Summary:
If the Hebrew believers to whom the Lord ministered (Mt. 15:24) would abide in Him they wouldn’t burn in hell (John 15:6), they’d get eternal life in the kingdom. Eternal life is a pretty good “base salary,” but the Lord added the best “perk” of all time when He promised that whatever they asked would be done for them in the kingdom (15:7).
But those that don’t know that the Lord was describing the heaven on earth that the kingdom will be for the Jews think this is a prayer promise for us. But we wouldn’t qualify for this promise since His word doesn’t abide in us (15:7) as it will in the kingdom, as per the terms of the New Covenant (Heb. 10:16). Only then can God trust them with a promise to do whatever they ask (Ps. 37:4; Isa. 58:9-11).
We know that the saints at Pentecost received a taste of this because of what John wrote to them (I Jo. 3:22). Since the Lord will also get whatever He asks in the kingdom, He is offering them everything that He Himself will have, and no king does this (Esther 5:2, 3; Mark 6:22, 23).
And the Lord makes us the same offer (Rom. 8:16, 17). “Joint-heirs” means we are equal heirs with Christ. The Greek word for “joint-heirs” is translated “fellowheirs” (Eph. 3:6). We are equal heirs with the Jews in the Body of Christ, and equal heirs with Christ in eternity to come. That means whatever He gets we will get equally!
Why would God offer us such an amazing perk? What will He get out of giving believers whatever they ask for in eternity? He get’s glory (John 14:13). How so? It glorifies God that He can give whatever men ask and not miss it, just as it would have glorified Warren Buffet that he could have given away a billion dollars to any who came up with a perfect bracket for March Madness.
The Father was also glorified when the believers brought forth “fruit” like good works and good virtues (II Pe. 1:5-8). But He was only glorified if men knew that these believers belonged to Him. Remember, the Lord’s been talking about the vine tree and the branches (15:1-5). A fruit tree gets the glory when the branches bear fruit because it’s obvious the branches are connected to the tree. When Peter did the good work of healing the lame man, he made sure people knew he was connected to the Lord and His Father (Acts 3:12-16). If you want God to be glorified by your good works, you too will have to make sure people know you are connected to God by telling them so (cf. Mt. 5:16).
When the Lord finished Verse 8 by saying that unless they bore fruit for Him they couldn’t be His disciples, verses like this have led to the doctrine of Lordship Salvation. This doctrine says that if a person doesn’t bear fruit for God he can’t be saved. This is Scripturally correct, but it is not dispensationally correct. The Corinthians bore no fruit but they were still saved (I Cor. 6:11).
How does one continue in the Lord’s love (John 15:9)? The answer to this differs dispensationally. We don’t have to do anything (Rom. 8:35-39), but these saints had to do some-thing. The Lord gives a clue as to what that was when He compares His love for them to His Father’s love for Him. The Father loved Him because He never sinned (Jo.8:29), and that’s the only way they could continue in His love.
The Greek word for “continue” (v. 9) is the same as “abide” (v. 10). To continue to abide in His love, they had to keep His commandments (v. 10) perfectly (James 2:10), just as He had kept them perfectly and continued to abide in His Father’s love. Of course, if you thought John 15:10 was written to you, you’d doubt your salvation on this basis.
When you talk about keeping God’s commandments the world thinks you are trying to rob them of joy, but the Lord explained that He was telling them these things that the joy He had in fulfilling His Father’s commandments might remain in them (John 15:11). Their joy would be “full,” of course, because in keeping His commandments they knew they were saved (I Jo. 2:3). But is that how you know you’re saved, by keeping His commandments perfectly? No, you can’t, but your apostle says your joy can be full “in believing” (Romans 15:13) that Christ died for you.
