1 John 3:22

3:22 and ¹  whatever we ask we receive from him, because ²  we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing to him.

John 14:21-23

14:21 The person who has my commandments and obeys ³  them is the one who loves me. ⁴  The one ⁵  who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal ⁶  myself to him.”

14:22 “Lord,” Judas (not Judas Iscariot) ⁷  said, ⁸  “what has happened that you are going to reveal ⁹  yourself to us and not to the world?” 14:23 Jesus replied, ¹⁰  “If anyone loves me, he will obey ¹¹  my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him. ¹² 

John 15:7-10

15:7 If you remain ¹³  in me and my words remain ¹⁴  in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. ¹⁵  15:8 My Father is honored ¹⁶  by this, that ¹⁷  you bear ¹⁸  much fruit and show that you are ¹⁹  my disciples.

15:9 “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain ²⁰  in my love. 15:10 If you obey ²¹  my commandments, you will remain ²²  in my love, just as I have obeyed ²³  my Father’s commandments and remain ²⁴  in his love.

¹ tn The conjunction καί (kai) which begins 3:22 is epexegetical (explanatory), relating a further implication of the “confidence” (παρρησίαν, parrhsian) which believers have before God when their heart (conscience) does not condemn them. They can ask things of God with the expectation of receiving their requests.

² tn The ὅτι (Joti) is clearly causal, giving the reason why believers receive what they ask.

³ tn Or “keeps.”

⁴ tn Grk “obeys them, that one is the one who loves me.”

⁵ tn Grk “And the one.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated to improve the English style.

⁶ tn Or “will disclose.”

⁷ tn Grk “(not Iscariot).” The proper noun (Judas) has been repeated for clarity and smoothness in English style.

⁸ tn Grk “said to him.”

⁹ tn Or “disclose.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

¹¹ tn Or “will keep.”

¹² tn Grk “we will come to him and will make our dwelling place with him.” The context here is individual rather than corporate indwelling, so the masculine singular pronoun has been retained throughout v. 23. It is important to note, however, that the pronoun is used generically here and refers equally to men, women, and children.

¹³ tn Or “reside.”

¹⁴ tn Or “reside.”

¹⁵ sn Once again Jesus promises the disciples ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. This recalls 14:13-14, where the disciples were promised that if they asked anything in Jesus’ name it would be done for them. The two thoughts are really quite similar, since here it is conditioned on the disciples’ remaining in Jesus and his words remaining in them. The first phrase relates to the genuineness of their relationship with Jesus. The second phrase relates to their obedience. When both of these qualifications are met, the disciples would in fact be asking in Jesus’ name and therefore according to his will.

¹⁶ tn Grk “glorified.”

¹⁷ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause is best taken as substantival in apposition to ἐν τούτῳ (en toutw) at the beginning of the verse. The Father is glorified when the disciples bring forth abundant fruit. Just as Jesus has done the works which he has seen his Father doing (5:19-29) so also will his disciples.

¹⁸ tn Or “yield.”

¹⁹ tc Most mss (א A Ψ Ë¹³ 33 Ï) read the future indicative γενήσεσθε (genhsesqe; perhaps best rendered as “[and show that] you will become”), while some early and good witnesses (Ì^66vid B D L Θ 0250 1 565 al) have the aorist subjunctive γένησθε (genhsqe; “[and show that] you are”). The original reading is difficult to determine because the external evidence is fairly evenly divided. On the basis of the external evidence alone the first reading has some credibility because of א and 33, but it is not enough to overthrow the Alexandrian and Western witnesses for the aorist. Some who accept the future indicative see a consecutive (or resultative) sequence between φέρητε (ferhte) in the ἵνα (Jina) clause and γενήσεσθε, so that the disciples’ bearing much fruit results in their becoming disciples. This alleviates the problem of reading a future indicative within a ἵνα clause (a grammatical solecism that is virtually unattested in Attic Greek), although such infrequently occurs in the NT, particularly in the Apocalypse (cf. Gal 2:4; Rev 3:9; 6:4, 11; 8:3; 9:4, 5, 20; 13:12; 14:13; 22:14; even here, however, the Byzantine mss, with א occasionally by their side, almost always change the future indicative to an aorist subjunctive). It seems more likely, however, that the second verb (regardless of whether it is read as aorist or future) is to be understood as coordinate in meaning with the previous verb φέρητε (So M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek §342). Thus the two actions are really one and the same: Bearing fruit and being Jesus’ disciple are not two different actions, but a single action. The first is the outward sign or proof of the second – in bearing fruit the disciples show themselves to be disciples indeed (cf. 15:5). Thus the translation followed here is, “that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples.” As far as the textual reading is concerned, it appears somewhat preferable to accept the aorist subjunctive reading (γένησθε) on the basis of better external testimony.

²⁰ tn Or “reside.”

²¹ tn Or “keep.”

²² tn Or “reside.”

²³ tn Or “kept.”

²⁴ tn Or “reside.”