You did not choose Me, but I chose you

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you

JOHN 15 BIBLE STUDY ◄
John 15:12-15 Love One Another

John 15:16-19 You Did Not Choose Me, But I Chose You

John 15:20-21 If They Persecuted Me, They Will Persecute You

JOHN 15:16-17 16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

Which disciple volunteered to be an apostle of Jesus?
None of them: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you" (John 15:16).

When did Jesus choose His disciples?
Early in His ministry: "Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles" (Luke 6:12-13).

To do what?
"That you should go and bear fruit" (John 15:16).

What does "whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you" (John 15:16) indicate?
Ultimately, the One granting fruit bearing that lasts - "that your fruit should remain" (John 15:16) - through their faithful work is God the "Father," to whom they are to pray and "ask" for it in Jesus' "name" (John 15:16).

How is this different today?
It isn't. The most important factors to a Christian endeavor bearing fruit remains prayer, as well as that endeavor being in God's will, for "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain" (Psalm 127:1).

JOHN 15:18-19 18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

What is Jesus doing in this passage?
He is warning them about what lay ahead for their lives and mission. They will be hated by the world, but such hatred is to be expected, not only because they are "not of the world," which loves only "its own" (John 15:18), but also because the world already hated Jesus, to whom they belong and whose message they will be carrying forth - "know that it hated Me before it hated you" (John 15:18).

How is this different today?
The sinful world is fine with Christian "ministries" that keep quiet about sin. Christian hospitals and orphanages that care for the orphans and the sick but never discuss sin are welcomed even by governments that oppose Christianity, while pulpits that tell unrepentant sinners Jesus loves them as they are and has a wonderful plan for their lives full of earthly riches are cheered. But a Christian not addressing sin with sinners and leaving them hell-bound is worse than an oncologist not addressing cancer with cancer patients. Since not discussing sin also makes the cross of Jesus meaningless, disciples of Jesus have no choice but to address sin, to which the sinful world still retaliates with hatred.