If You Love Me, Keep My Commands

If you are a Christian, you strive to obey these words. If you are not a Christian, you may be wondering why God claims that love is expressed through obedience.

In this article, we will break down Jesus’ teaching in John 14 and see why God asks obedience, who shows us how to keep His commandments, how we as Christians can obey, and the impact our obedience can have. 

Why Should We Obey God: He’s a Good Father

The simplest answer to why we obey is because it’s for our good.

God is all-knowing and all-loving. He is our Heavenly Father. Look at the beauty of creation and examine the daily struggles of your life. If you’re anything like me, you can quickly tell that God’s vision and plan is a whole lot grander and more informed than ours.

How often have we made dumb mistakes, hurt those we love, or failed to keep even basic commitments to our goals and promises? Our Father’s plan is perfect and we could never imagine it or consistently contribute to it if left to our own devices.

Like a good Father, He knows what is better for His children and sets limits on them. A human father who allowed all the candy-eating and house-destroying tendencies of his children would not be a very good father.

Further, we obey because we have already been loved and accepted by the Father, not to earn His love. Jesus doesn’t say “if you keep my commands, I’ll love you” but rather the opposite. All those who believe in Him are already secure in their salvation.

Therefore, we obey because our Father, in His limitless love, says it is for our good. Following God’s vision, not our own flawed, self-justifying morality results in a flourishing and loving life. 

Obedience comes from trust in God’s promises. 

His commands are not there to be difficult, but to guide us toward goodness we cannot fully reach ourselves. We obey because He is our loving Father.

But who models this obedience for us?

Who Demonstrates Obedience: Christ on the Cross

Soon after this teaching, Jesus will willingly go to His death on the cross. And in chapter 14, Jesus connects this cataclysmic event with his teaching of obedience.

In verse 11 Jesus says, “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.”

Belief in the good Father means belief in Christ his Son and Christ proves his divinity with his works, most notably his finished work on the cross at Calvary. 

We can never perfectly keep God’s commands, but Jesus Christ on a cross, obedient to a tortuous death to redeem the world, secures our salvation and provides a powerful model of obedience we can follow.

All of his works were perfectly obedient to God’s will—the only sinless man who, though tempted, never strayed from God’s good plan.

Christ shows us how to obey our good Father. 

Ephesians 1:5 says we are “adopted as sons and daughters through Jesus the Messiah.” No matter how messed up your earthly family is, Christ’s resurrection offers you a new family, the believers of the faith.

And Romans 8:17 says we are “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” Each of us is an heir to God’s goodness and glory through the finished work of our co-heir Christ.

Lastly, Jesus says in Matthew 16:24 “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” By obeying God’s commands rather than our own selfish desires, we follow the example of our co-heir Christ and share in his glorious, self-sacrificial love that conquered death itself.

I don’t know what your cross may be today: fighting addiction, sharing the gospel with a friend or coworker, giving grace to your spouse instead of hate, or any other number of sins we struggle with. But if you are in Christ, He has a way of letting you know how he’s calling you to obey. Your good Father and perfect savior rejoice when you take up your cross daily and follow Jesus.

How Do We Obey God: Listening to His Spirit

If you have noticed, each member of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Spirit—are crucial in our pursuit of obedience. 

Later in chapter 14, Jesus explains that He is eventually leaving. He has great things to accomplish. 

Yet, in verse 26, He tells His disciples “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

Similarly, two chapters later, in John 16:7 Jesus bewilderingly says “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you” implying that having the Holy Spirit within us is even better than having Jesus around.

How could this be? 

In 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul explains “your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.” 

Through prayer and the study of God’s Word, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, illuminates God’s commands, and teaches us how to apply them to the circumstances of our daily lives. Through the Holy Spirit, God is intimately involved in the daily life of every believer.

This well never runs dry. In relationship with the Holy Spirit, we continue to be sanctified throughout our lives.

And what is the result of a life lived in communication with the Spirit, modeled after the Son, in reverence for a good Father?

Results of Obedience: A Fruitful Life

Obedience maximizes our alignment with the created order and positive impact on others. 

Returning to John 14:15, we keep God’s commands because we love Him. If we trust Him and His plan, we should want to be a part of it.

By following God, we affect eternal things and our actions echo into eternity.

Rather than foolishly following our own selfish path, we can trust that He has a better purpose for us than we could imagine. 

That purpose is unveiled through obedience.

Obedience both to specific callings and to his general commands. In Matthew 22 Jesus says the greatest command is to  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and the second is to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

If you don’t know where to start, that is always the best place.

Then, orient yourself in trust toward your good Father, study Christ’s life as an example, make time for quiet communication and contemplation though the Holy Spirit. God will reveal his good plan for your life.

Many of us are unfortunately comfortable with what Alan Redpath calls “a saved soul, but a wasted life.” What a tragedy.

However, if we love God, we will want to make an impact for His kingdom and affect eternity with our actions. Thus, if we love God, we will keep his commands.

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