Joh 14:21, 23, 15:10, 14, 1Jo 5:3 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 21. He that hath , &c. This intimate union is farther manifested by these facts: 1st. That true love to Jesus will produce obedience. See . 2nd. That those who love him will be loved of the Father , showing that there is a union between the Father and the Son. 3rd. That Jesus also will love them, evincing still the same union. Religion is love. The love of one holy being or object is the love of all. The kingdom of God is one. His people, though called by different names, are one. They are united to each other and to God, and the bond which unites the whole kingdom in one is love. Will manifest myself to him . To manifest is to show, to make appear, to place before the eyes so that an object may be seen. This means that Jesus would so show himself to his followers that they should see and know that he was their Saviour. In what way this is done, see . (t) "He that hath"

John 14:21

Verse 21. He that hath, &c. This intimate union is farther manifested by these facts:

1st. That true love to Jesus will produce obedience. See Jn 14:15.

2nd. That those who love him will be loved of the Father, showing that there is a union between the Father and the Son.

3rd. That Jesus also will love them, evincing still the same union. Religion is love. The love of one holy being or object is the love of all. The kingdom of God is one. His people, though called by different names, are one. They are united to each other and to God, and the bond which unites the whole kingdom in one is love.

Will manifest myself to him. To manifest is to show, to make appear, to place before the eyes so that an object may be seen. This means that Jesus would so show himself to his followers that they should see and know that he was their Saviour. In what way this is done, see Jn 14:23.

(t) "He that hath" Jn 14:15,23

John 14:23

Verse 23. Will keep my words. See Jn 14:15.

We will come to him. We will come to him with the manifestation of pardon, peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost. It means that God will manifest himself to the soul as a Father and Friend; that Jesus will manifest himself as a Saviour; that is, that there will be shed abroad in the heart just views and proper feelings toward God and Christ. The Christian will rejoice in the perfections of God and of Christ, and will delight to contemplate the glories of a present Saviour. The condition of a sinner is represented as one who has gone astray from God, and from whom God has withdrawn, Ps 58:3, Prov 27:10 Eze 14:11. He is alienated from God, Eph 2:12, Is 1:4, Eph 4:18 Col 1:21. Religion is represented as God returning to the soul, and manifesting himself as reconciled through Jesus Christ, 2Cor 5:18; Col 1:21.

Make our abode. This is a figurative expression implying that God and Christ would manifest themselves in no temporary way, but that it would be the privilege of Christians to enjoy their presence continually. They would take up their residence in the heart as their dwelling-place, as a temple fit for their abode. See 1Cor 3:16: "Ye are the temple of God;" Jn 14:19: "Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost;" 2Cor 6:16: "Ye are the temple of the living God." This does not mean that there is any personal union between Christians and God--that there is any peculiar indwelling of the essence of God in us-- for God is essentially present in all places in the same way; but it is a figurative mode of speaking, denoting that the Christian is under the influence of God; that he rejoices in his presence, and that he has the views, the feelings, the joys which God produces in a redeemed soul, and with which he is pleased.

(v) "and we will come into him" 1Jn 2:24, Rev 3:20

John 15:10

Verse 10. See Jn 14:23,24

(k) "If ye keep my commandments" Jn 14:21,23

John 15:14

Verse 14.

(n) "Greater love" Jn 15:10

1 John 5:3

Verse 3. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. This constitutes true love; this furnishes the evidence of it. And his commandments are not grievous. Greek, heavy--βαρειαι; that is, difficult to be borne as a burden. See Mt 11:30. The meaning is, that his laws are not unreasonable; the duties which he requires are not beyond our ability; his government is not oppressive. It is easy to obey God when the heart is right; and those who endeavour in sincerity to keep his commandments do not complain that they are hard. All complaints of this kind come from those who are not disposed to keep his commandments. They, indeed, object that his laws are unreasonable; that they impose improper restraints; that they are not easily complied with; and that the Divine government is one of severity and injustice. But no such complaints come from true Christians. They find his service easier than the service of sin, and the laws of God more mild and easy to be complied with than were those of fashion and honour, which they once endeavoured to obey. The service of God is freedom; the service of the world is bondage. No man ever yet heard a true Christian say that the laws of God, requiring him to lead a holy life, were stern and "grievous." But who has not felt this in regard to the inexorable laws of sin? What votary of the world would not say this if he spoke his real sentiments? Comp. Notes, Jn 8:32.

(b) "that we keep" Jn 14:15,21 (c) "not grievous" Ps 119:45, Mt 11:30