John 15:10

Joh_15:10

If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love

The condition of abiding in Christs love

What is implied in that keeping of His commandments, which is essential to abiding in His love?

The keeping of all those commandments of His

I. WHICH REFER TO THE MAINTAINING OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION WITH HIMSELF. He kept constantly all such commandments of His Father, and so continued in His Fathers love. If we would abide in Christs love, we must imitate Him and make an earnest use of the means of grace. There are those who neglect these, and thus plainly do not keep Gods commandments. There are others who do not quite neglect them, and yet do not use them as Christs commandments require, and therefore not so as to benefit by them.

II. WHICH REQUIRE US TO BE LIKE HIMSELF IN SPIRIT. We must seek after the wisdom, truthfulness, delicacy of feeling, purity of heart, disinterestedness, patience, humility, charity, piety, and all those other excellencies which were included in His perfection. What a number of people there are so engrossed in business that they can find no time for moral, or mental, or spiritual culture! Others, again, feel that Christ has claims upon them, and that they should be at work in His service; but they are not thoughtful, and do not realize how much of Christs work is inward, not outward. There is a great deal of so-called doing good which is very worthless and comes to nothing, because it does not flow naturally from real inward goodness. Be good and you will do good, without having to go out of your way to seek to do it.

III. WHICH REFER TO THE ORDINARY COMMON DUTIES OF DAILY LIFE--to the relationships in which we are placed by nature and Providence; and if we would continue in Christs love, we must be careful to obey these. The Christian life is to fill and beautify our whole existence. It is not by what a man does on special occasions in public, or to those who seldom come into contact with him, that you can form an accurate estimate of him, but by his daily ordinary life--by knowing what sort of son or brother he has been, or what sort of a husband he is. Love to Christ will show itself much better there than anywhere else. It is especially through these that God seeks to train into order and obedience, into nobleness and freedom, the souls of the children of men.

IV. WHICH POINT US TO A LIFE OF ACTIVE BENEFICENCE; and if we would continue in His love, we must do good to all men. Christs death for all men pledges us to the love of all men. To abide in the love of Christ, we must seek to lessen pain and suffering, ignorance and crime, wrong and injustice, and to make all to whom our influence can reach better and happier. Thus living in love to our brethren, for whom Christ died, we shall live in the love of Christ, who died for them as well as for us. (R. Flint, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15:10 Just as Jesus demonstrated his love for the Father by obeying his will (14:31), Jesus’ disciples exhibit their love through obedience to him (13:34-35; 14:15; 1 Jn 2:5; 5:2-3).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 15:10. Τετήρηκα, I have kept) even up to the moment of My departure from the world: 1Jn 4:17, “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.” As He was when He went out of the world, so He is always.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 15:10 . That possibility is defeated, ἐὰν τὰς ἐντολάς μου τηρήσητε . To encourage them in keeping His commandments He reminds them that He also has been subject to the same conditions, and by keeping the Father’s commandments has remained in His love.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. The precept is “abide in my love,” and the way to obey it is to keep His commandments: ἐὰν τὰς ἐντολάς μου τηρήσητε, μενεῖτε ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ μου. The ἀγάπη is the love of Jesus for His disciples, not their love for Him, as it is in 14:15. It is over subtle to attempt a distinction between ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ τῇ ἐμῇ of v. 9 and ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ μου of v. 10. Both phrases mean the same thing, sc. the love of Jesus for His own. Jn. is specially fond of ἐμός, which occurs 37 times in the Gospel, and always in words of Jesus.1

καθὼς ἐγὼ (אD have καθὼς κἀγώ) τοῦ πατρός μου (B. om. μοῦ) τὰς ἐντολὰς τετήρηκα. This is the high example set before the Christian disciple. Jesus had claimed (8:29) ἐγὼ τὰ ἀρεστὰ αὐτῷ ποιῶ πάντοτε, and now, looking back, He can say τετήρηκα (cf. 17:4). No man could say with such complete assurance, “I have kept the commandments of my Father”; while it is possible at the end to say, with Paul, τὴν πίστιν τετήρηκα (2Ti 4:7).

καὶ μένω αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ. This is the eternal issue of the ministry of Christ, the resumption of His place in the bosom of Deity, who is Love (cf. 17:24).

Westcott2 finds here an advance on the teaching of 14:15, 21; and if this could surely be traced, the traditional order of chapters (c. 14 preceding c. 15) would be in some degree corroborated. But his reasoning is precarious. The idea of the ἐντολαί given by Jesus is only found in cc. 13, 14, 15; and the relevant passages are quite consistent with the order of chapters adopted here, viz.:

15:10 “If ye keep my commandments, ye will abide in my love.” As we have seen, this is the fundamental idea in the Allegory of the Vine.

15:12 Next, Jesus bids them love one another.

13:34 This commandment is repeated and described as “new.” See Introd., p. xxi.

14:15 He tells His disciples that if they love Him, they must keep His commandments.

14:21 And, finally, He gives them the great promise, that if they thus show their love for Him, the Father will love them, and He Himself will love them and will manifest Himself to them. There is no “advance” on this teaching in c. 15, nor could there be.

The truth is, that we must not expect a continuous logical sequence in the discourses of the Fourth Gospel. The sacred words are set down as they are remembered by the aged disciple of Jesus,1 but there is no attempt to present them in the manner which would be suitable to a theological treatise.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love--the obedient spirit of true discipleship cherishing and attracting the continuance and increase of Christ's love; and this, He adds, was the secret even of His own abiding in His Father's love!

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. If ye keep my commandments, &c.] Hence we learn that it is impossible to retain a sense of God's pardoning love, without continuing in the obedience of faith.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. If you keep my commandments. He points out to us the method of perseverance. his, to follow where he calls, for, as Paul says,

They who are in Christ walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, (Romans 8:1.)

For these two things are continually united, that faith which perceives the undeserved love of Christ toward us, and a good conscience and newness of life. And, indeed, Christ does not reconcile believers to the Father, that they may indulge in wickedness without reserve, and without punishment; but that, governing them by his Spirit, he may keep them under the authority and dominion of his Father. Hence it follows, that the love of Christ is rejected by those who do not prove, by true obedience, that they are his disciples.

If any one object that, in that case, the security of our salvation depends on ourselves, I reply, it is wrong to give such a meaning to Christ’s words; for the obedience which believers render to him is not the cause why he continues his love toward us, but is rather the effect of his love. For whence comes it that they answer to their calling, but because they are led by the Spirit of adoption of free grace?

But again, it may be thought that the condition imposed on us is too difficult, that we should keep the commandments of Christ, which contain the absolute perfection of righteousness, — a perfection which far exceeds our capacity, — for hence it follows, that the love of Christ will be useless, if we be not endued with angelical purity. The answer is easy; for when Christ speaks of the desire of living a good and holy life, he does not exclude what is the chief article in his doctrine, namely, that which alludes to righteousness being freely imputed, in consequence of which, through a free pardon, our duties are acceptable to God, which in themselves deserved to be rejected as imperfect and unholy. Believers, therefore, are reckoned as keeping the commandments of Christ when they apply their earnest attention to them, though they be far distant from the object at which they aim; for they are delivered from that rigorous sentence of the law,

Cursed be he that hath not confirmed all the words of this law to do them, (Deuteronomy 27:26).

As I also have kept my Father’s commandments. As we have been elected in Christ, so in him the image of our calling is exhibited to us in a lively manner; and therefore he justly holds himself out to us as a pattern, to the imitation of which all the godly ought to be conformed. “In me,” says he, “is brightly displayed the resemblance of those things which I demand from you; for you see how sincerely I am devoted to obedience to my Father, and how I persevere in this course. My Father, too, hath loved me, not for a moment, or for a short time, but his love toward me is constant.” This conformity between the Head and the members ought to be always placed before our eyes, not only that believers may form themselves after the example of Christ, but that, they may entertain a confident hope that his Spirit will every day form them anew to be better and better, that they may walk to the end in newness of life.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(10) If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.—Comp. Joh_14:21; Joh_14:24. keeping of His commandments is the outward proof of love towards Him; so that the love of the human heart towards Christ, which itself flows from Christ’s love to us (see Note on previous verse), becomes the condition of abiding in that love. While we cherish love for Him, our hearts are abiding in that state which can receive His love for us.

Even as I have kept my Father’s commandments . . .—Comp. Note on Joh_15:9 and reference there. This is again an appeal to His perfect sinlessness, and willing subordination as Son to the Father. We should notice also that the keeping of the commandments is not an arbitrary condition imposed upon human love; but a necessary result of love itself, and therefore as true in the relation of the Son to the Father as it is in our relation to Him. Because the Son loved the Father, therefore He kept His commandments, and in this love He abode in the Father’s love. Because we love God we necessarily keep His commandments, and in this love is the receptive power which constitutes abiding in the divine love.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. If ye keep] See on Joh_14:15; Joh_14:21; Joh_14:24. To keep His commandments not only proves our love for Him but secures His love for us.

I have kept my Father’s commandments] This being in a subordinate sentence the tremendous import of it is liable to pass unnoticed. Looking back over a life of thirty years Jesus says, ‘I have kept the Father’s commandments.’ Would the best man that ever lived, if only a man, dare to make such a statement? See on Joh_14:30.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

These things have I spoken unto you,.... Concerning the vine and branches, his abiding in them, and they in him, their fruitfulness from him, and perseverance in him, his love to them, and theirs to him:

that my joy might remain in you; meaning either that joy with which he joyed in and over them, as united to him, and which is of the same nature as the joy of the bridegroom over the bride, and which will always remain and continue the same; or rather that joy which he is the author, object, ground, and matter of, for there is always reason to rejoice in him, even in the most afflictive circumstances of life:

and that your joy might be full; that grace of joy which is implanted in the soul, by the Spirit of God in regeneration, and arises from, and is increased by discoveries of the person, grace, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice of Christ; and is "full of glory", Pe1 1:8; upon a clear sight of him in this life, and will be entirely full, completely perfected in the other world, when he will be seen as he is,

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

Ver. 10. Even as I have kept my Father’s] Christ’s obedience must be our pattern of imitation. All his actions were either moral or mediatory. In both we are to imitate him. In the former by doing as he did, Mat 11:29; 1Pe 2:23. In the latter, by similitude, translating that to our spiritual life which he did as mediator; as to die to sin, to rise to righteousness.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See Joh 14:23-24.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

As I also have kept my Father’s commandments. He still speaks of himself, as man. (Witham) --- This frequent admonition, of keeping the commandments, proveth, that a Christian’s life consists not in faith only, but in good works. (Bristow)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Abiding in Christ’s love, in this verse, may be interpreted as before; either actively, you shall continue your love to me, according to what we had, Joh 14:15; obedience to the commandments of Christ being the only way to show and declare the truth of our love to Christ. Or else passively, you shall keep yourselves in my favour, I will love you. Thus I abide in my Father’s love; I do not show love to my Father by my words and expressions only, nor by performance of some ceremonial ritual services, which he hath required; but by fulfilling his whole will and counsel, by yielding an obedience to him in all things. I love you as my Father loveth me; and you must abide in my love by the same ways and means that I abide in my Father’s love. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. If ye keep my commandments… kept my Father’s commandments— The fourth attainment is a love from the believer to Christ, evidenced by an obedience to his commandments paralleled only by the love of Christ to the Father. So that, reciprocally, as in the last verse we have a perfect love of Christ toward his elect, so here we have a perfect accord of heart and will from the elect to the Redeemer.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love. This is the method and secret, the stimulus and proof, of abiding in the love of Christ. This is not exactly the converse (Westcott) of "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Doubtless there is a love which dictates obedience to the loved One"s will. Our Lord here avers, however, something further, viz. that obedience issues in a higher love. The obedience here described is the outcome of love, but the power is thus gained to continue, dwell, in the Divine love, to abide, that is, in the full enjoyment and fullness of my Divine love to you. This is obvious from the confirmatory clause: Even as I have kept my Father"s commandments, and abide in his love. The Lord kept the Father"s commandment always, doing those things which please him, offering up his precious life, laying it down that he might take it again; and the consequence is that he then and there knew that he was filled with all the fullness of the Divine love. The very impressive line of thought pervades this passage, that what the Father was to him, that he would prove to his disciples. What the love of God was to the Christ, the love of Christ was to his disciples.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love - On these terms, and no other, ye shall remain the objects of my special affection.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Christ had told his disciples in the foregoing verse, that he had loved them, even as the Father had loved him; that is, with an eternal love, with a real and operative love, with an immutable and constant love.

In this verse he directs them how they may continue in the sense of his love; namely, by their constant obedience to his commands, as his obedience to his Father’s commands had secured him a continuance in his Father’s love; If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love: that is, in the sense of my love, and under the sweet apprehensions of it.

Learn hence, That as our obedience to Christ is the best evidence of our love to him, so is it the best mean to preserve and keep us in the sense and assurance of his love to us.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love. He abode in the love of the Father by a life of perfect obedience. So we must abide in his love.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, as I have kept the commandments of my Father and remain in his love

When Jesus' followers obey him, they show their love for him. AT: "When you do the things I have told you to do, you are living in my love, just as I obey my Father and live in his love" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

my Father

Here "Father" is an important title for God. (See: Translating Son and Father)

I have spoken these things to you so that my joy will be in you

"I have told you these things so that you will have the same kind of joy that I have"

so that your joy will be complete

You can translate this in an active form. AT: "so that you will be completely joyful" or "so that your joy may have nothing missing" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

command

God the Father

joy

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

10. καθὼς ἐγώ. This being a subordinate sentence, the tremendous import of it is liable to pass unnoticed. Looking back over a life of thirty years Jesus says, I have kept the Father’s commandments. Would the best man that ever lived, if only a man, dare to say this? see on Joh 8:29; Joh 8:46, Joh 14:9; Joh 14:30. Between the disciple and Christ, as between Christ and the Father, obedience proves love and secures love in return.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10.] The way thus to remain is prescribed; even that way of simple obedience to His Will, which He followed to the Will of the Father.

On τῇ ἀγάπῃ μου, see above: in the last clause, αὐτοῦ is prefixed, as Meyer well says, to denote the high consciousness of bliss and dignity in abiding in the Father’s love.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.