John 15 (Twenty-three) Love or Hatred?

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily word count limit.

To pick up the topic, you may need to read the one or two postings preceding this one.

I would just like to apologise for the long time you had to wait for this post. We had difficulty with Internet and were moving about quite a lot on this mission to South Africa, which delayed getting it out.

“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.  But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause,’” (John 15:22-25).

When it comes to judgement day, those who have heard the gospel cannot say they did not know. We will also be judged by the measure of the revelation and Bible knowledge we had and applied. In other words, if we knew we had to do something and have not done it, our judgement will be according to how much we knew. For instance James 3:1 states: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” Because teachers know more, they will be judged according to the measure by which they have applied their knowledge in obedience. Everybody will likewise be judged on their obedience to what they knew they had to do.

The moment Jesus had informed His listeners that He mentioned in John 15:22-25, they were accountable and the moment we have heard the gospel and teachings about the Lord’s will, we are accountable. We have one of two options: We can either accept the truth and obey, or we can reject the truth and hate the Lord. Throughout John chapter fourteen we learn that if we love the Lord we will obey His teaching and commands. I think it is fair to deduct that if we do not obey Him we do not love Him. Could it be equalled to the hatred Jesus mentioned above?

If we see someone walking in front of a car and we could have done something to help such a person, but do nothing, did we love that person? If we know someone does something displeasing to the Lord and we do not help them by warning them and guiding them in the right direction, do we love them? If we see someone headed for hell and we do not share the gospel with them, or at least pray fervently for their salvation, do we love that person?

We read in 1 John 4:20, 21: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” Where do we fit in? Jesus mentioned ‘them’ and ‘they’ in John 15:22-25 above, obviously not referring to His disciples. Who of us count amongst the ‘them’ Jesus was referring to and who count among His disciples? It is easy to have a form of godliness and to appear godly, but the proof of this pudding is in obedience. If we do not actively do love to our neighbour, but only pretend to love them, do we really love the Lord who so deeply care for them, or do we hate Him?

Lord, this is really something to consider. Help me to love both you and my neighbour in word and deed.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.