IF YOU LOVE ME YOU WILL KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS

 

IF YOU LOVE ME, YOU WILL KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS

15“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17even the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive, because it neither sees it nor knows it. You know it, for it dwells with you and will be in you.

18“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

19Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

20In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

21Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

JOHN 14:15-21

COMMENTARY

Continuing with his speech announcing his soon coming execution, Lord JESUS gave words of courage to his disciples.

In these verses, JESUS openly declares that He is going back to GOD, but that He will not leave his disciples orphans, but that He will return, in the Holy Spirit, that is among themselves, and will reside in them permanently soon, referring to Pentecost.

But here also Lord JESUS leaves clearly the warning, that ‘whoever’ loves Him, must obey his commandments, meaning, a faithful fulfillment of his desire for us in every aspect of our lives.

The idea that GOD just wants humans to believe in Jesus, is repeatedly denied in the gospels, teaching instead that we must at least, try to live under the commands of Jesus for our lives, and not in an antinomian attitude of ‘once saved, always saved’ and a free ticket to sin, knowing that nothing can knock off an ‘elect’.

In fact, at the judgement day, our conduct will be checked first, then if we have believed in GOD, in case of people who never knew Christ, or in the case of Christians, if we have died in repentance with the loving though of GOD or JESUS in ourselves, then Lord Jesus will come up in our defense and we will be forgiven, but if not, we will be condemned.

The reason why humanity fell into sin, was disobedience, and the reason why the atonement of JESUS is applied to repentant sinners, is to supply their lack of obedience, but in every single case, the desire of GOD for humanity, has been obedience and holiness of action, never just belief.

Faith saves us, if we repent in front of GOD or JESUS, who will forgive us, because they love us, but for those who have believed but not repented, or those who have lived in unbelief and have lived in sin all their lives, neither of them will pass the judgement of GOD that is perfect and irrefutable.

(Matthew 7:21; 25:10; Luke 6:46; Romans 2:13).

But also, Lord JESUS assures those who are faithful, that they will remain in the love of GOD the Father, and in the love of Christ Himself, and that to those faithful, He will manifest Himself to them.

Omar Flores.