Joh 15:18-20 | KingComments | STEP | While believers love one another, they find themselves in a world that hates them. Their love among themselves arouses the hate of the world. The world rejects the love of God wherever it appears. To love one another as Christians exposes us to the hate of the world that is governed by satan. The love of the disciples among each other is in sharp contrast to the hate of the world. Love inside, hate outside, that is the position resulting from the rejection and death of the Lord Jesus. Yet we are able to turn that around. We can become cold and indifferent toward our brothers and sisters, while doing our best to assure ourselves of the love of the world. Just like mutual love, hate is ignited from outside because we abide in the love of the Lord Jesus. This should not surprise us since this has also been Christ’s part during His life on earth. The world hates us because of Him. What happens to us has first been His part. In its own way, the world loves those who belong to the world. At the same time, the world hates those who belong to Christ because they are no longer of the world. It is not our faults that are the true cause of the world’s hatred, but what the world recognizes in us of the grace and excellence of Christ. Grace reduces man to nothing and makes God and Christ everything. Grace does not spare sin but saves the sinner. These things are unbearable to the flesh, which is enmity against God ( ). The hatred of the world is our part, and not only because we no longer belong to the world, but because He has chosen us. The fact that we could only become partakers of Him through His election clearly reveals the character of the world. The world would never let us go if the Lord Jesus had not chosen us and called us by His power. That this evokes the hatred of the world is foreseen by the Lord. In this context, He reminds His disciples that He said that a slave is not greater than his Lord ( ). This applies to serving the fellow believers, to which the Lord applies it in John 13 ( ), but it also applies to the hatred and enmity they will experience in the world. The slave should not expect to remain free from what has happened to his Lord. The connection of the disciples with Christ arouses hatred which manifests itself in persecution. The world experiences that connection when it hears the word that the disciples speak. If that is the word of Christ, it will reveal what is in the heart of the hearer. Whoever has accepted His word will also accept the word of the disciples. However, if His word is rejected the slave may not count on any other treatment. Christ is despised and rejected and likewise that will be the part of the slave. Both slaves and their word will be treated with contempt because it will bring God, His Person and His Word, too close to them.

‏ John 15:18-20

The Disciples Hated by the World

While believers love one another, they find themselves in a world that hates them. Their love among themselves arouses the hate of the world. The world rejects the love of God wherever it appears. To love one another as Christians exposes us to the hate of the world that is governed by satan.

The love of the disciples among each other is in sharp contrast to the hate of the world. Love inside, hate outside, that is the position resulting from the rejection and death of the Lord Jesus. Yet we are able to turn that around. We can become cold and indifferent toward our brothers and sisters, while doing our best to assure ourselves of the love of the world.

Just like mutual love, hate is ignited from outside because we abide in the love of the Lord Jesus. This should not surprise us since this has also been Christ’s part during His life on earth. The world hates us because of Him. What happens to us has first been His part. In its own way, the world loves those who belong to the world. At the same time, the world hates those who belong to Christ because they are no longer of the world.

It is not our faults that are the true cause of the world’s hatred, but what the world recognizes in us of the grace and excellence of Christ. Grace reduces man to nothing and makes God and Christ everything. Grace does not spare sin but saves the sinner. These things are unbearable to the flesh, which is enmity against God (Rom 8:7). The hatred of the world is our part, and not only because we no longer belong to the world, but because He has chosen us.

The fact that we could only become partakers of Him through His election clearly reveals the character of the world. The world would never let us go if the Lord Jesus had not chosen us and called us by His power. That this evokes the hatred of the world is foreseen by the Lord. In this context, He reminds His disciples that He said that a slave is not greater than his Lord (Jn 13:16). This applies to serving the fellow believers, to which the Lord applies it in John 13 (Jn 13:15), but it also applies to the hatred and enmity they will experience in the world. The slave should not expect to remain free from what has happened to his Lord.

The connection of the disciples with Christ arouses hatred which manifests itself in persecution. The world experiences that connection when it hears the word that the disciples speak. If that is the word of Christ, it will reveal what is in the heart of the hearer. Whoever has accepted His word will also accept the word of the disciples. However, if His word is rejected the slave may not count on any other treatment. Christ is despised and rejected and likewise that will be the part of the slave. Both slaves and their word will be treated with contempt because it will bring God, His Person and His Word, too close to them.