John 14:15

Teaching on the Holy Spirit

14:15 “If you love me, you will obey ¹  my commandments. ² 

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 

[14:15]  ¹ tn Or “will keep.”

[14:15]  ² sn Jesus’ statement If you love me, you will obey my commandments provides the transition between the promises of answered prayer which Jesus makes to his disciples in vv. 13-14 and the promise of the Holy Spirit which is introduced in v. 16. Obedience is the proof of genuine love.

[14:21]  ³ tn Or “keeps.”

[14:21]  ⁴ tn Grk “obeys them, that one is the one who loves me.”

[14:21]  ⁵ tn Grk “And the one.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated to improve the English style.

[14:21]  ⁶ tn Or “will disclose.”

[14:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “(not Iscariot).” The proper noun (Judas) has been repeated for clarity and smoothness in English style.

[14:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “said to him.”

[14:22]  ⁹ tn Or “disclose.”

[14:23]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[14:23]  ¹¹ tn Or “will keep.”

[14:23]  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.