Subject: This study, of Jesus’ words in John 15:11, will provide the answer to “how the believer can experience more joy?”





I cannot be more excited to discuss John 15:11 with you. This is one of those passages I would consider highly “under-discussed.” My goal for this article is not only to talk about this passage, and give you some information regarding how to understand it; my objective is to highlight a profound principle, as declared by Jesus, regarding joy. More specifically, you and I will walk away from this study with a clear picture of what role the believer plays in the reception of, and experience of, joy. After this brief study, you will be better equipped to experiencing more joy in your walk with the Lord.

This is what the Scripture states:





“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (ESV).

At first glance, this appears to be a promise! An unconditional promise. It would seem as though Jesus is stating that “He spoke so that you will receive the Joy of the Lord, and that you may receive it to the fullest extent.”









On the surface, it looks like Jesus is saying we can have joy based upon the words He has spoken to us. We can find joy in His Word. And this is certainly true of other passages of Scripture. We can be confident the mind and soul can find many joys in hearing the blessed words of the Messiah. We can hear Him illuminate great things. How much He loves us. How He promises to return to usher His people into the eternal state - where there will be no more pain, sorrow, or suffering. How He has sealed us with His Spirit. How he will NEVER leave us nor forsake us. How we have free access to Him and the blessing of a relationship with the Almighty. How he has “blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3). It is true that reading and hearing the words of our Savior plunge the heart into the cool streams of refreshing and joy!

What it says:

While it may be tempting to apply the same understanding to the John 15:11 Text, that would be inappropriate. The way Jesus intentionally uses the verbs associated with joy leaves us with a different understanding. In the Greek, Jesus declares that the giving and receiving of joy is in the subjunctive mood. This communicates the understanding of possibility, potentiality, or probability. In other words, rather than understanding this Passage has a promise that joy will be given to the Believer, it tells us how joy can potentially be received by the believer. Of this Greek tensing, one Greek resource states “that the action is dependent upon some condition being met.” While this sounds difficult and overly technical, the meaning is fairly simple. Jesus used this particular way of tensing His verbs to emphasize a contingency to the receiving of His Joy! In this passage, Jesus is stating that joy is given once a certain condition is met. While this can still be understood as a promise to the Believer, it must be understood - as we have seen- as a conditional promise.





Again, while other Scripture would emphasize the freely, easily, and naturally experienced side of joy, this Passage demonstrates a different aspect of joy to the believer. (For more on the two-fold nature of the joy of the Lord, I would encourage you to check out this article. It will dive into this concept more specifically.)

This little detail makes this little Passage HUGELY interesting! The next question that needs to be asked is, “what is the contingency (or condition) for the giving and receiving of joy according to this Passage?” To answer this, we will consult the immediate context of John 15.

How it applies:

The context makes plain how the contingency is that of the responsibility of the believer to action. The answer: the receiving of joy is dependent upon the action of the believer to “abide” and “obey.” Look at the immediate context of Jesus’ words.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:9-11).





The “things I have spoken to you” is the instruction for the Believer to abide and to obey (“keep my commandments”). As you can see from the context, the condition that needs to be met for the believer to receive joy to the fullest extent is that of abiding in Christ and being faithful to obey God’s commandments. This is wonderful news! This instructs you and me to be active participants in the receiving of and experiencing the joy of the Lord.

Yes. We know we can find ourselves passively experiencing joy as the Lord works good things in our lives. But, here, Jesus is calling us to receive and experience joy. He is instructing us to be active participants. He is calling us to engage something that has already been made obtainable. Jesus is the provider and source of true joy, and He is calling us to access that which He has already made available to us. As we actively abide in relationship with him and make every effort to obey His commands, we access that which Christ has already made ready for us. We have the role of pressing into our Savior. Of going to Him through the practices of abiding and obedience.

I have another article that goes much deeper into the “how” - how you can begin to partake of the many blessings of joy found in Messiah. But I will leave you with a brief overview, so you can take action to experience more and more joy in the Lord.

Abide!

As I have said before, this is where the believer actively “abides in the love and presence of God. This can be most simply and clearly communicated as engaging in the joys of a relationship with God!” (The Joy Problem). To abide is to press into one’s relationship with Jesus Christ. It is to remain active and faithful in pursuing a covenant relationship with God. This, of course, can take many forms. The most significant form of abiding in relationship with God is through the “spiritual disciplines.”

The spiritual (or Christian) disciplines are the quickest way you can practice abiding and position yourself to receive more and more joy from the Lord. As you participate in worship, prayer, fasting, meditation, Scripture, and thanksgiving, you train yourself to access the many blessings and many joys that Christ has made available to you. So much so, in fact, the spiritual disciplines have been described as a means of God’s grace to the believer. Being that you and I have been “blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” these disciplines allow us to access those spiritual blessings - of which joy is included (Eph. 1:3).

Obey!

Lastly, you can access the joy of the Lord through obedience. “Our obedience to Christ’s commandment to love and serve Him - to bear fruit for His Name - is another practical means by which our John 15 passage instructs us to walk in joy. We can practice joy by training our hearts and actions to bear the fruit that glorifies God” (The Joy Problem).

While much could be said of this, it seems best to use Jesus’ words as a summation of what obedience looks like. When Jesus was asked which commandment was the most important, He said this, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

On a very practical level, when you seek opportunities to obey God through acts and service of love toward others, you position yourself to receive more and more joy. Truly, there can be no greater joy - no greater satisfaction and fulfillment in Christ - than knowing you are walking in God’s will. What a joy! Obedience to the heart of God is how you and I can "live up to what we have already attained” (Phil. 3:16)

According to Jesus, you and I can begin to receive and experience more joy through making the effort to abide in and obey Him. This is the promise of John 15:11. If you posture yourself in this manner, you will find yourself accessing that which God has already made available to His people!