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Author: Stephen Weller
734 words, 4 minutes read time

Love Implies Obedience

Scripture: John 14:15-17

With the previous lesson we finished the section about Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life. We also covered the meaning of doing greater works that he did. With this lesson we begin a new section about keeping his commandments if we love him. The promise of the Holy Spirit to be given to us is also covered.

^{Jn 14:15} “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

How can one tell if they love Jesus and thus God? That love is made evident by our obedience in keeping his commandments, and what are these commandments? At this link is a list of 48 commands of Jesus. Looking at the cross references for “If you love me” provides the following:

“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21 ESV). In addition to keeping his commandments as evidence of our love, we find in 1 John 4:19 – 21 that we must also love our brother and sister in the faith. As we do these things, Jesus Christ will be manifested to us.

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23 ESV). When we are born physically, we are spiritually dead and have no desire for God (Romans 3:10 – 11), ⁴ “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” (Ephesians 2:4 – 5 ESV). When we are born again we are a new creature in Christ, a temple for the Holy Spirit to come and live within us and provides us with an ability to 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.” (John 15:10 ESV). Abiding in his love and keeping his commandments form a unity; they cannot be separated. This love and obedience were demonstrated by Jesus during his life on earth.

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3 ESV). What we are asked to do (Ephesians 2:10), God provides us the means of doing it without being burdened by the work. Jesus promised us that he would ask his Father to send us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us to provide the help we need to prevent our obedience from being a burden.

“And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.” (2 John 6 ESV). His commandments provide us with direction for our lives. If we could obey them perfectly we would be like Jesus. When we get to heaven we will live in perfect obedience with perfect love for God and his family.

As believers, we know the Spirit of truth because he dwells with us and in us. Only those who are born spiritually are able to receive the Spirit and enjoy his benefits in our lives. As a result, unbelievers cannot receive him or know him or understand spiritual things that are true. “But God” can and does intervene in the lives of those he chooses.

Conclusion

It is the Spirit that provides us with the ability to love, the desire to obey his commandments, and an understanding of spiritual truth. How blessed we are to have this Helper, but how unfortunate it is that we ignore his guidance and help to the extent we do. We enter life with no desire for God (Romans 3:11) and after salvation we seem to struggle with understanding and accepting his help.