4. But ' keep ' has the more precise meanings of : (a) believe, in such pas.sages as ' Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep ((pvKiaffoi) it ' (Lk 11^), .and ' If any man hear my sayings, and keep ((j>v\i<r<ru) them not. I judge him not ' (.In 12*') ; and (i) obey, in such passages as that in which the rich young ruler is reported as having I
said with reference to the commandments cited by Jesus, 'All these things have I kept (<t>v\a.(raui) from my youth up ' (Mt 19»> AV, cf. Mk 10-'", Lk 18-'), and that in which Jesus is reported as havin" taxed the Jews with failure to ' keep ' (AV) or ' do (RV ; iroieu) the Law of Moses (Jn 7'").
But the significant passages in this connexion are those which (with the exception of Mt 19" and 28™) occur in the Fouith Gospel, and in which the verb to ' keep ' (rr/peu in every instance) is associ- ated with the terms \l>yoi (sing, ur plur. 'word' or ' words') and ivroKal (plur. ' commandments'), (i.) Westcott points out (note to Jn 8'') that the phrase ' keeping Christ's word ' (or ' words ') refers to ' the observance of the whole revelation in its organic completeness.' The opposite of 'to keep' in this connexion is ' to disregard ov (^believe.' He who ' keeps ' Christ's ' word ' (or ' words ') is he who first attends to it, and lets the wonder and significance of the message it conveys sink into his mind, and who then appropriates and makes his ovm by faith the revelation it brings. To pay no heed to Christ's ' word ' (or ' words '), to be at no pains to think out the purport of His appearance m history, and of the tidings of salvation He proclaimed ; or, the meaning and worth of the gospel having in some measure been realized, to set it aside, to neglect it, to occupy one's self seriously with other things only — that is the attitude to Himself which Christ describes when He speaks of a man 7iot ' keeping His word.' To 'keep' Christ's word, in short, is to take Christ at His word — to believe in Him (cf. Jn 8"- 5- U=^- -* I5-" 11% The word of Christ is the word of the Father (14=* 17''), and it is the word which the disciples are to proclaim (15™). (ii.) The phrase ' keeping Christ's commandments ' refers to ' the observance of definite precepts ' (Westcott, ib.). The opposite of 'to keep ' in this connexion is clearly 'to ditobei/.' He that 'keeps Christ's commandments ' is he who recognizes their su- premacy over his will, and seeks to regulate his inward and his outward life by them. To slight the obligations which Christ imposes, to look upon the principles of conduct which He enjoins on men as subject to qualification and as mere alternatives to other possible and perhaps more congenial maxims, or, their authority being acknowledged, to limit one's conformity to them to an external and superficial obedience, an obedience that is only a travesty of active Christian discipleship — that is the attitude to Christ which is described when it has to be said of a man that he ' keeps not ' His commandments. ' To keep Cluist's command- ments ' is to ovm Him as the sole .sovereign of one's life, and to bring one's whole self — mind and will and heart — into captivity to the obedience of Christ (cf. W-i 15^").
Love for Christ is described by Him as being the condition that ensures both belief in His word or words (14°^- =*), and obedience to liis command- ments (v.") ; and obedience to His commandments, on the other hand (v.'-'), is described by Him as being the evidence that bears witness to the reality of that love. Further, to believing in His word He attaches two promises. ' If a man love me, he will keep my word : and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him ' (v.^'), and ' If a man keep my word, he shall never see death ' (8") — a combination of pas- sages which shows what ' death ' involves. Simi- larly with iihedienre to His commandments Christ connects this jiroinise, ' If ye keep my command- ments, ye sliall ■.i\<v\e in my love ; even as I . . . abicli» in my Fatlier's love' (15'") : .and with the love to Hiiil th.at is Ixjme witness to by obedience to Mis ciiniTiiandments, this other : ' lle'th.-it loveth nic shall he loved of my Father, .and 1 will love him, and will manifest nij'self unto him' (14-').
IvENOSlS
KENOSIS
Finally, Christ describes Himself as staiuliiig in this twofold relation to the Father, viz. of ' keep- ing his word,' and ' keeping his commanilments ; ' I know him, and keep his word ' (8'=) ; ' I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love' (15'").
S. The last usage of the word ' keep ' refers to the Divine care of men, and occurs in our Lord's Intercessory Prayer (17). (a) V." lets us see one aspect of the meaning of thi.s ' keeping ' : ' Holy Father, keep (rtjp^u) them [i.e. ' those whom thou hast given me ' (v.')] in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are.' This was the work which Christ had wrought for the disciples while He was with them. He had kept (Tiipiw) them in the Father's name, and guarded (tfvK&aaa) them (v.i=). In these two phrases — the former of which suggests positive communication of truth and solicitude that the recipients might not be dispossessed of it, and the latter protection against the assaults of temptation — the ' educative care ' which Christ spent on the disciples is summed up (see Expos. Gr. Test, ad loc. ). And now that He is to be ' no more in the world,' He prays the Father to keep them in the name of Himself as Father. ' To be kept in the name ' means not only ' to be kept in the know- ledge,'but 'to be kept in the experience ' — there being other modes of relation and sensibility to God on man's part besides that of knowledge. That the disciples' faith in God as Father might be characterized by assurance, is the burden of Christ's prayer (see Westcott, ad loc. , on the title 'Holy Father'), (b) V.'^ .shows us another aspect of the meaning of the Divine ' keeping ' : ' I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from (Gr. ' out of) the evil' (RV 'evil one'). Whether 'evil' should be interpreted as masculine or neuter need not be discussed here. The point to notice is that the experience, and the only exjjerience, of Divine 'keeping' which Christ by His example encourages men to pray for and anticipate, consists not in immunity from adversity, injuries, suffering, sorrow, and death, but in maintenance in a con- dition of certitude with regard to the Father's love and of perseverance in the path and practice of goodness — freedom from evil. The man who does not lend himself and the man who does lend himself to this keeping are described in 12^* : ' He that loveth his life loseth it ; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep (<pv\&<T(Tu) it unto life eternal ' RV).