In Meditation 63 we started to reflect on the question: What characterises that Spirit-given sacrificial love of my church for God the Father and for His Son Jesus Christ which fulfills the first and greatest commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
(Matthew 22:37)
We mentioned as a first characteristic:
a.) To love God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ whole-
heartedly as a church, means to be unconditionally and persistently devoted to them in prayer.
(See Meditations 66-73)
Today we want to look into a second characteristic:
b.) To love God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ whole-
heartedly as a church, means to obey them unconditionally. (See Meditations 66-73)
In Jesus’ last discourse to his disciples on the evening before his suffering, He shows his friends the indestructible link among our love for God, the imperative of obeying God’s Word, and the work of God’s Spirit in us.
Jesus starts this passage by saying: “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15).
He finishes it with the words: “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.” (John 14:21a).
Then follows a promise: “He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
(John 14:21b).
That promise is repeated in verse 23: “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Without doubt these words of Jesus show us another characteristic of a mature church: Its wholehearted love for God the Father and for His Son Jesus Christ which manifests itself in unconditional obedience to God’s Word [the Bible].
Jesus repeatedly promises that the triune God will reveal Himself to those Christians and those churches who love Him and obey Him. Yet, how could we love God wholeheartedly and obey His Word unconditionally if selfish pride and disobedience rules our hearts by nature? (see Meditation 19).
The answer to that question is found in the work of God’s Spirit in our lives. (see Meditations 27-34).
Sandwiched between Jesus’ two calls to love Him and obey his Word, he speaks about the empowering work of God’s Spirit: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you [from Pentecost onwards].” (John 14:16-17)
The apostle Paul rejoices about the fact that it is God’s Spirit who fills our hearts with God’s love: “...We know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” (Romans 5:5)
And as we just read, the Lord Jesus shows that it is God’s Spirit who will be with us. He will give us the understanding of God’s Word and the strength to obey it: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever-- the Spirit of truth.” ( John 14:17a)
When we talk about the indestructible link between loving God and obeying God’s Word, I think that we touch on one of the greatest problems in the lives of many Christians as well as in the conduct of many local churches today.
We might know God’s Word, we might even preach it but still not put it into practice. Jesus says that this is the surest way to deceive ourselves and others:
“Not everyone who says to me,`Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day,`Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'
Then I will tell them plainly,`I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
(Matthew 7:21-27)
Earlier in this Meditation we read that the Lord Jesus has promised that God – Father, Son and Spirit – will reveal himself to all those who love Him and obey His Word (John 14:21b and 23).
Therefore, it is most important that we pause for a moment and see how God’s Word secures the link between loving God and obeying His commands. I can only choose a small selection out of a nearly unlimited range of Biblical texts:
In the 14th century B.C., Israel’s leader Joshua urges on the tribal leaders of Ruben, Gad and Manasseh by saying: “Be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul.” (Joshua 22:5)
About 900 years later the statesman Daniel pleads with God and acknowledges the strong link between loving Him and obeying His Word: “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and keep your commands.” (Daniel 9:4)
Nehemiah, the cupbearer of the Persian king, lived shortly after Daniel. He starts his rueful prayer with the same acknowledgment: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands...” (Nehemiah 1:5).
After one of his discourses, Jesus announces: “My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice.” (Luke 8:21)
Later on Jesus proclaims: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:28)
In this Meditation we have already mentioned Jesus’ words: “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). And again in verse 23 Jesus warns: “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.”
That same evening before his death, Jesus explained to his disciples: “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.” (John 15:10). Christlike love reveals itself in obeying the commands of Jesus and his heavenly Father!
Years later the apostle John reminds us of Jesus’ teaching: “Loving God means keeping his commandments, and really, that isn't difficult.” (1 John 5:3).
In the context of Jesus’ teaching, John is right: If we have not capitulated to the authority of God’s Spirit and God’s Word in our lives and in our churches, then obeying His Word is impossible!
Yet, if God’s Spirit and His Word truly rule our lives and our churches, then obeying God’s Word is really not difficult!
These days many Christians and churches search after the experience of God’s presence and power. Yet, unconditional obedience to God’s Word [the Bible] is a problematic theme in many lives and churches with all the calamitous consequences that that brings about.
How about you and your church?
(to be continued)
Romans 5:5, Daniel 9:4, Nehemiah 1:5, Luke 8:21, 1 John 5:3 are quoted from the New Living Translation. All other quotes are from the New International Version.
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