John 14:15 If ye love me,
keep my commandments.
This is one of the most straight forward passages in all of scripture, yet at the same time it is one of the most confusing; one of the most simple, yet, most likely the most complicated of any scripture found in the Bible. The controversy in Christian circles is not really about loving Jesus, we all say that we do. The real issue lies in the second part of this statement; keep my commands. This is the part that is so complex, and yet so very basic. Our love for Jesus is shown in keeping his commandments. Does the converse also happen to be true? If we are not keeping His commandments, we don’t love Him? I guess this all then begs the question, what are the “my commandments” the Jesus speaks about?
In answering this question, I have run across the whole gambit of Christian beliefs. I have had people say that we have to keep the law of Moses because that was the commandments of God. I’ve had people say that it is only the 10 commandments that we are to keep. I’ve had still other people say that we are only to love God and love each other as the only commandments we have to follow. There seems to be plenty of scripture that people can cherry pick to support their particular claims about what obedience to “my commandments” mean.
I’ve always been a grace guy myself. I have held the belief that grace covers everything, that it was belief that mattered. At the same time, I have believed that there was validity in doing things Gods way. I always asked myself questions about church like, why is Sunday considered the Sabbath, and why are we not celebrating the holy days found in the Bible? I am haunted at times by passages like, Lord, when did we see you naked and not clothe you? I begin to wonder, am I doing enough? Am I being obedient? And if I am not being obedient, does that mean I don’t love Jesus? Am I the only one here who has these types of internal struggles?
I sincerely want to know the truth. I desire to know the truth. Some people seem so sure and comfortable in their doctrine like they don’t have a question in the world. I’m not sure whether I envy them or pity them. I guess my own struggle with this is at the same time part of the answer. Can we be secure in our salvation if we always have to ask ourselves if we have done enough? Or have done all the right things? On the other hand, can we miss out by being complacent and facing that day where we are saying, Lord, did we not do this or that in your name? Works did not appear to be the ticket for those folks as the lord said He did not know them. At the same time, not working got the servant cast out when the master came home. We are saved by grace through faith, yet faith without works is dead. Again I ask, what are the works? These scriptures seem so vague at times.
It is certain that salvation is of grace and not of works. That is quite clear in scripture. But, when we talk about showing our faith by our works, we do have to ask the question, what are those works? It is quite evident that there is some sort of standard of morality and conduct in place that we follow as believers. We don’t follow it to be saved, but as a result of our salvation we comply with it. People do look at our conduct. Our conduct should be representative of the God we serve and the savior who we believe in. I am not asking the question to have a debate, but out of sincerity of heart I want it resolved in my mind and heart so that I may conduct myself as the representative of the Kingdom that I am.
This is one of the most straight forward passages in all of scripture, yet at the same time it is one of the most confusing; one of the most simple, yet, most likely the most complicated of any scripture found in the Bible. The controversy in Christian circles is not really about loving Jesus, we all say that we do. The real issue lies in the second part of this statement; keep my commands. This is the part that is so complex, and yet so very basic. Our love for Jesus is shown in keeping his commandments. Does the converse also happen to be true? If we are not keeping His commandments, we don’t love Him? I guess this all then begs the question, what are the “my commandments” the Jesus speaks about?
In answering this question, I have run across the whole gambit of Christian beliefs. I have had people say that we have to keep the law of Moses because that was the commandments of God. I’ve had people say that it is only the 10 commandments that we are to keep. I’ve had still other people say that we are only to love God and love each other as the only commandments we have to follow. There seems to be plenty of scripture that people can cherry pick to support their particular claims about what obedience to “my commandments” mean.
I’ve always been a grace guy myself. I have held the belief that grace covers everything, that it was belief that mattered. At the same time, I have believed that there was validity in doing things Gods way. I always asked myself questions about church like, why is Sunday considered the Sabbath, and why are we not celebrating the holy days found in the Bible? I am haunted at times by passages like, Lord, when did we see you naked and not clothe you? I begin to wonder, am I doing enough? Am I being obedient? And if I am not being obedient, does that mean I don’t love Jesus? Am I the only one here who has these types of internal struggles?
I sincerely want to know the truth. I desire to know the truth. Some people seem so sure and comfortable in their doctrine like they don’t have a question in the world. I’m not sure whether I envy them or pity them. I guess my own struggle with this is at the same time part of the answer. Can we be secure in our salvation if we always have to ask ourselves if we have done enough? Or have done all the right things? On the other hand, can we miss out by being complacent and facing that day where we are saying, Lord, did we not do this or that in your name? Works did not appear to be the ticket for those folks as the lord said He did not know them. At the same time, not working got the servant cast out when the master came home. We are saved by grace through faith, yet faith without works is dead. Again I ask, what are the works? These scriptures seem so vague at times.
It is certain that salvation is of grace and not of works. That is quite clear in scripture. But, when we talk about showing our faith by our works, we do have to ask the question, what are those works? It is quite evident that there is some sort of standard of morality and conduct in place that we follow as believers. We don’t follow it to be saved, but as a result of our salvation we comply with it. People do look at our conduct. Our conduct should be representative of the God we serve and the savior who we believe in. I am not asking the question to have a debate, but out of sincerity of heart I want it resolved in my mind and heart so that I may conduct myself as the representative of the Kingdom that I am.
1 comment:
I have interpreted John 14:15, in Messiah's reference to "keep" to be a way of life. To live by the Instructions He lived by, not to be saved, but because I am saved. The fact that grace and Torah have been taught to be oppositional, I believe is the foundation for strong delusion. There was no "New Testament" at the time the Bereans studied Scripture in the book of Acts, or when Paul penned the warning to the church at Thessalonika, to not fall for the delusion. I realized the fullness of "If you love me, keep my commandments" through the trend of the "WWJD" bracelets. We know what He did. He lived the perfect example of following the Instructions of YHWH - commandments. John earlier tells us Messiah was Torah in the flesh. I still don't get it done perfectly, but that's certainly no excuse to not try to be more like Him, since I love Him!
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