JOHN CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Jesus Is The True Vine
John 15:1-11 NAS:

1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
11 "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

Joni Eareckson Tada writes:

“Honesty is always the best policy, but especially when you're surrounded by a crowd of women in a restroom during a break at a Christian women's conference. One woman, putting on lipstick, said, ‘Oh, Joni, you always look so together, so happy in your wheelchair. I wish that I had your joy!’ Several women around her nodded. ‘How do you do it?‘ she asked as she capped her lipstick.

"‘I don't do it,’ I said. ‘In fact, may I tell you honestly how I woke up this morning?’
‘This is an average day,’ I breathed deeply. ‘After my husband, Ken, leaves for work at 6:00 A.M., I'm alone until I hear the front door open at 7:00 A.M. That's when a friend arrives to get me up.

"While I listen to her make coffee, I pray, 'Oh, Lord, my friend will soon give me a bath, get me dressed, sit me up in my chair, brush my hair and teeth, and send me out the door. I don't have the strength to face this routine one more time. I have no resources. I don't have a smile to take into the day. But you do. May I have yours? God, I need you desperately.'"

"‘So, what happens when your friend comes through the bedroom door?’ one of them asked.

"I turn my head toward her and give her a smile sent straight from heaven. It's not mine. It's God's. And so,’ I said, gesturing to my paralyzed legs, ‘whatever joy you see today was hard won this morning.’

“I have learned that the weaker we are, the more we need to lean on God; and the more we lean on God, the stronger we discover him to be.”[fn]

Have you found joy in your life? If not, would you be willing to try something every morning and every evening for a while? The moment you wake up in the morning ask God to send you His joy. And the last thing you should do as you fall asleep is to ask God for His joy as you sleep. If you are willing to try this, we would be very much interested in knowing the outcome.

Jesus is now going to give His disciples three specific instructions having to do with relationships. First a parable in verses 1-10 where they are told to relate to Him in the way they had been designed by their Creator to relate to Him. They were to remain in the Word of God and be obedient to all that Jesus had taught them. Then in verses 11-17 Jesus issues a command, instructing them as to how they should relate to one another. And finally in verses 15:18-16:4, a warning regarding how they should relate and provide testimony to the world.

Jesus begins by telling His disciples that He is the true vine. This is the last of the seven great “I am” statements in John. The symbolism of the Vine and branches is similar to that of the Head and the body (Colossians 1;18). We have a living relationship to Christ and belong to Him. If anyone is in any way detached from the source of life, Jesus Christ, they are just like dead wood and will be cast on the fire for eternity. Jesus point here is the importance of a personal relationship with Him.

The Jews were first chosen to be God’s vine to the rest of the world to produce good fruit (those who trust in and are obedient to God). Israel was God’s chosen vine but the vine (Israel) separated itself from the vinedresser (one who cultivates and prunes grapevines) and thus produced rotten fruit. So when Jesus says He is “the true Vine,” it means that He has become the vine that Israel was intended to be. God is portrayed here as the King of the vineyard, the Lord of the spiritual kingdom.

John 15:2 NAS:
2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

God wants good fruit. The fruit God desired from Israel was loving obedience, righteousness, and justice, Isaiah 5:1-4 NLT:

1 Now I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill.
2 He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter.
3 Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?

In an act of grace, God “transplanted” Israel into Canaan and gave the nation every possible benefit. If ever a nation had everything it needed to succeed, it was Israel. [fn]

Now we are told in verse 2 of John 15 that every person who claims to be a disciple of Christ, that is a branch, is not necessarily a true follower and therefore is incapable of producing good fruit. Those dead branches are therefore cut off. The living branches, however, the true followers of Christ are pruned so that they are capable of producing even more fruit. Every year in Palestine gardeners prune their vines. They cut off the dead wood and trim the living branches so that their fruit (yield) will be even more plentiful. Jesus tells His disciples that they have been pruned and cleansed by the Gospel of truth which He taught them. To be a branch in the Vine means we are united to Christ and share His life. As we abide in Christ His life flows through us and produces fruit. We are an in tact plant from vine to branch to fruit.

Then in verse 4 Jesus reminds them that good fruit is the result of a new birth and lifestyle that is patterned after the life of Jesus. In effect the person and Jesus become one under the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is this new branch that is capable of producing good fruit. The disciple’s responsibility is to abide (remain) under the control of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to remain? It means to be obedient and trust completely in the Word of God. Without God and Jesus there can be no fruit produced. Fruit can only come from a branch that remains connected to the Vine, and the Vine here is of course Jesus Christ.

The believer who abides in Christ experiences a deepening love for Christ as well as for other believers. He or she also experiences joy.

The vinedresser prunes the branches in two ways: he cuts away dead wood that can breed disease and insects, and he cuts away living tissue so that the life of the vine will not be so weakened that the quality of the crop will be jeopardized. In fact, the vinedresser will even cut away whole bunches of grapes so that the rest of the crop will be of higher quality. God wants both quantity and quality.[fn]

“This pruning process is the most important part of the whole enterprise, and the people who do it must be carefully trained or they can destroy an entire crop. Some vineyards invest two or three years in training the ‘pruners’ so they know where to cut, how much to cut, and even at what angle to make the cut.”[fn]

You may have to think about the statement we are about to make, but a little thinking can often be good for us. One of the harshest judgments God could send your way if you are a believer would be to ignore you and allow you to go merrily on your way. However, because He loves us, He “prunes” us so that we can bear more fruit for His glory. If the branches could talk they would tell you that being pruned hurts. But they would also tell you that at the harvest the pain was worth it because of the crop they were able to produce. Are you feeling the pain of what you consider to be too much pruning. If you are just stop and realize what a great harvest God is going to produce through you and the reward that you are going to receive in Heaven forever. I truly cherish this old saying:
“Don’t be one of those who give up just before the miracle happens.”

“Your Heavenly Father is never nearer to you than when He is pruning you. Sometimes He cuts away the dead wood that might cause trouble; but often He cuts off living tissue that is preventing you from generating a bumper crop. Pruning does not only refer to removing what is bad. It can also mean cutting away the good and the better so that we might enjoy the best. Yes, pruning hurts, but it also helps. We may not enjoy it, but we need it.”[fn]

You might be asking the question, “How does God prune us?” Sometimes He simply uses the Word, Scripture, to convict and cleanse us. In Ephesians 5:26–27 Paul writes:

25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her
26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.
27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.   (NLT)

Sometimes He has to chasten us according to Hebrews 12:1–11:

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.
4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
5 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you.
6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”
7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?
8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all.
9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?
10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.
11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. (NLT)

At the time, it hurts! But when we see what happens in our lives two or perhaps three years down the road, it becomes evident that God knew what He was doing. The more we abide in Christ, the more fruit we produce. The more fruit we produce, the more pruning might be necessary to insure the quality of that bumper crop that we are to continue producing.

John 15:5-8 NAS:
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

What is it that God wants us to do? We should have the answer on the tip of our tongues by this time. He want us to produce fruit of course. And do you know what? It takes time, hard work, and dedication to produce fruit; a good crop does not come overnight. And what is the purpose of producing this fruit? We produce fruit in order to serve others. We serve others by what we do and what we say.

Proverbs 10:17,20,21,23,32 NLT:
17 People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore correction will go astray.
20 The words of the godly are like sterling silver; the heart of a fool is worthless.
21 The words of the godly encourage many, but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense.
23 Doing wrong is fun for a fool, but living wisely brings pleasure to the sensible.
32 The lips of the godly speak helpful words, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverse words.

What would we consider to be some examples of spiritual fruit?

1. Bringing others to faith in Christ (Romans 1:13).
2. Participating in the harvest (John 4:35-38).
3. Growing in obedience (Romans 6:22).
4. Giving (financial resources; Romans 15:28).
5. The fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22, 23).

 

John 15:9-11 NAS:
9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide (remain)[fn] in My love.
10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide (remain)[fn]in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide (remain)[fn] in His love.
11 "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

Believers must remain in Jesus (John 15:4), remain in his words (15:7), and remain in his love. For Jesus to love us in the same way that His Father loves Him means we receive a love that is so complete, unselfish, and so intense that we could never begin to understand it by worldly standards.

We should respond to that kind of love by giving Jesus our complete dedication, commitment, and obedience. How do we remain in Jesus’ love? By obeying His commands as He obeyed His Father’s commands. If we do that, we will experience a joy in our daily lives that comes only with the knowledge of obedience that we have given Him. Jesus Himself modeled two important behaviors for true disciples:

(1) since He obeyed his Father’s commands, we should be able to obey His, especially since a true disciple has the power of the Holy Spirit living within them;

(2) Because He loved them, they should be capable of loving one another through the power of that same Holy Spirit.

The love of God for His only-begotten Son is the highest affection of which we can conceive (Matthew 3:17, 17:5). It is the love of God toward his coequal Son, who is like Him in all things, who always pleased Him, and who was willing to endure the greatest sacrifices and suffering to accomplish His will. And it is this same kind of love that Jesus has for believers; deep, tender, unchanging, and willing to sacrifice Himself for our welfare. If you want to feel that kind of love and also be able to offer that kind of love, all you need do is abide (remain) in Jesus and it will flow through Him into you and from you to others. We have no source of permanent joy but in that love.[fn]

If you love Jesus you do what He wants you to do.

John 14:21-24 NAS:
21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?"
23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.

1 John 2:3-5 NAS:
3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:

Jesus not only tells us what to do; He demonstrates it by the way He lives His life. Jesus does not call Christians to a dull existence of being hated by the world, obeying commands, and waiting to get to Heaven. Instead, He offers us the Kingdom of God right here on earth for the balance of the time we have left. He offers the fullness of joy. Nothing else in all the world can bring the joy that we find in serving, abiding (remaining)[fn] in, and obeying Christ.[fn]

When Jesus used the term, “My joy,” He probably is expressing the happiness which He feels when His followers are obedient, loving, and faithful. Their obedience was a source of joy to Him. That is what He desired. He was now explaining to His apostles what would be expected of them, and He encouraged them to hang in there. When praying to His Father, Jesus said this in John 17:13 NAS:

13 "But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

“That your joy might be full.” Jesus wants to provide His followers with the ability to overcome depression, grief, trials, and hard times through the power of His Holy Spirit.

1 John 1:1-4 NLT:
1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.
2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us.
3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.

2 John 1:12 NLT:
12 I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to do it with paper and ink. For I hope to visit you soon and talk with you face to face. Then our joy will be complete.

This promise of Jesus was fulfilled, as are all His promises. The apostles speak of the fullness of their joy, joy produced in just the way Jesus said it could be, by the presence of the Holy Spirit.[fn] And it showed His great love for them and us that He promised such joy.[fn]

 

The Disciples’ Relationship To The World
John 15:12-17 NAS:

12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
14 "You are My friends if you do what I command you.
15 "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
16 "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
17 "This I command you, that you love one another.

If we were to stop right now and take a quiz on the main point of this passage, what would you say it to be? Love other people? Obey all of Jesus’ commands? The promise of answered prayer? Bearing fruit for God? Jesus’ love for us? All of the above? You might want to give some thought to what your answer might be as we look more carefully at this passage.

And in doing so we would also suggest reading what John wrote in 1 John 4:17 (NLT):

17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.                            

Now most of us like to hear interesting stories, and quite often a story is the best way to nail down a point. We have several stories that we believe will help give you a better understanding of this passage:

The Longest Love Letter

“The longest—and simplest—love letter ever written was the work of a Parisan painter named Marcel de Leclure in 1875. The addressed was Magdalene de Villalore, his aristocratic light of love. The missive contained the phrase ‘jevous aime‘ ‘I Love You’ 1,875,000 times—a thousand times the calendar years of the date. The prodigious lover did not pen the letter with his own hand. He hired a scribe. A lazy type could have instructed the secretary: ‘Write the amatory sentence 1,875,000 times.’ But Leclure was too entranced with the sound of the three words. He dictated it word for word and had the hired man repeat it verbatim. All in all therefore the phrase was uttered orally and in writing 5,625,000 times—before it reached its destination. Never was love made manifest by as great an expenditure of time and effort.” [fn]

Love Over Will Power

“Aleida Huissen, 78, of Rotterdam, Netherlands, has been smoking for 50 years. And for 50 years she has been trying to give up her harmful habit. But she has not been successful—that is, until recently. She has now given up cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. The secret? Leo Jansen, 79, proposed marriage last year, but refused to go through with the wedding until Aleida gave up smoking. Says Aleida now: ‘Will power never was enough to get me off the tobacco habit. Love did it.’”[fn]

Sparing Enemy For God’s Work

“Duncan McColl, a British Soldier in the Revolutionary War, lived through a dangerous assignment. He was protected by an American officer who commanded his men: ‘Hold your fire. That man has work for God to do.’

“The officer proved right. Duncan McColl became a minister when the war was over, and built a church on the Canadian side of the St. Croix River. Members came from both Canada and Maine.

“When the War of 1812 came on, McColl told his people that they were brothers in Christ. So they ignored the war and continued worshipping together. Today the same spirit of fellowship and friendliness still prevails in the sister towns of St. Stephen and Calais. Though separated by a national border, the Americans still cross the river to attend church.

“A fire in one town is a call for volunteer fire fighters and equipment from the other town. On the Fourth of July the Canadian Mounties parade with the Americans; in return state troopers from Maine, and various bands cross the river to help their neighbors honor their Queen.”[fn]

Giving His Last Biscuit

“Sir Ernest Shackleton was asked to tell of his most terrible moment in the Arctic. And he said his worst was one night in an emergency hut. He and his fellows were lying there; he rather apart from the rest. They had given out the ration of the last biscuits. There was nothing more to divide. Every man thought the other was asleep.

“He sensed a stealthy movement and saw one of the men turning to see how the others were faring. He made up his mind that all were asleep and then stretched over the next man and took his biscuit bag and removed the biscuit. Shackleton lived through an eternity of suspense. He would have trusted his life in the hands of that man. Was he turning out a thief under terribly tragic circumstances? Stealing a man’s last biscuit!

“Then Shackleton sensed another movement. He saw the man open his own box, take the biscuit out of his own bag and put it in his comrade’s, and return the man’s biscuit and stealthily put the bag back at the man’s side. Shackleton said, ‘I dare not tell you that man’s name. I felt that act was a secret between himself and God.’”[fn]

Francis Of Assisi Kissed The Leper

“Francis of Assisi was terrified of leprosy. And one day, full in the narrow path that he was traveling, he saw, horribly white in the sunshine, a leper! Instinctively his heart shrank back, recoiling shudderingly from the contamination of that loathsome disease. But then he rallied; and ashamed of himself, ran and cast his arms about the sufferer’s neck and kissed him and passed on. A moment later he looked back, and there was no one there, only the empty road in the hot sunlight. All his days thereafter he was sure it was no leper, but Christ Himself whom he had met.”[fn]

We hope these stories have been helpful in getting a feeling for what Jesus is trying to convey in John 15:12-17. Let us now go back and get the best understanding we can of this essentially critical passage for each and every practicing Christian.

John 15:12 NAS:
 12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another,[fn] just as I have loved you.

One command was given by Jesus to believers to help them be obedient to almost all of Jesus’ commands, and that was for them to have a mutual love for one another, which meant nurturing and caring for one another. The example for that kind of love was to be found in the humble sacrificial service of Jesus Christ. They were to care for one another in the same way Jesus cared for them. They were to put the needs of their fellow Christians ahead of their own needs. To love like that would be to love like Jesus and that kind of living and loving would produce the most satisfying and rewarding life possible.

If we had a dollar for every time we have heard this verse or read this verse or heard or read some reference to this verse, most of us would probably be pretty wealthy people. “Love one another” may be the most recognized phrase in the Bible for people all over the world. But how many people if asked would know the full meaning of this phrase? Well, if someone is not a Christian that would undoubtedly prevent them from providing an answer. But I wonder how many Christians even know its full meaning.

It takes a great deal of Scripture knowledge to understand what it means to love one another. You see, many people cannot relate to love or know the feeling of love because of a number of environmental and genetic factors that would include parenting, school experiences, the kind of friends one chose while growing up, sexual addictions, being abused, what one sees when they look in the mirror, height, weight, size of one’s nose, ears, breasts, and a bunch of other things.

Speaking for myself (Ron Teed), I still cannot feel a sense of trust that someone could truly love me. I am relatively certain that this could be traced to my formative years while I was growing up, but I am not going to go there because even though my parents made mistakes and were not openly expressive of feelings of love, I know in my heart that they wanted the best for me, made many sacrifices for me, and tried to do the best they could with what they had. I can only imagine what my children might write about me on this subject if they were ever asked to do so.

My parents by the way were not Christians, they were Lutherans. If that gives you a chuckle, try to think of people you might know who call themselves Christians and never go to church. My mom and dad did not understand the concept of Jesus Christ as a loving Savior who died for their sins. In fact they had no interest in such things. They just tried to be good people who did what was good and right in the eyes of their community. They would proudly state that they were Lutherans and would attend church on Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and perhaps a few other times when there were special occasions. I can tell you from personal experience that they were good people, in fact they were very good people. My father owned a hardware store and I do not believe he ever took advantage of or cheated anyone. In fact I can remember times when he received calls in the evening from customers who had an emergency situation and needed things like plumbing or electrical supplies to take care of that emergency. Remember this was in the “old days” when you could not get a plumber or electrician after 5:00 P.M. and stores closed at 5:00 or 6:00 P.M. in the evening and were for the most part closed on Sundays. My dad would get in the car, go down and open the store, and give the customer what he needed. There were times when he even accompanied them home and fixed the problem himself at no charge for those who were not very handy around the house.

They taught me values that are still ingrained in me today. If I did anything wrong when I was a kid, I often paid for it with a good old-fashioned beating. I was consciously aware of my behavior because I did not want to do anything that would upset my dad and warrant his punishment. My parents were not well educated but they wanted the best possible education for me and they worked very hard to save money for that day. There was never any question about whether I would go to college. The only question was where I would go to college.

If I were to go to a psychologist or psychiatrist today and tell them about my inability to believe I am worthy of being loved, they would undoubtedly trace the problem to my childhood. But let me just say this: I consider myself fortunate to have been provided the opportunities I had as a child. I grew up in a wonderful neighborhood and a wonderful time in the United States. I attended great schools and had exceptional teachers who not only provided a quality education but a desire to learn. For the most part I would change very little if I had the opportunity to do so. But before I really get carried away on my past I want to get to the point I have been leading up to, and that is that there was a major missing piece to the puzzle of my life and that was Jesus Christ.

Although I was taught to develop integrity, honesty, moral values, and to be a good all-around person, it was clear to me who I was to develop all of these qualities for, and that was for me. Neither my parents nor I knew anything about the love that Jesus was talking about in verse twelve of John fifteen. They were good people and did good things because they wanted their friends and neighbors to see them as being good and thereby letting them know how good they were. I was part of how people viewed my parents. If I failed or if I was known as a “bad kid” it would reflect on them and their image in the community. Therefore I had better not let them down, and if I did I would find myself in the woodshed. I quite naturally picked up on that lifestyle and tried my best to do and accomplish things that would make me look good to others. However, none of those things we were doing were for the glory of God, only for the glory of the Teeds. So let us look at that verse again to see what my family could have had and what you can have by understanding it and putting it into action in your life, John 15:12 NAS: "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.”

It is true that Jesus commands them to love one another, but how does He tell them they should do that? They should love one another just as Jesus has loved them. They are to take Jesus’ behavior as their example and copy it. They are not to love each other as Lutherans or Methodists or Baptists or Catholics. They are to love each other as followers of Jesus Christ, the one and only way to God and salvation. Why should they love each other? Go back to verse 11 and you will get the answer.

He wants them to love each other so that their joy in this world may be filled to the brim. This means finding joy in everything including trials and suffering, and yes even death. Wouldn’t that be great!

Would you be able to find joy in something like the death of a parent, spouse, or child?
After expressing a natural feeling of grief, loss, and sadness, yes there can be joy in knowing that your loved one is with Christ in Heaven and that one day you will have a joyous reunion with them. How do we know that? I must assume that if that loved one is not a believer, you as a believer would have been praying for them for some time.If you have been praying for them for some time and you are a redeemed follower of Jesus Christ, your prayer is going to be answered, John 15:16 NAS: So that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”

If you continually pray for the salvation of someone in the name of Jesus Christ, that person somehow and someway, even if it is in the last few seconds of life, will be given the opportunity to accept Jesus before the end comes, and they will be saved.

For you to love us and for us to love you, we must place ourselves in total submission to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will program us to live in accordance with the Word of God as expressed in the Bible. It is therefore important for us to cooperate with the Holy Spirit by having a thorough and working knowledge of our Bibles. When we combine the power and leading of the Holy Spirit with a mind that is filled with knowledge of the Word of God, we are going to be capable of obeying this command in verse 12. Such a level of obedience to Christ’s command can be attained only by allowing the love of Jesus to flow from the Vine, Jesus, into and through the branches which are His obedient followers.[fn]

John 15:13-14 NAS:

13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
14 "You are My friends if you do what I command you.

His own death on the cross proved His love for them; now they must prove their love for Him by loving those that He loved. Friends love each other and help each other. The obedience that Christ asks from us is not the kind of obedience a slave gives to a master, but of a friend. Because we are His friends and abide in Him, we know His will and share His secrets.[fn]

What greater demonstration of love could one person show for another (one’s friend) than to be willing to die in their place and then go ahead and do it? So, might we be able to claim that Jesus loved those “friends” for whom He died? You bet your life we can (pun intended). Such a death is an undeniable expression of true love, and the fact that Jesus called them His “friends” equates to Jesus acknowledging that they were obedient; quite a commendation from the Lord. Abraham was called God’s “friend” because he did what God commanded Him.[fn]

“Who is a ‘friend’ of Jesus? Those who know him intimately and obey him willingly.”[fn]

Perhaps this would be a good time to be reminded of what Jesus said back in John 14:21-24 NAS:

21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"
23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words.

And how about John 13:34-35 NAS:

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

“So, our friendship with Christ involves love and obedience. But it also involves knowledge: He ‘lets us in on’ His plans. Indeed, He is our Master (John 13:13, 16), but He does not treat us as servants. He treats us as friends, if we do what He commands.”[fn]

How is it possible for Jesus to command us to love one another? Can true love be commanded? You must keep in mind that Christian love is not basically a “feeling”; it is an act of the will. The proof of our love is not in our feelings but in our actions, even to the extent of laying down our lives for Christ and for one another, 1 John 3:16:  We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another (NRSV). We may not like having to do something even if it is accordance with God’s will, but the test of real love for Christ is that we do it anyhow. While the emotions are certainly involved, real Christian love is an act of the will.[fn]

One of the greatest privileges we have as His friends is that of learning to know God better and “getting in on” God’s secrets. Warren Wiersbe described the following impact made on him by Dr. Oswald Sanders: “I can never forget the impact on my own heart when I heard Dr. Oswald Sanders say to the Back to the Bible staff, “Each of us is as close to God as we choose to be.” We are His friends, and we ought to be near the throne, listening to His Word, enjoying His intimacy, and obeying His commandments.[fn]

John 15:15-17 NAS:
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.
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.
17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

Jesus tells them that although He is their King, He does not consider them to be His servants but His friends. In fact if we look elsewhere in John we see that Jesus, the King, actually humbled Himself to a position where He served the disciples.

John 13:3-5 NAS:
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,
4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.
5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

Do you realize what this means? The King of the whole universe, the Creator of all things came to earth willing to humble Himself to serve you and me in order to show us how to love. He was willing to humble Himself to serve His disciples by what was considered a humiliating task in this culture so that we might know what love is. He then was willing to serve you and me by “laying down His life” so that we might have eternal life in Heaven with Him. The next time you question God’s love for you, please remember these things and then ask for forgiveness and thank Him for this assurance; That you are a son or daughter of the King! That makes you royalty! That you are guaranteed eternity in Heaven if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior!

A servant does not for the most part have a buddy buddy relationship with their master. For the most part a servant does what he is told without question. Jesus called His disciples “friends”  because He had shared with them the very secrets which God had shared with Him.

Now it was common practice at this time for disciples (or students) to select a teacher. Jesus then reminded them that He had chosen them instead (cf. John 15:16,19). The purpose of His choosing was so that they would produce fruit, as we touched on earlier.

John 15:5,8 NAS:
2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Just as a lieutenant in the special forces of the Marines may choose a few especially good men (they are all good men) for a special assignment, Jesus chose these twelve men for a mission, and He promised them that His Father would answer their requests in order to accomplish that mission (“whatever you ask in My name”).

Once again, Jesus brought up the privilege of prayer. The friends of the king certainly speak to their sovereign and share their burdens and needs with him. In the days of monarchies, it was considered a very special honor to be invited to speak to the king or queen; yet the friends of Jesus Christ can speak to Him at any time. The throne of grace is always available to them.[fn]

 

Disciples’ Relationship to the World
John 15:18-27:

18 "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
20 "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
21 "But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.
22 "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 "He who hates Me hates My Father also.
24 "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.
25 "But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, 'They hated Me without a cause.' [fn]
26 "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth (the Holy Spirit)[fn] who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,
27 and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.    (NAS)

“If you become an evangelical Christian in Laos, the Communist neighbor of Vietnam and Cambodia, you likely will be ‘asked’ to sign a fill-in-the-blank form. And it's not a membership card at your neighborhood church. The form reads, in part:

“I, (name), who live in (location), believe in a foreign religion (a religion that is against government policy),[fn] which the imperialists have used for their own benefit to divide the united front and to build power for themselves against the local authorities. Now I and my family clearly see the intentions of the enemy and regret the deeds which we have committed. We have clearly seen the goodness of the Party and the Government. Therefore, I and my family voluntarily and unequivocally resign from believing in this foreign religion.

“If you sign, you promise not to participate in this ‘foreign religion’ under punishment of law. If you don't sign, you can expect humiliation, harassment, and persecution, including probable imprisonment and torture. The document's widespread use by Laotian officials has been authenticated by the World Evangelical Fellowship's Religious Liberty Commission and other sources. Hundreds of rural Christians reportedly have been forced to sign the form in public, then compelled to participate in animistic sacrifices (demon worship and sacrifices to demons).”[fn]

Look again at Jesus’ words in John 15:18, 19 NAS:

"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.  19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”

We are not to be surprised when the world treats us like the followers of Christ are being treated in Laos and for that matter all over the world. Now you may or may not understand why the world hated Jesus from the moment He came. Just in case you do not know, they hated Him because He was not the Messiah they were looking for. The Jewish leaders wanted a military hero who would free them from the control of the hated Roman Empire thus allowing them to exercise power once again throughout the world. In addition they also wanted the Messiah to tell them what wonderfully righteous people they were. Instead Christ brought a message of love rather than revolution, and He condemned them for practicing hypocrisy in their relationship with God. Also, they did not want someone who came criticizing their behavior and turning their beliefs and values upside down. They wanted to be told how good and special they were and they wanted to enjoy the power and wealth that came with being part of the ruling class. Instead they found this Man who taught that they should give all they have to the poor and then follow Him. People did not want to live like that then and they do not want to live like that now. People for the most part want life to be all about them.

So if you are a friend of Christ you are going to be hated by most people. The other side of that is that if you are friends with the world, the world will accept you warmly, but you will be an enemy of God. In James 4:4 James writes: “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God (NLT).”

A fundamental reason for the world’s hatred of Christians is born out of their different values. For example, if we look to 1 Peter 4:1-4 NLT we see some of these differences highlighted:

1 So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin.
2 You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.
3 You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.
4 Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you.

If we lean on Christ during our suffering, if we turn to Him and trust in Him to get us through it, we can have victory over sin. But the central idea here seems to be the same truth taught in Romans 6 (Message):

1 So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving?
2 I should hope not! If we've left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there?
3 Or didn't you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land! That's what baptism into the life of Jesus means.
4 When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus.
5 Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country.
6 Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the Cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call! What we believe is this:
7 8 If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection.
9 We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word.
10 When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us.
11 From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did.
12 That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day.
13 Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you've been raised from the dead!—into God's way of doing things.
14 Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God.

17 But thank God you've started listening to a new master,
18 one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!
19 I'm using this freedom language because it's easy to picture. You can readily recall, can't you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God's freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?
20 As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter.
21 But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
22 But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way!
23 Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.

We are identified with Christ in His suffering and death, and therefore can have victory over sin. As we yield ourselves to God, and have the same attitude toward sin that Jesus had, we can overcome the old life and make evident the new life by the way we live our lives.[fn]

Paul tells of further benefits that come when we separate ourselves from the world in Romans 12:1-2 NLT:

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Once a person places their faith and trust completely in the work and the teaching of Christ, they find a freedom in which they are given a whole new value system. The believer is given a more meaningful and satisfying purpose in life. The believer is given a life in which they can experience true joy. The believer is given a true sense of hope, both for the balance of their life here on earth as well as in eternity in Heaven when their life here on earth comes to an end. The believer is given the kind of love that can only come through the presence of the Holy Spirit which now lives within them; and the Spirit gives them the capability of both feeling it and giving it to others.

As a result of all these things that make the Christian different from the world and its value systems, we find yet another example of the world’s racism. The world hates Christians because the Christians are not like them. Now this does not mean that Christians are not living in the real world. They do and they are very much a part of it, and God wants them to live in a manner that attracts the world to the Christian life. In Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount Matthew recalls Jesus saying:

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.
15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.  (Matthew 5:13-16 NLT)

Christians therefore are not isolated from the world, they just look at the world from a perspective that has Christ rather than self as their focus.

If there is anything in the life of a Christian that is getting in the way of their feeling such a Christ-centered focus so that they may feel God’s love and do God’s will, it is a temptation from the world and needs to be identified, and then a plan of action developed to remove whatever it is from their lives.

John 15:20-21 NAS:
20 "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
21 "But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.

Here Jesus reminds His disciples of something He had told them earlier (John 13:16). “No servant is greater than his master.” Just as they were to follow Jesus’ example of humble service, so too were they to so closely identify themselves with Jesus that if He suffered they too would suffer by copying His behavior and doing the things He had done. In some cases, however, by the grace of God there was a positive result and people would come to accept the apostles’ teaching about Jesus. But for the most part these people who refused to accept the apostles teaching and hated them did so for the same reason they hated Jesus, and that was because they did not know God, the One who sent Jesus.

Had they known God they would have accepted His Son. Their ignorance got in the way of their knowing that Jesus was doing the work of His Father.

This was not something new for Jesus to say for He brought up the subject back in John 8:19 NAS: “So they were saying to Him, ‘Where is Your Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.’" Also in John 8:54-55 NAS:

54 Jesus answered, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, 'He is our God';
55 and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word.

Jesus had taught the truth that God had sent Him to teach. Further, Jesus demonstrated His supernatural powers by fulfilling prophecy and performing miracles. There could be no doubt that He was truly the Son of God. But the religious leaders refused to recognize the truth even when it hit them like a ton of bricks.

John 1:9-11 NAS:
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

The Church of God has endured since the time of Christ but it has done so only through the power of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Many of the world’s religions today claim to know God, but they do not know the true God or the Son, Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the only Savior of the world. Satan has blinded them, 2 Corinthians 4:3–4 NLT:

3 If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing.
4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News.
They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

People open the door to Satan to come in and control their lives and blind them to the truth when they refuse to believe in Jesus. Their sin contributes to their blindness, Ephesians 4:17–19 NLT:

17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.
18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.
19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

They are so convinced that their religious beliefs, which they have changed and added to for the purpose of serving their own self interests, are the only true religious beliefs, and so they persecute the followers of Christ in the name of their own religion. Paul was one of the chief persecutors of Christians before Christ brought him to his knees on the road to Damascus. Jesus will address this subject again in John chapter sixteen.

John 16:1-4 NAS:
1 "These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling.
2 "They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.
3 "These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.
4 "But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.[fn]

Now here is a question for your consideration only that we would ask you to answer honestly. Are you, or can you be, honest about the sin in your own lives? In other words if you were to read through the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17, would you be able to honestly admit that you have broken at least one if not more than one either in thought, word, or deed? Well, the Bible tells us that no one, other than Jesus Christ, will ever get through this life without sinning in any of those ways. So, if your answer was, “No, I cannot be honest about my own sin,” then you are either unaware of the nature of sin or you are not being honest with yourself. The sad thing about this is that most of the people in the world today do not want to believe they are sinners and consequently would not want to admit they are sinners, and would very likely answer, “No” to this question. The simple truth is that most of the people of the world will not recognize the specifics of their own sin.

Now do you remember what Jesus taught and did over and over again throughout His ministry? Well let us look at some examples in John to refresh your memory:

John 3:1-2 NAS:
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;
2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."

John 5:36-38 NLT:
36 But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me.
37 And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face,
38 and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.

John 10:24-27 (NLT)
24 The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name.
26 But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep.
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

John 14:10-11 NLT:
10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. 11 Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

So did the people have any excuse to continue to sin? They had seen by Jesus’ words and miracles that He must come from God. That in itself should have brought anyone to believe in Him. But they would still not believe, being blinded by their own pride and selfish ambition. In spite of all that He told them and showed them, they still would not admit it or do anything about it.

What did Jesus tell the Pharisees after He healed the blind man?

John 9:39–41 NAS:
39 And Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind."
40 Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, "We are not blind too, are we?"
41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, “We see,” your sin remains.

They had to admit that Jesus had healed a man who had been blind since birth, but they would still not accept the evidence that He was the Messiah and place their trust in Him.     

Jesus told them that they were the ones who were blind and that having admitted that they had actually seen some of the miracles Jesus performed and heard the things which He had been sent to teach, this made their sin even worse. They continued to sin, not because of a lack of knowledge but because they wanted things their way rather than God’s way.

Their attitude was similar to that described in 2 Peter 3:15,16 ESV:

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

Now we will continue on to John 15:22-23 NAS:

22 "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 "He who hates Me hates My Father also.

There was no excuse for these people not to recognize their sin. Jesus had by His teaching and behavior made it clear that He was the One who God promised to send. The sin of refusing to recognize God’s purpose in sending Jesus would certainly have caused them some feelings of guilt because in their hearts they knew they were witnessing the promised arrival of the Messiah. Look at what Paul wrote in Romans 1:18-23 ESV:

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

The world will not be honest about its own sin. Jesus came as the Revelation of God. If Jesus had not come, their sin would not be considered so great.

 

The World Hated (And Hates)
Jesus Without Cause

John 15:24-25 NAS:
24 "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.
25 "But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, 'They hated Me without a cause.' [fn]

How could Jesus say that these Jews would not be sinners if they had not witnessed His miracles? The Bible tells us that every one has sinned. Now we know that people will often reach for any lame excuse they can come up with to keep from accepting responsibility for their actions, and that before Jesus’ coming, people might have claimed a lack of knowledge about Him as an excuse for their sin, as we learn from Paul in his sermon at the Areopagus before the learned men of Athens, which is most often referred to as the Sermon on Mars Hill.

Acts 17:30 NAS:
30 "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,

Now this brings us to a place in our study which we believe requires a short detour from the book of John in order to better understand what is being said in John 15:24 and Acts 17:30, about people who did not sin and God having overlooked the times of ignorance. There are a number of verses in the Scripture that repeat the above message in Acts 17:30. One of which is Romans 3:25 (NAS), and we will include here verses 21-24 and verse 26 to complete the context for better understanding:

21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.
22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,
26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Now these verses must raise some questions in your mind because they certainly did in ours. Could this mean that God overlooked the sin of all people before the birth of Christ, and if so where did they go when they died? Were evil people who did not trust in God given a free “advance to Heaven card?” Or could it mean that God overlooks all of the previous sins of people who trusted Him and expressed faith in Him even before Jesus came to earth?

When such questions arise in our study of Scripture, we like to address them so that we all have as complete an understanding of what we are studying as possible. This has been a very difficult passage for many to understand but we trust that the conclusion we have reached is based on solid biblical evidence. First let us look to the Old Testament to find a foundation for this New Testament doctrine.

We do not believe these verses refer to sins in a person’s past; rather we believe they refer to the sins of those who lived before Christ‘s atoning death on the cross. “Well,” you might justifiably ask, “how were people saved in the Old Testament?” Christ had not yet come, so how could they believe in someone or something they did not know anything about? Well this is where things start to become very interesting. Let us read together the passage from Genesis 15:1-6 NAS:

1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great."
2 Abram said, "O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"
3 And Abram said, "Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir."
4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir."
5 And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be.”
6 Then he (Abram)[fn]believed in the Lord; and He (the Lord)[fn]reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Do you see how Abram received salvation and righteousness? He expressed faith and trust in what God told him, that is how. “True Bible faith is confident obedience to God’s Word in spite of circumstances and consequences.”

This is quite a simple kind of faith. God speaks and we listen to His Word. We trust His Word and act on it no matter what the circumstances are or what the consequences may be. The circumstances may be impossible, and the consequences frightening and unknown; but we obey God’s Word just the same and believe He will always do what is right and what is best.[fn]

The unsaved world does not understand true faith, probably because it sees so little faith in action in the Church today. The cynical editor, H.L. Mencken, defined faith as “illogical belief in the occurrence of the impossible.” Faith is not some kind of feeling that we can just create. It is our total response to what God has revealed in His Word.
Three words in Hebrews 11:1–3 summarize what true faith is: substance, evidence, and witness.[fn]

Hebrews 11:1-3 KJV:
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it the elders obtained a good report (witness).[fn]
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Let us also read that passage from the New Living Translation, Hebrews 11:1-3 NLT:

1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
2 Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.
3 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

The word translated “substance” means literally “to stand under, to support.” Faith is to a Christian what a foundation is to a house: it gives confidence and assurance that he or she will stand. So you might say, “Faith is the confidence of things hoped for.” When a believer has faith, it is God’s way of giving him confidence and assurance that what is promised will be experienced.[fn]

The word evidence simply means “conviction.” This is an inward assurance from God that He will deliver what He has promised. In other words you believe for certain everything that God has promised.[fn]

Witness (kjv, “obtained a good report”)is an important word in Hebrews 11. It occurs not only in verse 2, but twice in verse 4, once in verse 5, and once in verse 39. The summary in Hebrews 12:1 calls this list of men and women “so great a cloud of witnesses.” They are people of faith. This witness was His divine approval of their lives and ministries.[fn] They witnesses to us because God witnessed to them. In each example cited, God gave witness to that, and so we are basically being told that because those people demonstrated faith in God, God blessed them, and we are able to learn from them how we too can be blessed by believing in and trusting in God. The best way to grow in faith is to walk with the faithful. You may read about great men and women of faith in Hebrews 11 and 12 if you would like some outstanding examples.

Warren Wiersbe has said that:

“Waiting is, for me, one of the most difficult disciplines of life. Yet true faith is able to wait for the fulfillment of God’s purposes in God’s time. But, while we are waiting, we must also be obeying. ‘By faith Abraham... Obeyed’ (Hebrews 11:8). He obeyed when he did not know where he was going (Hebrews 11:8–10). He lived in tents because he was a stranger and pilgrim in the world and had to be ready to move whenever God spoke. Christians today are also strangers and pilgrims (1 Peter 1:1; 2:11). Abraham had his eyes on the heavenly city and lived to fulfill God‘s will.”[fn]

That is exactly how we should live our lives.

Faith occurs when one accepts God as trustworthy and believes His word (Deuteronomy 9:23) and His promises, as is the case with Abraham in Genesis 15:1-6: “And he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.”[fn]

So we may conclude that those who have lived from the time of Adam and Eve had sufficient evidence through the teaching of God and the prophets that a Savior would be coming to cover their sins and if they believed and trusted in God’s promise through His Word, that kind of faith would provide forgiveness for their sins until Jesus arrived to actually pay that penalty on the cross.

But in that interim God decided to institute a sacrificial system involving animals to constantly remind the Jewish people that sin may only be forgiven by a perfect blood sacrifice, and the only One in the world who would ever be perfect without any sin whatsoever, would be the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Therefore the people were required to bring the best animals from their flocks and herds to be sacrificed to God in His Temple.

You see, back in the Old Testament, people would bring a perfect animal (the type of animal was dependent on the type of sacrifice being given) to the Temple as a sacrifice. Back then, before Christ came, such a sacrifice was required by the Law God had given the Jews through Moses.

Now no one believed that little lamb, or whatever animal was being sacrificed, actually could remove their sins, but that it pointed to the coming of Christ, their promised Messiah whose sacrificial death would remove their sins. By obeying God’s Law requiring a blood sacrifice demonstrated their faith and trust in God that one day such a Savior would come and His sacrificial death alone would pay for all the sins of mankind past, present, and future. Christ would be the only acceptable sacrifice for sin to God because He was the only person who would never sin, and sin required the sacrifice of a perfect human being. Now the very first indication in the Bible of an animal sacrifice occurs in:

Genesis 4:3-4 NAS:
3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground.
4 Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering;

If you have ever wondered why God was pleased with Abel’s offering over Cain’s, it is most likely because Abel’s offering was a blood sacrifice given in faith. This is very important to understand because God had undoubtedly told Adam and Eve, Cain’s and Abel’s parents, the same thing He made known later to the prophets, and that was that the forgiveness of a person’s sin could only be covered by the shedding of human blood in the sacrificial death of a perfect human being.

God promised that He would send that Savior at some time in the future, but that until then the shedding of the blood of an animal in sacrifice to God would postpone God’s judgment on that person because it would represent that person’s faith in God’s promise that the true Savior would come to pay once and for all for the sins of all those who trust in God’s promises, from the beginning of time to the time Jesus returns in the end times. Adam and Eve undoubtedly taught this essential truth to all their children and it is very likely that God would have taught it to both Cain and Abel as well.

In other words God told the people that if they believed in Him they would believe His promise that one day a Messiah would come to pay the penalty for their sins, but until then He wanted them to have a reminder that their sins could only be forgiven by the shedding of that Messiah’s blood in His death. Therefore, God told them they were to bring the best of their flock, the most perfect animal, and sacrifice it on the altar in God’s Temple as a reminder of their need for the cleansing blood of the Messiah for forgiveness of their sin. This idea of sacrifice occurs over and over again in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Way back in the Garden of Eden, God dressed Adam and Eve with the skins of animals which could very well have been sacrifices to God (Genesis 3:21). A distinction also was made between clean and unclean animals, which there is every reason to believe had reference to the offering up of sacrifices (Genesis 7:2, 8), because animals were not given to man as food till after the Flood.[fn]

The same practice is continued down through the age of the patriarchs.[fn] In the Mosaic period of Old Testament history definite laws were prescribed by God regarding the different kinds of sacrifices that were to be offered and the manner in which the offering was to be made.[fn] [fn]

Suppose you had been there when Abel brought a little lamb to God. Perhaps God would have tested him by saying something along these lines: "Abel, do you think this little lamb is going to take away your sin?" Abel would have answered God, “No.” Then God may have said, "Then why did you bring it?" Abel’s answer would have been, "You Lord required it. You commanded us to bring this kind of offering." Hebrews 11:4 tells us "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. . . ." The only way Abel could have brought that sacrifice by faith was for either his parents to have told Him about the sacrifice God required or for God himself to have told him to bring it.[fn]

Again, if you had been there you might have said to Abel, "Specifically what do you think God has in mind?" And he would very likely have replied: "Well, God has told my mother and father and me that a Savior is coming. We don't know when, but until He comes, we're to do this because we're to receive our salvation by faith." And so “He passed over the sins previously committed” (Romans 3:25; Acts 17:30; John 15:24)
means that up to the time when Christ died, God saved on credit. God did not save Abraham because he brought a sacrifice. God never saved any of them because they brought a sacrifice.

An animal sacrifice pointed to Christ. When Christ came, He paid for all the sins of the past as well as all the sins that would be committed in the future. His death, therefore, covered the sins for all time.[fn]

Hebrews 9:22 NAS:
22 And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

In describing how God provided us with undeserved righteousness, Hebrews 9:22 refers us to the Old Testament and the sacrificial system, Leviticus 17:11 NAS:

11 for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible.

Only now, the life offered as a sacrifice is not a spotless animal, but Christ. God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins. That punishment involved His death—Jesus shed his blood for sinners. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, God can accept those who put their trust in Jesus. Only the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross was the effective atonement for our sins. Christ stands in our place, having paid the penalty of death for our sin, and only He could satisfy God’s anger against us.[fn]

Old Testament believers looked forward in faith to Christ’s coming and were saved, even though they did not know Jesus’ name or the details of his earthly life.[fn]

Unlike the Old Testament believers, we know about the God who loved the world so much that He gave His own Son (John 3:16). The question to answer is, have you put your trust in Jesus? God is entirely fair and just, both in His inherent character, and in His dealings with sinners. Christ’s death relates to both the past and the present.[fn]

The only answer to humanity’s plight—that is, death because of sin—was given by God in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This action fulfilled God’s own Law and His promises to Israel. The way to receive this answer for ourselves is through faith in Jesus Christ.[fn]

Hopefully we now have a somewhat better understanding of the background of
forgiveness and faith in order to better understand John 15:24: “If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father.” Acts 17:30: “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.” And Romans 3:25: “For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past.”

The Greeks on Mars Hill simply did not get it when Paul tried to explain to them that God was not an idol who could be constructed by human hands. God is far different than any idol. Also, the Athenians needed to understand that although God had overlooked people’s former ignorance (not in the sense that he condoned it but rather that He had not yet judged it), He now commanded everyone everywhere to turn from idolatry and turn to Him. Paul wanted them to know that this was not just a theological debate, but rather a life and death reality. If they did not accept this teaching, they would have to face the consequences that would result from their rejecting it. Whatever the nature and consequences of their former failure to respond to God, that would be nothing compared to ignoring what was now being offered by the finished work of Christ.[fn] That is in effect what John 15:24 is saying. No one who has knowledge of the Word of God, His miracles, and the prophecy He has fulfilled, has any justifiable excuse for not believing. Now that the Light has come, those who willfully reject it have no excuse.  And because the revelation in Jesus and by Jesus is so tied to the Father, to hate Jesus is to hate God (John 15:24b).[fn]

John 15:24  points out that because Jesus performed miracles the likes of which no one else could perform, they knew for a fact that at the very least this man was a direct ambassador from God and therefore anything that He said should be believed. John 3:2 told us, “No one could perform the miraculous signs You are doing if God were not with Him.” But the nation as a whole rejected both Jesus and the Father because in their sins they loved darkness rather than light (3 John 19). The nation thought it was serving God in rejecting Jesus (John 16:2-3) but in reality it was serving Satan (John 8:44). Sin is basically irrational. Their hatred of Jesus was without any rational cause which also fits the pattern of hatred for righteous people, as seen in those who hated David.[fn] [fn] “How does the Holy Spirit encourage believers when they are experiencing the hatred and opposition of the world? It is primarily through the Word of God. For one thing, the Spirit reminds us that this opposition is clearly expressed by various writers in the Scriptures. In John 15:25, Jesus quoted Psalms 35:19 and 69:4. The Word assured Him that the hatred of the world was not because of anything He had done to deliberately cause such opposition. We today can turn to passages like Philippians 1:28–30; 2 Timothy 2:9–12; Hebrews 12:3–4; and 1 Peter 4:12ff. We also have the encouraging words of our Lord found in the Gospels.”[fn]

Now the concluding verses of chapter 15.

John 15:26-27 NAS:
 26 "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,
27 and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

Jesus wished to reassure the disciples that the Spirit would testify to them about Jesus just as they would testify about Jesus to others. The most important aspect of this statement is that the Spirit goes out from the Father. In the light of verse 27 it is clear that this promised function of the Spirit was first and foremost for the disciples. They had been with Jesus and had the responsibility of being eyewitnesses to the historic events. [fn]
Jesus encouraged His disciples by the promise of the Spirit’s work in the world. As the work of Jesus was to promote the Father and not Himself, so the Spirit will teach them the truth about Jesus as the Messiah. And what the Spirit says is true for He is the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13). As the Counselor (John 14:26; 16:7), the Spirit presents God’s truth to the world. The Spirit is sent from the Father (John 14:26), just as the Son was sent from the Father. Yet this mysterious work of the Spirit is not done in isolation from the Church. The apostles then were to also teach other people the facts that they came to know. As the apostles witnessed to other people about the truth they learned about Jesus, the Holy Spirit would act in the lives of those same people persuading them, and people were saved. The same combination of human obedience to the divine command (Acts 1:8) coupled with the witness of the Spirit is needed in every believer‘s life.[fn]

Acts 1:8 NAS:
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

“In his autobiography, Colonel Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame says that he was always a God-fearing man. In every venture he gave God a tenth of the profits. Yet he knew that if he died, God probably wouldn’t take him to heaven. Worried, he traveled to Australia to a special church convention for the answer. He didn’t find it.

“One day, Sanders was walking down a street in Louisville, Kentucky, when Reverend Waymon Rodgers of Louisville’s Evangel Tabernacle invited him to some evangelistic services. Several days later, Sanders went. At age 79, he claimed the promises of Romans 10:9. ‘When I walked out of that church that night, I knew I was a different man. All my tithing and good deeds had never given me the sense of God’s presence that I knew then,’ he says.”[fn]

The Holy Spirit is with you continually to help you accomplish God’s will, and therefore lead to faith those to whom you witness. Did you miss an opportunity that God gave you to witness on behalf of Jesus yesterday? Try not to let that happen today. When the opportunity presents itself, tell somebody about Jesus and then simply turn them over to the Holy Spirit. Remember it is only by the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit that anyone comes to faith. But we provide opportunities for the Holy Spirit to convert someone when we tell them about Christ.

Isaiah

John

Romans

1 Peter


© Ron Teed - Used by permission. All rights Reserved.