Good morning,
John 15 is about abiding in Christ. We will learn about vines, branches, and why it is important for the branches to abide in the vine. We will also learn God loves us, calls us His friend, we will be hated by the world, and that Jesus will send us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit of God.
Christians are friends of Christ (15:12-17)
“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.”
Jesus teaches us three principles.
First, we are to love one another. This is not a request, but a command. Before we were saved, Jesus loved us. God sent Him to earth, in the form of a man, to pay the sin debt we owed.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Second, Jesus calls us His friends. He saw us as “friends” before His death. He laid done His life on the cross for us, His friends. He tells us we are His friends, if we follow His commands.
When we think of Jesus, we think of Him as God the Son, the creator of all things, the Savior of all mankind, the babe in the manger, the man on the cross, or the man resurrected from the dead. But friend? What a relationship we have with God the Son, for Him to call us His friend.
Third, He reminds us that He has chosen and ordained us to go and bring forth fruit. Soul winning and discipleship go hand in hand. When God allows us to see someone come to know Christ, our responsibility has just begun. Discipleship produces fruit in the person’s life. Character, obedience, reading and understanding the Bible, and church attendance, is the fruit of a person who witnesses for Christ.
This passage is challenging.
Do we love as Jesus loves? Do we call the unlovable our friends? Are we witnessing and discipling others, so they can bear much fruit?
Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001
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