John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

John 17:17

Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would lead them “into all truth” (John 16:13). A little later in His prayer, Jesus asked that His followers be dedicated to God through the truth, and added, “Your Word is truth.” When you observe your time of silence, begin by asking the Holy Spirit to open God’s Word for you and to help you understand what God wants from you personally on that specific day.

Without the contributions of the Holy Spirit and the insight He gives you will never really be able to understand God’s will and guidance. The Spirit explains God’s will to us and helps us to live in accordance with that will. As soon as we act outside of God’s will, the Holy Spirit warns us that we are engaging with bad influences. But whether or not we listen to the Spirit’s “small voice” (your conscience) depends entirely on us. The Holy Spirit is a true Gentleman, someone once said. He always leaves the choice to us. Decide whether you are going to obey the Spirit or be deaf to His voice.

 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

John 16:13

It’s hard to know what to do when you don’t know what is true. Jesus once prayed to his Father, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). In a world of feelings, emotions, opinions, traditions, partisan spins, man-made traditions, incomplete data, and conflicting sources, Jesus knew where to find a solid source of truth—the Word of his Father. Few things in life matter more than making the time to seek the truth passionately through a dedicated study of God’s Word. Because once God helps you figure out what is true, you’ll know exactly what to do.

Sanctify them in the truth [set them apart for Your purposes, make them holy]; Your word is truth. John 17:17(AMP.). Sanctify them – This word means to render pure, or to cleanse from sins, 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 1 Corinthians 6:11. Sanctification in the heart of a Christian is progressive. It consists in his becoming more like God and less attached to the world; in his getting the ascendency over evil thoughts, and passions, and impure desires; and in his becoming more and more weaned from earthly objects, and attached to those things which are unseen and eternal. The word also means “to consecrate, to set apart to a holy office or purpose.” See John 17:19; also the notes at John 10:36. When Jesus prayed here that God would sanctify them, he probably included both these ideas, that they might be made personally more holy, and might be truly consecrated to God as the ministers of his religion. Ministers of the gospel will be really devoted to the service of God just in proportion as they are personally pure.

17:17-19 Christ next prayed for the disciples, that they might not only be kept from evil, but made good. It is the prayer of Jesus for all that are his, that they may be made holy. Even disciples must pray for sanctifying grace. The means of giving this grace is, through thy truth, thy word is truth. Sanctify them, set them apart for thyself and thy service. Own them in the office; let thy hand go with them. Jesus entirely devoted himself to his undertaking, and all the parts of it, especially the offering up himself without spot unto God, by the eternal Spirit. The real holiness of all true Christians is the fruit of Christ’s death, by which the gift of the Holy Ghost was purchased; he gave himself for his church, to sanctify it. If our views have not this effect on us, they are not Divine truth, or we do not receive them by a living and a working faith, but as mere notions. Bible Hub