INTRODUCTION: We Christians don’t adhere to a spiritual school of laws and principles. We don’t subscribe to a philosophy or a religion in the typical sense. Christians – those who’ve been born again have undergone a spiritual transformation based not on meditation practices of the esoteric sort, nor by any human means.
We have been born again, born spiritually as a result of simply believing the Gospel and walking that belief out by an active allegiance to Christ, surrendering our will, our lives, everything that we are.
Subsequently, every aspect of the Christian life draws from the very Spirit of Christ as our source of power, conviction, discipleship. Just as a branch draws from the vine in order to produce fruit.
In this second part of JOHN 15, we explore more of what this entails.
JOHN 15:11
"These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
What is the source of this joy? The LORD said, “My joy” and so He Himself is the source. And how are we able to access the source of this divine joy? Vs. 9: "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.” And how do we abide in His love? By keeping His commandments – not to say that it’s by the commandments that we derive Christ’s love for us His children; rather it’s because we love the LORD, obedience to His commandments indicates our love (see vs. 14).
The Father’s love for the Son is indisputable, faithful and true. The fact that the Son obeys the Father proves His love is just as valid. And the LORD Jesus proved it beyond doubt, by laying down His life just as the Father directed (JOHN 10:17).
Just as our love is a response to the LORD’s own love for us (1 JOHN 4:19), so our joy is a response to the LORD’s joy. Note: vs. 11 talks about His joy and He also speaks of “your joy”. And this is the fullness of joy we find in His presence (PSA 16:11) as He abides in us, and we in Him.
Happiness is transitory; it comes and goes depending on the circumstances. A teenager rejoices at the purchase of their very own car. They are intensely happy! The next day they’re sobbing their eyes out – because their car got totaled!
The LORD says His joy “may remain in you.”. Joy is independent of circumstances, and rests solely in abiding in Christ. Why then are so many Christians living joyless lives? Probably because they aren’t abiding in Christ as they ought to be (for their own sakes and well-being, and for the satisfaction of the Father, Who would have it so!).
Joy, as well as love and all these other Christian virtues are the fruit of the Spirit and while these have an effect on our emotions, these run deeper than emotions. This is the fruit of the Spirit and are of spiritual substance. Emotions are of the soul and thus not as deep. This is why we can attend the funeral of a loved one, and feel grief and sorrow, while still experiencing the undercurrent of peace and even joy – not because of such a circumstance (necessarily) but independent of such.
See JOHN 16:24; 17:13; 1 JOHN 1:4; NEH 8:10b
JOHN 15:12-14
12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. 14 "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
It states the following in the first epistle of John:
1 JOHN 5:3What could be any less burdensome that to love our fellow saints – these who share in the Holy Spirit, who can rightly claim the same heavenly Father, who are partakers of the same eternal destiny as we? Yet the calling of GOD is not a phileo kind of love – a brotherly kind of love, which is also a blessing and a needful expression among the saints. This calling commands that we love one another as Christ loves us – with an agapeo kind of love.
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous [i.e., not burdensome].
This is the love of GOD for the world – an agapeo love that is devoted to the intended recipient of this love. A love that is sacrificial (JOHN 3:16), a love that will give and give, even when it wounds the giver (such as what happened at Calvary!); a love that is not concerned with self and one’s own needs, but the needs of another.
How can we possibly endeavor to love one another AS CHRIST LOVES US? As with every aspect of our Christian faith – not perfectly certainly, but with a certain and faithful resemblance that matures over time. As we continue to abide in the Vine and produce the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, that is the quality of love (agape) that the LORD expects to find in us.
It was a common observation among the pagan Romans who encountered first century Christians: “Behold how they love one another!” And this is the trademark signature that our LORD told us how the world will know we belong to the LORD GOD.
JOHN 13:34-35"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.”
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just like I have loved you; that you also love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
No greater love can be found than sacrificial love that holds nothing back, even one’s own life. This is one reason why the soldier is often considered the most noble profession. Because these men are prepared to lay their lives on the line and if necessary, sacrifice them for the sake of compatriots and country. The same can be said for law officers and fire fighters.
The LORD Jesus considers us His friends. My childhood was rather poor in friendship, largely because of my deformities but also due to my shyness as well. The few that I had were treasured.
But when the LORD revealed Himself to me in the Scriptures: His mission, His heart, His objective – all pointing to my salvation, I was astounded that He actually wanted to be my Friend!
WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS!! With a Friend like this, who needs any other? Never, ever will we find a friend as loving, kind, thoughtful, giving, encouraging; a friend that is all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, all-loving – Who only has our best interest in mind as well as His highest glory. Yet the LORD in His gracious generosity gave me a church full of friends besides!
JOHN 15:15
"No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
We saints have in a sense been promoted – from servants to friends. This doesn’t mean however that as Christians we are no longer servants of GOD. Writers of the New Testament often rightly referred to themselves as servants (Paul in ROM 1:1; James in JAMES 1:1; Peter in 2 PET 1:1; and Jude in JUDE 1:1 as well as John in REV 1:1). We are friends who are willing servants (doulos in the Greek) of the LORD Jesus Christ.
One thing about friendship is the sharing of hearts as well as burdens, disappointments, hopes and dreams.
Think of Daniel of whom the LORD says is “greatly beloved” through the angel Gabriel. Then there is apostle John: “he whom Jesus loved”. What about Abraham who was called “the friend of GOD” (JAMES 2:23) and what did the LORD reveal to him in GENESIS 22:14 (KJV) and later confirmed that revelation in JOHN 8:56?
To each of these friends of GOD, the LORD gave them incredible revelation! But then consider what you have in your possession! Not just the revelation given to Abraham, or Daniel, or John, but ALL of the revelation from GENESIS to REVELATION!
For more on this, check out SECRETS AMONG FRIENDS
But it doesn’t stop there! We went from being servants, to friends, and then to brethren of the LORD (JOHN 20:17)! Members of the family of GOD! Heirs of GOD and joint-heirs with Christ (ROM 8:17)!! We truly can’t comprehend the enormity of this awesome truth! I think a lot of glorified jaws will drop at the revelation of the entire scope of our inheritance, solely based on the grace of GOD!
In Islam, the Muslim can hope for no greater place than the servant and perhaps the friend of Allah, but never as children. In the Bible, we are called the children of GOD repeatedly and it’s an honor that isn’t earned but granted freely by grace (JOHN 1:12-13).
Here are three brief articles on the following:
WHAT IS A SERVANT OF GOD?
WHO IS A FRIEND OF GOD?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CHILD OF GOD?
JOHN 15:16
"You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
Calvinists love this verse, because it seems to indicate GOD’s overwhelming sovereignty to the abrogation of any individual’s soul as a free moral agency and their power of choice – in other words, we have no say in the matter of salvation. Either GOD chooses us or not and determines Himself who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.
ROMANS 8:29-30Notice these words: “predestined…conformed…called…justified…glorified” are all in the past tense. When did GOD perform all of these functions in the past? I believe He did these things even before the creation – in the halls of eternity.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
It's important to recognize that GOD is transcendent, existing outside of creation and its space/time continuum. The Psalmist testified to this truth: that long before I think a thought to verbalize, GOD knows exactly what I’m going to say (PSA 139:4). That is, He foreknows what I will say because from eternity, He can see all that transpires in time.
If GOD wanted to, He could compose a letter and deliver it to me, revealing everything that’s going to happen to me next week, right down to the smallest detail. He is also aware of every decision that we make on a daily, hourly, down to the second basis – including every decision where the individual receives Christ.
He knows all of these decisions for Christ well before He ever said, “Let there be light…” That’s his foreknowledge. And since He is aware of our decisions before we ever make them, He can (and does) predestinate us based on that foreknowledge. Foreknowing doesn’t require controlling (a lot of people confuse these two things as one being subsequent to the other). Just because GOD knows the future of every individual, that doesn’t mean GOD is controlling (or forcing) things to happen. GOD knew everything Hitler was going to do. And Judas Iscariot.
He chooses us from eternity without violating our own choices, but rather in recognition of those choices that we make. So which came first? His predestination from eternity or our own decision contained within the confines of time?
People have asked me many times: Which do you believe? GOD’s sovereignty or man’s free will? And my answer is always, “yes”! In ROMANS 9, Paul the apostle expounds on the sovereignty of GOD, and in ROMANS 10 he relates to the free will of human beings. I may not understand precisely how these two aspects work together, but the Bible plainly teaches both, so I believe both!
If GOD is absolutely sovereign to the negation of anyone’s choices made, then the “whosever will[s]” of the Bible are meaningless.
An excellent book that explores this seeming contradiction (that isn’t really) is Dave Hunt’s book WHAT LOVE IS THIS?
Even within the confines of time, the LORD’s statement, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you [the apostles] and appointed you…” is factually true. After spending all night in prayer, He chose those who would be named His apostles and gave them their authoritative appointment (LUKE 6:12-16).
“…go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
Lasting fruit is a sign of true discipleship, that is to say, the life of a believer produces results that don’t fade away. There is no fruit bearing apart from the life-giving Spirit that produces such – that, in combination of sowing the seed of GOD’s Word into our hearts and minds. You won’t produce anything in the field if you don’t plant seed!
But there’s more to it than that. We aren’t just talking about sowing the seed of the Word but acting upon the truth contained in the Word – that’s a kind of follow-up to sowing, and in the acting upon the Word, this will bear fruit, which is according to the will of the Father. That’s why we can ask the Father in Jesus’ Name and He will answer those prayers.
Praying in Jesus Name means, praying according to His will, His nature, His vision, plans and purposes. Prayer is not a magic spell, or a mantra, or a means to get my will done, much less spending a few minutes in trying to talk GOD into my plan.
Prayer is all about seeking GOD’s will to be done (MATT 6:10), humbling ourselves and having our minds submit to His directions (1 PET 5:6; JAMES 4:7) as well as simply spending time with the One Who loves us (PSA 27:4; JER 31:3), and Whom we love (PSA 31:23).
JOHN 15:17-18
17 "These things I command you, that you love one another. 18 "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
Again, this is an easy command to obey where GOD’s children are concerned – but is it always? We have to remember that we have two natures, one divine and one sinful and when Christians let their sin nature rule, they can be like anyone else of this world. They can be quite unlovable and unloving. It’s at times like these when those around them must endeavor to be as Christ to them. He loved us when we were wretched sinners.
For the sake of Christ, we are duty bound to love (and pray) them back into a right standing with GOD, exhibiting grace to them, forgiving them for any wrongdoing they may have done.
And the same conduct and response to the world is required of those of us who are disciples of Christ (MATT 5:44). The world will never be a true friend to the church – that is, unless the church compromises her mission and the truth of GOD’s Word in order to conform to the world and its worldly ways (something we are forbidden to do; ROM 12:2).
1 JOHN 2:15-16The world’s philosophies and ideals reflect those of the god of this world (2 COR 4:4) except where GOD’s influence has effected “pockets” where the church has been effective salt and light.
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.
1 JOHN 3:1Think of who Jesus Christ is: GOD made flesh, love and truth, grace and peace personified. Tell me, what is so hateful about this Man? And yet the world does hate Christ, or to be clear, the biblical Jesus (not the Hollywood version, not the Social Gospel version, not the New Age version nor any of the other user-friendly versions).
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
JOHN 7:7We can be friends with the world in the sense of bringing them into reconciliation with GOD. We’re conducting ourselves as faithful ambassadors of Christ, just as Christ came to bring sinners to the Father (2 COR 5:20-21; MATT 9:13; LUKE 19:10). We can’t be friends with the world in partaking of sin, having fellowship with them in carnal, sinful ways that compromises our walk. The age old example is for someone unredeemed saying to the Christian, “C’mon! Have a drink with me! What’s it going to hurt?”
"The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.
Jesus Christ is full of grace and truth. The world hates both, due to pride. Pride wants to merit everything based on its own so-called goodness and nobility, apart from grace. Pride is offended if the truth of its corruption is identified and condemned. This is why the world loves darkness that not only covers up its flaws but also promotes lawlessness.
JOHN 3:19
"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
JAMES 4:4
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Tragically, while the “worldly Christian” is rather common, it should be an oxymoron, a stark contradiction.
We are to abstain from those things that war against us (1 PET 2:11), from all things that have the substance of evil (1 THESS 5:22). We are strangers and foreigners in this world – making our pilgrimage through it, not put down roots as settlers!
JOHN 15:19
"If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
If you’re being mocked, ridiculed, hated by people around you, just because you are a follower of Jesus and His ways, rejoice – their persecuting you is a sign that you don’t belong to this world, but belong to GOD! Also…
There are those who disregard any idea of an earthly kingdom of Israel being restored upon Christ’s return. Yet Jesus Christ (Y’shua ha Mashiach) is the Messiah-King of Israel! How can you have a King – without a corresponding Kingdom?
These sort want to try to justify the idea that the kingdom is all about the church, and they will insist that this kingdom is not of this world, citing the LORD’s own words:
JOHN 18:36Yet Christ said of Himself, “I am not of this world” and said the same thing about His disciples (vs. 19 above; also JOHN 17:14; in a few verses before He said, “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world”). So while we are in this world, we are not of this world. The LORD Himself stated it clearly when He said in vs. 36 “…but now My kingdom is not from here”.
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.
In the vision granted to Nebuchadnezzar in DANIEL 2, where he beheld the statue of polymetallic construction, he saw a “stone cut without hands” that struck the statue, demolished it and then that stone grew to become a mountain that filled the earth!
The statue represents all of the world Gentile Empires as they related (or will relate) to Israel and will be swept away and in their place that stone (representing Christ Who upon His return demolishes all of the devil’s devious designs) will become a mountain (symbolizing a kingdom) that will fill all of – heaven? No – the earth!
That is the Millennial Reign of Christ!
Being members of the church, having experienced the spiritual rebirth, we have seen and entered into “the kingdom of GOD” (JOHN 3:3,5) but that isn’t the same kingdom that belongs to Israel. Yet because Israel rejected their Messiah, can the Jews really expect the kingdom of Israel to be restored to them? Yes!
ACTS 1:6-7Christ Jesus didn’t deny Israel her kingdom, He simply stated that its inauguration is up to the Father’s time or season.
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
Apostle Paul declares in ROMANS 9 that GOD has elected His people regardless of their own actions (of rebellion, which Israel amply demonstrated throughout the Old Testament Scripture, climaxing in the New Testament Scripture when they crucified their Messiah!) and that His promises will not be made null and void.
Yet also the apostle states that simply being born Jewish isn’t a ticket into the promises of GOD; a Jew must express the same faith as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did. Those fewer numbers of Jews that exhibit that kind of faith are called “the remnant” (ROM 9:27). That remnant in the last days will comprise of those Jews who refuse allegiance to “the man of sin” the antichrist, and once the real Christ shows up, then:
ROMANS 11:26-33People will vilify the Jewish people, claiming that they are not worthy to be called “GOD’s people!” I always ask them, “And what were YOU like before you got saved?” Israel as a nation hasn’t been born of the Spirit yet, but they will be. In EZEK 37:9-11 it speaks of the reestablishment of Israel as a people in the land and being brought back from the grave [from the Nazi concentration camps to their own homeland]. Compare this with vs. 14: "I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it," says the LORD.'" See also EZEK 36:26-28.
26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; 27 For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins." 28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
For more understanding on Israel’s coming kingdom and why it’s still valid, and why GOD must fulfill His promises (EZEK 37:16-24) one needs to understand the covenants GOD made with Abraham and with David, as well as the Land covenant.
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