These 48 clues – some of them explicit indications in and of themselves, and some of them repeated within the list – will lead to the answer, “No – Judas did not lose his salvation.” Cumulatively, they will paint a picture of what is truly descriptive of the group “given” to Jesus. (Click links below to be taken to individual posts where more explanation is provided.)
- Part 1: Verse 3 says, “…they know you, the only true God,”; “they” in verse 3 refers back to the group Jesus is praying for; in verse 2, Jesus first refers to this group as, “…all whom you have given [me].” The first clue, then, in this list of 48 Clues in John 17, is seen in verse 3, and – in particular – the word “know”.
- Judas is simply not a part of this group. The group “given” to Jesus (John 17:2) – the group for whom he prays that they “know” God (v. 3) – does not contain Judas. And therefore, he did not ‘lose his salvation’, having never been a part of that group of genuine believers in the first place.
