John 14:23-24, keep Jesus commands to be born again?

zoidar said:

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word (John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me")
; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
— John 14:23

I don't understand this. Is this saying we have to keep Jesus word/commandments to be born again? Notice it says: first we love him and keep the commandments, then God will make his abode with us.

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John repeats that in his letters to Israel, you can find that in the few places in 1 John.

To Israel during Jesus's first coming, keeping the commandments as well as putting your faith in Jesus are both required to be saved.

But no worries, after Israel rejected Jesus, God deliberately made it very easy for us now to be saved, to make Israel jealous (Romans 11:11). Now all of us are saved apart from works (Romans 3:21)

zoidar said:

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word (John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me")
; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
— John 14:23

I don't understand this. Is this saying we have to keep Jesus word/commandments to be born again? Notice it says: first we love him and keep the commandments, then God will make his abode with us.

My experience is I started to love Christ after being born again, not before.

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Just to say, I had a love for Jesus before being born again...

To be drawn to Him by His Spirit is to be draw by His Love.

For me this happened at a very early age.

I could see Him in creation - His awe and His love was obvious to me.

zoidar said:

My experience is I started to love Christ after being born again, not before.

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That is correct. One does not love Jesus if he is not your Lord and Saviour., So only those who love him can seek to be obedient to him.

Tolworth John said:

That is correct. One does not love Jesus if he is not your Lord and Saviour., So only those who love him can seek to be obedient to him.

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Our salvation is based on God's love for us, not our love for God (Romans 5:8)

zoidar said:

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word (John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me")
; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
— John 14:23

I don't understand this. Is this saying we have to keep Jesus word/commandments to be born again? Notice it says: first we love him and keep the commandments, then God will make his abode with us.

My experience is I started to love Christ after being born again, not before.

Click to expand...

There is a sequencing of events and being “born again” is not at the very beginning.

God Loves us first and foremost.

Our first step is just humbly being willing to accept God’s Love in the form of forgiveness, so being willing to accept God’s forgiveness.

zoidar said:

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word (John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me")
; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
— John 14:23

I don't understand this. Is this saying we have to keep Jesus word/commandments to be born again? Notice it says: first we love him and keep the commandments, then God will make his abode with us.

My experience is I started to love Christ after being born again, not before.

Click to expand...

First, neither these verses nor their context are directly related to being born again. If you wish to look at what Jesus had to say about being born again you need to go to John 3. I Peter 1 is also helpful.

These verses are descriptive, not proscriptive. They describe the life of the believer - they love Him and keep His word. They also describe God's relationship to the believer - coming to him and making His (their) abode with him.

zoidar said:

Do you think he is talking about the same thing when he says: "keep my word" and "keep my commandments"?

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Yes.

"Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. Whoever does not love Me does not keep my words. And the word that you heard is not Mine but the Father's who sent me...." -John 14: 22-24

I think the verse is to answer the question that Judas asked. That by keeping God's commandments, He will be in us separating us from the world. It is a call of obedience. That obedience should be what separates us from the world.

zoidar said:

...Is this saying we have to keep Jesus word/commandments to be born again?...

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It does not say so. Being born anew happens as said here:

But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:12-13

It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.
John 6:63