Jesus prayed for His disciples at the end of His ministry...
John 17:6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.
They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word."
Jesus prayed that His disciples already had a relationship with God before He called them.
Before Jesus was born on earth, there were people who already had a right relationship with God before Jesus arrived.
In Hebrews 11, there is an extensive list of people who lived in the Old Testament who were right with God because of their faith.
They were made right with God for trusting Him to save them; however, the didn't know or understand all the particulars.
In the New Testament, here is a list of people who were right with God before Jesus arrived.
In Luke 1: 6, both...
Zachariah
and Elizabeth
were said in Scripture to have been right with God.
In Matthew 1:19...
Joseph was said to have been right.
In Luke 1: 28...
Mary is said to have been highly favored, and that God was with her.
In Luke 2:23-25...
Simeon was spoken of as being right with God,
and that God had promised him that he would see the Christ before his death.
In Luke 2:36-38...
Anna who had no promise of seeing the Christ beforehand like Simeon... immediately recognized Him when she saw him.
These people were characterized by immediately recognizing and responding to Christ upon introduction as Jesus taught in John 10:14.
There was a second type of person who came to Christ during His earthly ministry.
There were those who did not have a relationship with God previously, and were not right with God.
An example of this was Nicodemus.
Nicodemus was curious, but eventually came around.
He was called out by Jesus for not believing in John 3:11-12.
Another example of this was the thief on the cross.
The thief was most definitely not righteous but lost.
Jesus reached out to him while He hung on the cross, and the thief was changed. (Luke 23:43)
Some people have become confused through the transition period between the Old and New Testament.
It was if they were predestined to get saved because they responded so quickly.
However, they were already right with God trusting Him to somehow someway save them. Which eventually He did through Jesus.
(John 10:14)
M. D. Dennis
