If ye love me
Not that Christ doubted of the love of his disciples to him; but
he argues from it to their observance of his precepts, seeing ye
do love me; as all do who are born again, who have had any
spiritual sight of him, of his glory, suitableness, and fulness;
who believe in him, and have received from him; who have had his
love shed abroad in their hearts, having enjoyed communion with
him, and know the relation he stands in to them; these love him
above all others, and all of him, and that belong to him,
unfeignedly, and in the sincerity of their souls, as did the
disciples; and since they professed to love, and did love him, as
they ought to do, he exhorts them, saying,
keep my commandments:
Christ is Lord over his people, as he is the Creator and Redeemer
of them, and as he is an head and husband to them, and as such he
has a right to issue out his commands, and enjoin a regard unto
them; and these are peculiarly "his", as distinct from, though
not in opposition to, or to the exclusion of, his Father's
commands; such as the new commandment of loving one another, and
the ordinances of baptism, and the Lord's supper, which are to be
observed and kept as Christ has ordered them, constantly, in
faith, and with a view to his glory.