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Our blessed Saviour in these words repeats what he had before enjoined at verse 15, namely, to evidence the sincerity of our love to him, by the universality of our obedience to his commands: He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.
Where note, 1. The necessity of knowledge in order unto practice.
2. The necessity of practice in order unto happiness. We must first have Christ's commandments, before we can keep them: we must have them in our understandings and judgments, in our wills and affections; not have them only in our eyes to read, in our ears to hear, or in our mouths to talk of them but to hide them in our hearts, that we may not sin against Christ, in the willful violation of them.
Farther, we must keep, as well as have, these commandments. This denotes an universal, diligent, and pesevering obedience to them.
Hence learn, That although many loose professors pretend love to Christ, because they hear, read, know, and can talk of, his commandments; yet in Christ's account none do truly love him, but those who make conscience of their obedience to him: He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.
Observe next, The gracious promise of Christ to such as thus express their love unto him.
1. He shall be loved of my Father, and of myself.
And shall he not be loved of the Holy Ghost too? Yes, no doubt. But why is he not named then? Because the Son dwelleth in us by the Spirit, and shed his love abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.
2., I will manifest myself unto him: that is, such obedient Christians shall not only enjoy the fruit and benefit of my love, but they shall enjoy the sense of my love, and experience the sensible manifestations and inward diffusions of my love in their own souls.
Learn hence, That the only way to have Christ love us, and to let out his love upon us, and to know that he loves us is to look diligently to our obediential walking with him and before him. We may as rationally think to nourish our bodies with poison, as to enjoy the manifestation of Christ's love in a way of sin.