“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him” (John 14:21, NASB).
Jesus promised to “disclose” Himself (or “reveal” or “manifest” Himself, as other Bible versions translate it) only to certain people, namely, those who keep His commandments. Why? The revelation of Himself is a reward for loving Him, something which is manifested by keeping His commandments. Very simple.
The antithesis of Jesus’ promise is that He will not reveal/disclose/manifest Himself to those who don’t obey His commandments, which is actually a punishment/judgment for their disobedience.
That same idea is found elsewhere in the Bible. Paul wrote that during the end times, God will send a “deluding influence” upon those who “did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved… but [who] took pleasure in wickedness.” The result of that “deluding influence” is that “they will believe what is false” (2 Thes. 2:10-12). They will believe that the antichrist is the messiah. Think about that! God will punish truth-rejecting sinners with a delusion.
Psalm 18:25-26 tells us:
With the kind You show Yourself kind;
With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
That final Hebrew word (pathal) translated “astute” (in the NASB) can also be translated “crooked,” as it is, for example, in Proverbs 8:8: “All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing crooked [pathal] or perverted in them. In Psalm 18:26 (above), “crooked” would be a better translation if we consider the entire passage, in which every sentence repeats the same word twice.
All of this not only may explain why nonbelievers remain clueless about Jesus, but it also explains why some professing Christians, including preachers and teachers, hold to perverse beliefs about Jesus. People who have never repented, made Jesus Lord, and started obeying His commandments do not experience what Jesus promised those who have done those things. Jesus is not disclosing/revealing/manifesting Himself to them.
False- and hyper-grace teachers, for example, are characterized by their devising of doctrines that are nothing more than a license to sin. For example, some label obedience to Christ’s commandments as “legalism.” Some claim that you can “accept Jesus as Savior” but reject Him as Lord and be eternally secure in your “salvation.” Some even go so far as to say that, because salvation is by grace, it is heretical to claim that Jesus must be one’s Lord to be saved. That, however, is both heretical and blasphemous. Jesus is Lord, and if He is not your Lord, you have no relationship with Him. Such perverse doctrines speak volumes about hyper-grace teachers’ own “relationship” with Jesus. He’s obviously not their Lord.
And that explains why they remain in such gross spiritual darkness. Jesus will not reveal/disclose/manifest Himself to them because they don’t meet His conditions for that to happen. Their ignorance may actually be a manifestation of God’s judgment upon them. You can discuss basic biblical truth with them for hours on end to try to open their eyes to no avail, because they are under a divine curse of ignorance.
So I recommend that you don’t waste your time discussing biblical doctrine about Jesus with such folks. Rather, tell them the gospel and call them to repentance and a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Once they meet Jesus’ conditions, they’ll receive the promised blessing.
