(BARRY WRITES) Proof of Love

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A vital passage of scripture in determining how we show our love to Jesus is John 14:15-24. In this passage, Jesus links loving Him with obedience three times. Being loved by Jesus and being loved by the Father is linked to loving Jesus. On the flip side, not loving Him is linked to not obeying Him.

The  Greek word for “keep” is “tereo”, which means to take care of, or to guard. We are to treat the commands of Jesus with great care, as if we’re security guards, patrolling with a watchful eye over the valuable goods, making sure they’re kept in pristine condition, and not tainted or stolen. At stake is whether or not we love Jesus and having abode with the Father.

So, if keeping His word, or His commandments, is required, then it’s good to know what He commanded. So what did He command? While an exhaustive answer to that would take more space than is in this study, a look at some of the main points is at least merited.

The Sermon on the Mount is littered with them:

In Matthew 5:16, He commands “Let your light shine” for all to see the glory of God, and they can glorify the Father too, as a result of His light shining through us.

Matthew 5:37 tells us to keep our word. If we make a promise to someone, we should keep to it. We don’t need to “swear by my mother’s grave”, “by the cross”, or “by the left leg of my neighbour”. These kind of terms don’t make us any more reliable. Doing what we said we would do does. We need to be true to what we say. He has commanded us, and we will fare better in the eyes of both God and man.

In Matthew 4:38-42, we are told to go extra distance for others, going the extra mile, so to speak. Please note that this doesn’t go so far as going the extra transglobal marathon. There does come a point when we’re just wasting our time, but we are to reach out for others, and go further for them than we would without Him.

In Matthew 5:44-46, we are told to love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us. This can be an extremely difficult command to obey.

Still, it’s easier than the following command, two verses later, where we are told to be perfect.

In Matthew 6:19-21, we’re told to lay up our treasures in heaven rather than earth.

Matthew 6:33 is the famous verse where we’re told to seek first the Kingdom of God.

The command not to cast pearls before swine in 7:6 can show the limits of the command in 4:38-42. It helps when there is a limit as this makes it more attainable.

Matthew 7:7-8 is just one of ten times the New Testament commands us to ask what we want of Him. They come with various conditions, such as why we ask and what we ask for.

The Sermon on the Mount finishes with telling us to choose the narrow way (7:13-14) and beware of false prophets (7:15-16).

Those are just the unconditional commands. There are also ones that depend on circumstances. These include to rejoice when being persecuted (5:11-12), being reconciled to a brother before bringing our gift to God, if required (5:23-25), and to act in secret when we give or pray (start of chapter 6). Safe to say, there’s a lot in the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus commanded us.

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It’s not all about the Sermon on the Mount though. There are other commands of Jesus throughout the gospels. For example, we are told to repent in Matthew 4:17 and to follow Him two verses later. Elsewhere in Matthew, we’re commanded to be wise yet gentle (10:16), fear not (10:28), take His yoke (11:28-30), honour our parents (15:4) and to beware of leaven (16:6). There are yet more in Matthew about loving our neighbour and loving the Lord (22:37-40) among others. Matthew is chock full of Jesus commands.

The first command in Luke doesn’t get any easier. It’s to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him (Luke 9:23-25). The scriptures suggest we even go to the point of losing our life, if following Him requires it. Luke 12:15 telling us to be on guard against greed. While this has some similarity with the previous command, it’s only part of it. Luke 14:12-14 is seen as illustrating the attitude we should have towards those who are less well off than we are.

Our quick tour of the commands of Jesus wouldn’t be complete without what He said in John 3:7 when He told us we must be born again.

There are many more in the gospels too, but even with the list above, that’s a lot of commands! Showing our love by obeying His commands runs deep, and there’s a lot to it.

What about commands in the New Testament letters? Can they be attributed as His? Would obeying them fulfil the commands of Jesus? Of course. Many of these commands reflect what is in the gospel message, and some are even repeats. For example, some of the ten New Testament commands to ask whatever we wish, are in the letters.

While there are too many commands in these letters to fit the length permitted by this study, it is worth mentioning one particular set that is central to the New Testament blueprint of family and community, the “one another” commands. It is impossible to read the New Testament and not recognise how much the Lord wants us to do, not only in fellowship with Him, but also in fellowship with one another. The bible is a love story, about the Father preparing a bride for His Son. We are the bride. That love story is to be lived out in a smaller way in our own lives. We are not meant to be islands in isolation, but we’re meant to be part of a harmonious whole, growing together closer to Him and helping each other be who the Lord has meant us to be. The one another commands tell us how we can do that. Without living out the “one another” commands, we are not living out the gospel blueprint or showing our love for Him.

Some of the more prominent ones include to encourage one another, which is mentioned four times (1 Thessalonians 4:18, 5:11, Hebrews 3:13, 10:25), along with the similar command to build one another up. Greet one another with a holy kiss is also mentioned four times too (Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Peter 5:14). While a kiss of greeting might not be so common in some cultures today, the sentiment is still important, and we still need to be hospitable and enriching to each other. Two verses show how others should be foremost in our thinking, above any thought of ourselves – Romans 12:10 (Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another above yourselves) and Philippians 2:3 (In humility consider others better than yourselves.)

Most important of all the “one another” commands is the most prominent. The one that sums them all up is mentioned 15 times – to “love one another”. This isn’t a feeling. This isn’t emotion. This is a conscious decision for the benefit of the other person. Our love for one another is a reflection of our love for the Lord. Sitting next to someone for two hours once a week isn’t fulfilling the “love one another” command. This requires us being open to each other, vulnerable, but being there for others in their vulnerabilities. It means lifting each other’s burdens, which starts by being able to trust each other enough to share our burdens, or being trustworthy to have others share their burdens with us (there is something seriously wrong if, not only are we not helping each other in our burdens, but we don’t trust each other to share the burdens in the first place). It means going out of our way for the benefit of the other person. 1 Corinthians 13 is dedicated to love, explaining it and telling how important it is. It is greater than faith and hope. We are not demonstrating our love for Jesus if we’re not showing love for one another. This is by far the most important of the “one another” commands. In fact, if we are showing perfect love for one another, we’ll already be obeying many of the commands of Jesus, and thereby showing our love for Him. Following that, will be love for the Father and abiding with Him.

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Finally, we must bear fruit. Matthew 7:16-20 talks of how a tree is known by its fruit and what happens to a tree that bears bad fruit. If we are part of Him, abiding in His vine, then we would produce fruit that would indicate that. What is that fruit? The answer is in Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control; against such things there is no law.” If this fruit is not in us, then we’re not part of His vine, and we’re not loving Him.

But what if we’re obeying His commands out of a different motivation? For example, there have been many dictators throughout history whose people obeyed them out of fear. The sole reason for obeying the tyrant was that they valued their lives, and obeying with the hope of better to come was seen as better than dying. What if we’re thinking that? What if our obedience is purely for selfish gain?

Well, this cannot be, and it’s impossible to merely obey Him out of fear. The reason for this is because according to 1 John 4:18, “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” Thus, it is impossible to have both love and fear for the same thing. If we are obeying Him out of fear, then we don’t have love. But He Himself commanded us to love. We cannot obey that out of fear. We cannot love out of fear. Thus, the only way we can obey His commandments is out of love for Him.

More than that though, the time we give Him is important. Anybody who has had the fortune, or gift from the Lord, to be in a relationship, knows how important this is. When we are without our loved ones, we’re looking forward to the time when we can get back with them. Newlyweds want to spend every minute with each other. As one who was forced to spend almost a year physically apart from the one I was betrothed to, I know very much what that longing is like.

Contrast that to how we usually give time to the Lord. Imagine if I woke up and went to breakfast, to see my beloved there to greet me and bid me good morning with a loving smile, and I just turned to the cupboard. I eat my cornflakes without a single utterance to her, and then head off to work as if she isn’t there. Imagine she meets me at lunch time, but I continue talking to my work colleagues, ignoring her all the time, and then go back to work without once acknowledging her presence. Then in the evening, I get home, put my feet up and unwind in front of the television, before going out and meeting my friends. All the while, my betrothed is with me, even coming with me to meet my friends. I still continue the silent treatment. Finally, when the day is done and I’m getting into bed, I  turn and say “Hello. Good to see you. Thank you for being such a big part of my life. I want to spend more and more time with you, and to see more and more of you.”

Not only would this sound completely disingenuous, but the relationship, let alone the betrothal, wouldn’t last. Yet, this is often what we do to the Lord. Expressing our love for Him means wanting to give Him our best, including our time. I have heard it said before that we should give God what’s right, not what’s left. All too often we merely give Him the leftovers of the day. He deserves a lot more than that. If we truly love Him, we will not only obey Him, but give time to Him, and genuinely want to be with Him, and not just say it. In short, if we truly love Him, we will give Him our all and live out our everything for Him and His glory.