John 17:9

John 17:9. And have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world," -

That is, not in the same special sense as he prays for his people, not with that personal pleading which he offers on behalf of his own chosen ones: "I pray not for the world," -

John 17:9. But for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine

In the 6th verse, Jesus had said to his Father, "Thine they were; " and here, in this 9th verse, he says, "They are thine." They still belonged to the Father, the transference of them mediatorially to the Son having made no change in the Father’s relation to them.