By Timothy W. Burnett
In John 15:15-27 Jesus Christ went to great lengths to contrast their relationship with the world with that of believers who are in Christ Jesus. He no longer called them servants, but instead called them friends because every thing that he learned from his Father, he taught them as if they were friends. He reminded them to love one another as close friends. Next he emphasized that they would be hated by the world because the world hated him first, as seen in John 15:18-27. He said that because they would be chosen out of the world, they would be hated by the world. Verses 21-25 reveals more detail about who is of the world. These are they who heard him speak the truth and saw him do works that no other man ever did, yet not only did not believe but hated both him and his Father. The one group who truly showed hate toward Jesus Christ was the religious leaders who sought to kill him. According to John 8:44, he revealed that those religious leaders were born of spiritual seed from the devil. He said, "You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him."
The particular category of people Jesus addressed, were in a spiritual state of complete blindness and with no hope because they were born of the devil. When anybody is born of seed, they cannot change anymore. People cannot extract their genetic seed that came from their parents It is also impossible for people who are born-again of spiritual seed from God, to lose that new birth. So also is it impossible for people who are true children of the devil to change spiritually. This is the unforgivable sin.
But in contrast, he explained that a comforter would come from the Father through Jesus Christ, that would testify of the Lord Jesus. Moreover, he said they would bear witness of him. He taught them these things so that they would not be offended while being put out of the synagogues and even killed by people who believe they are doing the will of God.
Next Jesus Christ told his disciples that they would not see him for a short while, and then they would see him again. This teaching is covered in John 16:5-33. He said it was important for them that he went away because if he didn't, the comforter wouldn't come to them. Verses 8-10 teach basic understanding of sin, righteousness and judgement. Sin is directly related to unbelief and is confronted with reproof from God's word itself. Righteousness is tied with his ascension to the Father and judgement is related to judging the prince of this world who is the devil.
He shared about how the spirit of truth would guide them into all truth. This came to pass when the apostle Paul revealed the mystery of the new birth and so much more by the spirit of God, as recorded in the Epistles.
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