June 27th, 2006
The Tongue – Edition #35: Loving Without Reason
John 15:1-27
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.”
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’”
“When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”
Starting out with verse 10:
John 15:10 if:
ean
eh-an'
A conditional particle; in case that, provided, etc.; often used in connection with other particles to denote indefiniteness or uncertainty: - before, but, except, (and) if, (if) so, (what-, whither-) soever, though, when (-soever), whether (or), to whom, [who-] so (-ever).
It’s conditional. If you do this, then this will happen. If you obey my commands, then you remain in my love. It seems to hinge all upon the “if”. It all falls back on me. What does this have to do with the tongue? Well, I’ll get there.
John 15:12 command:
entolē
en-tol-ay'
Injunction, that is, an authoritative prescription: - commandment, precept.
Now, I don’t like taking medicine. I don’t. If I can’t skip taking a pill, I’d much rather do so. But antibiotics shouldn’t be played around with, because the disease can come back with a vengeance if the medication isn’t taken to completion.
Injunction (noun):
The Tongue – Edition #35: Loving Without Reason
John 15:1-27
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.”
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’”
“When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”
Starting out with verse 10:
John 15:10 if:
ean
eh-an'
A conditional particle; in case that, provided, etc.; often used in connection with other particles to denote indefiniteness or uncertainty: - before, but, except, (and) if, (if) so, (what-, whither-) soever, though, when (-soever), whether (or), to whom, [who-] so (-ever).
It’s conditional. If you do this, then this will happen. If you obey my commands, then you remain in my love. It seems to hinge all upon the “if”. It all falls back on me. What does this have to do with the tongue? Well, I’ll get there.
John 15:12 command:
entolē
en-tol-ay'
Injunction, that is, an authoritative prescription: - commandment, precept.
Now, I don’t like taking medicine. I don’t. If I can’t skip taking a pill, I’d much rather do so. But antibiotics shouldn’t be played around with, because the disease can come back with a vengeance if the medication isn’t taken to completion.
Injunction (noun):
- The act or an instance of enjoining; a command, directive, or order.
- A court order prohibiting a party from a specific course of action.
An injunction is an even more serious matter. Jesus is prohibiting me from not loving everyone. He’s giving me a court order to love everyone I come in contact with, in fact, everyone I don’t even come contact with, he wants me love. And, he wants me to love them as he loved them, to the point of where I lay my life down for them, should it have to come down to that. What does this have to do with the tongue? Well, I’m still getting there.
John 15:22 excuse:
prophasis
prof'-as-is
An outward showing, that is, pretext: - cloke, colour, pretence, show.
Now I have to account for my sin. I have to show God my heart. I have no excuses anymore. There is no excuse.
John 15:25 without reason:
dōrean
do-reh-an'
Gratuitously (literally or figuratively): - without a cause, freely, for naught, in vain.
When I don’t keep God’s command, then it is like I am fulfilling the opposite: hating him freely. Or, worshipping him in vain, maybe? And just what does this have to do with the tongue? Everything, it has everything to do with the tongue.
1st Corinthians 16:13-14
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.
Galatians 5:13-15
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Ephesians 4:2
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Ephesians 4:15
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
2nd John 1:6
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
It’s interesting; yesterday, I learned that walking and living are parallels in a sense biblically. Walking in obedience and living in obedience can be one and the same. If I live in love and speak in love, and the command is to love each other Christ loves me, and I have no excuse to not love anyone, at what point should I hold back? The question answers itself. There is no point to hold back. Anyway, Johnny Out.
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