To Love Jesus Is to Obey Him
David W Palmer
(John 14:15 NKJV) “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
Jesus must be the only person I know who can say this and get away with it. Maybe a parent could say it sincerely to a young child; but even then, it could sound manipulative. Saying, “If you love me, do what I say,” certainly wouldn’t work in a peer-group or with adult children. So, how can Jesus say this to us without any manipulation or a domineering attitude?
The answer begins with a truth that he revealed to them earlier in the day; he is Lord:
(John 13:13 NKJV) “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. {14} If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
Jesus is Lord! This is clearly confirmed by the Holy Spirit, along with why Father gave him this calling:
(Philippians 2:8–11 NKJV) “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. {9} Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, {10} that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, {11} and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
(See also: Luke 2:11)
“He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore …” This gives us the reason God gave Jesus the eternal role of Lord; he humbled himself and became obedient to his Father’s will—even to the point of death. The Holy Spirit urges us to take on the same attitude in relation to Jesus that he had towards his Father:
(Philippians 2:5 NLT) You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Jesus is the Lord and King of the entire universe, including all created beings; he is King of kings and Lord of lords. God the Father gave this title, function, and job to Jesus, and to him alone; no one else is Lord. To him, “Every knee should bow.”
The Holy Spirit then went on to say:
(Philippians 2:12 NKJV) “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
So, Jesus said that if we love him we would obey him. The Holy Spirit confirmed it here through Paul, and he gave us a third witness through the writer of Hebrews:
(Hebrews 5:9 NKJV) And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.
(Hebrews 5:9 Aramaic) “Thus matured, He became unto all who obey Him, The Cause of Eternal Life.”
In this passage, God the Father confirms why he requires obedience from those who love Jesus their Lord; obedience is the way he saves them. “Salvation” means temporal as well as eternal safety, rescue, deliverance, and provision.
The Father’s loving intention in stating the need for obedience to our Lord Jesus is two-fold:
The first can easily be illustrated by a loving parent hoping for implicit obedience from their child when they tell them not to touch the red heater element, the hot stove, or to dive into super hot bath water before testing it.
The second reason a loving God says that if we love Jesus, we should obey him, is … God is looking for children suited for his eternal paradise. What’s more, he is hoping to find them among the sin-addicted children of fallen Adam. His first step is to draw them through the gospel of the suffering and resurrection of his primary son. Then, when he finds those who respond willingly to his gospel, he feeds, provides, and teaches them.
However, God knows that his love for his children is not what qualifies them for his kingdom. Their first step is their response to God’s love as demonstrated in Jesus’s gospel; and then it is their willingness to deny self, and take on Christ-likeness—his character, and love. So in his wisdom, God allows them to undergo testing and re-t
