I was so blessed by reading Leon Morris' commentary on John 14:21, from his book Reflections on the Gospel of John, (pp 508-509). I wanted to share it with you in it's entirety.
John 14:21, :"He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me..."
"It is perhaps unexpected that from this wonderful truth of the gift of life, the gift that means Christ lives in his people and they live in him, Jesus moves on to the commandments (v. 21). These days any emphasis on the commandments is bound to run into criticism. We are warned against thinking that obedience to a set of rules has anything to do with Christianity and are urged to put all our emphasis on love. Now nothing should be said to minimize the significance of love. In a Christian context how could it? But we should not overlook the fact that, as he has done before (v. 15), Jesus links love with the keeping of his commandments. It is, of course, possible to cultivate a hard, legalistic mentality that puts all its emphasis on conformity to a written code and cares for nothing else if only the outward letter of the law has been kept. But people who develop this outlook know nothing of the sacrificial love that is at the heart of Christianity.
It is also true, though, that those who really love, those who have steadily looked at Calvary and seen what sacrificial love really is and have responded with all their heart, those people have a special regard for the commandments. They see them not as a harsh set of external requirements, but as the guidance needed by weak and imperfect people as they respond in love to the wonderful love of Christ. It may be that we should see the expression "has my commandments" as full of meaning. This is a very uncommon way of speaking about commandments; mostly there are references to "keeping" the commandments or "obeying" them or even "loving" them. But to "have" them is a very unusual way of talking about them. Jesus does not explain it further, but he seems to mean that there are some people who make the commandments their own. They take them to their inner being, they meditate on them, and by God's grace they make a determined attempt to live them out. It is the person who keeps the commandments who loves Christ. When someone claims to be a Christian but takes no notice of what Christ has commanded his followers to do, there is something hollow about his profession. Real Christianity is not like that. To love Christ means to keep his commandments. Do not all those who love anyone delight to do what they know is pleasing to the one they love?"
John 14:21, :"He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me..."
"It is perhaps unexpected that from this wonderful truth of the gift of life, the gift that means Christ lives in his people and they live in him, Jesus moves on to the commandments (v. 21). These days any emphasis on the commandments is bound to run into criticism. We are warned against thinking that obedience to a set of rules has anything to do with Christianity and are urged to put all our emphasis on love. Now nothing should be said to minimize the significance of love. In a Christian context how could it? But we should not overlook the fact that, as he has done before (v. 15), Jesus links love with the keeping of his commandments. It is, of course, possible to cultivate a hard, legalistic mentality that puts all its emphasis on conformity to a written code and cares for nothing else if only the outward letter of the law has been kept. But people who develop this outlook know nothing of the sacrificial love that is at the heart of Christianity.
It is also true, though, that those who really love, those who have steadily looked at Calvary and seen what sacrificial love really is and have responded with all their heart, those people have a special regard for the commandments. They see them not as a harsh set of external requirements, but as the guidance needed by weak and imperfect people as they respond in love to the wonderful love of Christ. It may be that we should see the expression "has my commandments" as full of meaning. This is a very uncommon way of speaking about commandments; mostly there are references to "keeping" the commandments or "obeying" them or even "loving" them. But to "have" them is a very unusual way of talking about them. Jesus does not explain it further, but he seems to mean that there are some people who make the commandments their own. They take them to their inner being, they meditate on them, and by God's grace they make a determined attempt to live them out. It is the person who keeps the commandments who loves Christ. When someone claims to be a Christian but takes no notice of what Christ has commanded his followers to do, there is something hollow about his profession. Real Christianity is not like that. To love Christ means to keep his commandments. Do not all those who love anyone delight to do what they know is pleasing to the one they love?"