in this prayer of Jesus that he

prays for his sheep. He prays for us. Yet these words of comfort are also hard

because they reveal to us that there are some people that Jesus

doesn't pray for.

There are some for whom Jesus did not lay down his life.

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm your host, Nathan W Bingham.

All week, R.C. Sprawl is tackling some of the hard sayings of the Bible, and today he examines a hard saying of Jesus. When Christians

discuss the doctrines of grace, reform theology, if there's disagreement it

often happens when the subject of the atonement comes up.

For whom did Christ die?

Whom does he pray for and intercede as their high priest?

Although the answers to these questions can seem hard at first, we mustn't ignore the plain

teaching of scripture, and they are in fact sweet gospel truths. Here's R.C. Sprawl in

John 17.

When it comes to the hard sayings of Jesus, it would seem that the last place we would expect to find a hard saying is in the prayers of Jesus.

And most particularly, when we read the magnificent account of the so-called high priestly prayer of Jesus

that is recorded for us in the gospel according to St. John in the 17th chapter of that book. Here we have an intimate opportunity to

eavesdrop on Jesus as he is performing his work of intercession not only for

the disciples that were his at that time, but for all of his people who ever believe in him.

I say to people, this is the only place in all of scripture where you are mentioned specifically. Not by name, but when Jesus prays, he

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