“If you love me, you will obey my commandments. Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you.” —John 14:15–17
Our Lord Jesus came to this earth modeling a love and obedience for the Father that His disciples were and are expected to follow. Love and obedience do not spring from flowing a legalistic set of rules, but flow freely from a life of love for our Lord—all that He is, and all that He has done, and all that He continues to do for us. The Bible tells us: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to you.” —John 14:26
“And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him. By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love. We love because he loved us first. If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And the commandment we have from him is this: that the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian too.” —1 John 4:16–21
Jesus desired for His disciples upon His departure to demonstrate their love for Him not through lamenting grief but through loving obedience to His commands. Throughout the Bible, this message is reiterated. I am reminded of one such passage in the Old Testament:
“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel says to the people of Judah: ‘You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too! Consider this: When I spoke to your ancestors after I brought them out of Egypt, I did not merely give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. I also explicitly commanded them: “Obey me. If you do, I will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you and things will go well with you.” But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better.’”—Jeremiah 7:21–24
Obedience to God is grounded in our trust that He has our best interest at heart. It is a faith that is based on a firm knowledge of who He is and a solid understanding of His ways. The more we know Him, the more we will love Him, and the more we love Him, the more we will trust Him and desire to be obedient to His will.
“Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep his commandments. The one who says ‘I have come to know God’ and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person. But whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him. The one who says he resides in God ought himself to walk just as Jesus walked.” —1 John 2:3–6
It is when we go our own way, leaning upon our own flawed understanding and abilities that we stumble and fall.
In our verses for today, Jesus gives the disciples this great and glorious promise—as long as He is in heaven, they shall never want for a fresh supply of grace and comfort, wisdom and strength—given to them by the precious Holy Spirit. They shall never know the lack of a Comforter. This blessed promise was not only sure for them but also for every believer in Jesus thereafter. The Holy Spirit will never depart from a believer in Christ. We are sealed until He returns. The promise remains that He will never depart from us. Paul writes that the Holy Spirit is our identification of ownership to God as well as our authentication and approval—our certification of genuineness so to speak:
“And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Christ—you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.” —Ephesians 1:13–14
Become More
The Spirit is poured out upon us, equipping us to be like our Lord—not just outwardly but inwardly as well. The presence of God in this world is to be the Spirit indwelling in the heart of every believer.
“By this we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments do not weigh us down, because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world.”—1 John 5:2-4
“But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed.” —2 Corinthians 4:7–9
The Spirit constantly abides within the believer—equipping and comforting, encouraging and strengthening.
Further Reflections
“Love for God and obedience to God are so completely involved in each other that either one of them implies the other too.” —F. F. Bruce
“Sanctification is a life of Christ-centered choices, made evident in loving obedience to God.” —Mel De Peal