Love for God is Obedience

[Christsfreeservant]

Psalms 103:17-19 ESV

“But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,​

and his righteousness to children's children,​

to those who keep his covenant​

and remember to do his commandments.​

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,​

and his kingdom rules over all.”​

Now, this is not just Old Testament teaching. This is New Testament and New Covenant teaching, too. For, who are those who fear the Lord? They are those who honor, respect, revere, and obey him. They are those who take God and his word seriously, and who do not ignore them, but who put the Word of God into practice in their daily lives. For they are doers of the word and not hearers only who, after they have heard the word, walk away and forget what it teaches them about how they are to live their lives.

Now, we hear a lot these days about God’s unconditional love. Well, he did love the entire world of people enough to send his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for our sins. And he loved us while we were still sinners. And we did nothing in ourselves to deserve his love. He gave it to us freely, which is what his grace is all about.

But then we have these Scriptures which speak of God’s love as conditional, when it is speaking of the intimate love he has for those who are truly his by genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ. If we obey his commandments, it shows that we love Jesus/God. And we who love him are loved by God the Father and God the Son (Jesus Christ), and thus they make their home with us. And if we keep our Lord’s commandments (New Covenant), we abide in his love. But if we don’t obey him, then we don’t love him, and we do not abide in his love, and so we do not have eternal life in him.

And then we read that we know that we have come to know Jesus/God if we keep (obey) his commandments (New Covenant). So, if we claim to know Jesus Christ, but we don’t keep his commandments, then we are liars. So, we don’t know him. And if we love (prefer, long for) the world and the things in the world – the desires of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of life – then the love of the Father is not in us. And Jesus is the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. So there are conditions to his love when it speaks of his intimate love for his people.

So, just because God loved the whole world, and while we were yet sinners Jesus Christ died for us, this does not mean that we are in a love relationship with the Lord, and him with us, if we do not love and obey him, in practice, and if sin is still what we practice and not righteousness. We can’t just make a profession of faith in Christ, done deal. We must walk now according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, for if we still make sin our habit (our practice), then we do not know God and we do not love him and we do not have eternal life with him.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 8:51; Jn 10:27-30; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:10; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:16; 1 Co 10:1-22; Php 2:12-13; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 5:9; Jas 1:21-25; 1 Pet 1:1-2; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10,24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6]

Follow Him

An Original Work / February 21, 2013
Based off Luke 9:22-25

Jesus, Son of God,
Died for us on a cross.

Anyone who would come to Him
Must deny himself and follow.
He must take up his cross daily;
Die to sin and self each day.

Father, God above,
Loved us so: gave His Son.

If you want to save your old life;
Keep on sinning, follow your ways,
You will lose your life forever;
Hope of heaven gone away.

Spirit of our God
Gives us life in God’s Son.

Nonetheless, if you die to self;
Forsake your sin; follow Jesus,
You will live with God in heaven,
And forever praise His name!

 

[PeterDona]

I think there is also the part of actually loving God.
When Jesus talks to Peter at the end of the gospel of John, he asks Peter "do you love me more than the others?"
He does not ask whether Peter has been better at doing the commandments.

So there is a kind of reversal on the obedience teaching. It is possible to love God

 

[Christsfreeservant]

I think there is also the part of actually loving God.
When Jesus talks to Peter at the end of the gospel of John, he asks Peter "do you love me more than the others?"
He does not ask whether Peter has been better at doing the commandments.

So there is a kind of reversal on the obedience teaching. It is possible to love God

No, not really. For when Jesus asked Peter if he loved him, and Peter answered yes, Jesus responded with "feed my sheep", which means if you love me, then do what I say. Plus there are many verses noted that teach if we love God we will obey him and if we don't obey him that we don't even know him. And then there is the meaning of the word love which means to prefer what God prefers and to choose his choices and to obey them in his power. So love for God is obedience. If we do not obey him we do not love him.

 

[PeterDona]

2 thoughts for investigation and reflection

"if you love me, keep my commandments".
interlinear study tool: John 14:15 Interlinear: 'If ye love me, my commands keep,
It seems that "keep" is a simple future indicative active, which would be better translated "if you love me you are going to keep my commandments". It is not an imperative.

In the old testament, it is the fear of the Lord that makes people keep his commandments.I was wondering whether the fear of God is mentioned in the new testament and it is. Here is an oversight from a webpage I just googled: The Fear of God in the New Testament: Part of the Godly Man series
A conclusion is that the fear of God is mentioned in the new testament

 

[Blade]

Found in cases like this best to say nothing at all praise God glory to Jesus.. like Paul said at least Christ is being preached.

 

[fhansen]

Psalms 103:17-19 ESV

“But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,​

and his righteousness to children's children,​

to those who keep his covenant​

and remember to do his commandments.​

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,​

and his kingdom rules over all.”​

Now, this is not just Old Testament teaching. This is New Testament and New Covenant teaching, too. For, who are those who fear the Lord? They are those who honor, respect, revere, and obey him. They are those who take God and his word seriously, and who do not ignore them, but who put the Word of God into practice in their daily lives. For they are doers of the word and not hearers only who, after they have heard the word, walk away and forget what it teaches them about how they are to live their lives.

Now, we hear a lot these days about God’s unconditional love. Well, he did love the entire world of people enough to send his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for our sins. And he loved us while we were still sinners. And we did nothing in ourselves to deserve his love. He gave it to us freely, which is what his grace is all about.

But then we have these Scriptures which speak of God’s love as conditional, when it is speaking of the intimate love he has for those who are truly his by genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ. If we obey his commandments, it shows that we love Jesus/God. And we who love him are loved by God the Father and God the Son (Jesus Christ), and thus they make their home with us. And if we keep our Lord’s commandments (New Covenant), we abide in his love. But if we don’t obey him, then we don’t love him, and we do not abide in his love, and so we do not have eternal life in him.

And then we read that we know that we have come to know Jesus/God if we keep (obey) his commandments (New Covenant). So, if we claim to know Jesus Christ, but we don’t keep his commandments, then we are liars. So, we don’t know him. And if we love (prefer, long for) the world and the things in the world – the desires of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of life – then the love of the Father is not in us. And Jesus is the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. So there are conditions to his love when it speaks of his intimate love for his people.

So, just because God loved the whole world, and while we were yet sinners Jesus Christ died for us, this does not mean that we are in a love relationship with the Lord, and him with us, if we do not love and obey him, in practice, and if sin is still what we practice and not righteousness. We can’t just make a profession of faith in Christ, done deal. We must walk now according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, for if we still make sin our habit (our practice), then we do not know God and we do not love him and we do not have eternal life with him.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 8:51; Jn 10:27-30; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:10; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:16; 1 Co 10:1-22; Php 2:12-13; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 5:9; Jas 1:21-25; 1 Pet 1:1-2; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10,24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6]

Follow Him

An Original Work / February 21, 2013
Based off Luke 9:22-25

Jesus, Son of God,
Died for us on a cross.

Anyone who would come to Him
Must deny himself and follow.
He must take up his cross daily;
Die to sin and self each day.

Father, God above,
Loved us so: gave His Son.

If you want to save your old life;
Keep on sinning, follow your ways,
You will lose your life forever;
Hope of heaven gone away.

Spirit of our God
Gives us life in God’s Son.

Nonetheless, if you die to self;
Forsake your sin; follow Jesus,
You will live with God in heaven,
And forever praise His name!

Yes, it's both/and. We cannot be obedient without grace and yet we must strive to be obedient by cooperating with that grace. God never removes the human will from the equation. Ultimately obedience flows freely to the extent that we love Him, a work of His that we grow in as we pick up our cross and follow daily. It's a both a gift-and a human choice to accept and express that gift.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

Yes, it's both/and. We cannot be obedient without grace and yet we must strive to be obedient by cooperating with that grace. God never removes the human will from the equation. Ultimately obedience flows freely to the extent that we love Him, a work of His that we grow in as we pick up our cross and follow daily. It's a both a gift-and a human choice to accept and express that gift.

Thank you. Yes, we have to choose to cooperate with God's work of grace in our lives, but we can only obey him in his power and strength.

 

[Soyeong]

I think there is also the part of actually loving God.
When Jesus talks to Peter at the end of the gospel of John, he asks Peter "do you love me more than the others?"
He does not ask whether Peter has been better at doing the commandments.

So there is a kind of reversal on the obedience teaching. It is possible to love God

Each of the laws that God chose to give teach us how to act in accordance with an aspect of His nature, and when do that we are expressing our love for that aspect of who He is, so everything that God chose to command was specifically commanded in order to teach us how to love a different aspect of who He is, which is why there are many verses in both the OT and the NT that connect our love for God with our obedience to His commandments. For example, in John 14:23-24, Jesus said that if we love him, then we will obey his teachings, but if we don't love him, then we will not obey his teachings, so the way to love Jesus is not apart from obeying his instructions for how to love him.

 

[Soyeong]

2 thoughts for investigation and reflection

"if you love me, keep my commandments".
interlinear study tool: John 14:15 Interlinear: 'If ye love me, my commands keep,
It seems that "keep" is a simple future indicative active, which would be better translated "if you love me you are going to keep my commandments". It is not an imperative.

In the old testament, it is the fear of the Lord that makes people keep his commandments.I was wondering whether the fear of God is mentioned in the new testament and it is. Here is an oversight from a webpage I just googled: The Fear of God in the New Testament: Part of the Godly Man series
A conclusion is that the fear of God is mentioned in the new testament

The Hebrew word "pachad" refers to the type of fear that causes us to want to run away and hide while the word "yireh" refers to the type of fear that causes us to see and run towards someone. In other words, there is a type of fear where we don't want to be close to someone and a type of fear where we don't want to be separated from someone, and the type of fear that is the beginning of wisdom is the latter, so it is rooted in the love for God.

 

[Chaleb]

But then we have these Scriptures which speak of God’s love as conditional, when it is speaking of the intimate love he has for those who are truly his by genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ. If we obey his commandments,

The only proof of Salvation is to be born again.

Even unbelievers do good works and keep commandments.

The born again are to produce "fruit of the Spirit"<, and this is not commandment keeping or trying to keep the Law.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

The only proof of Salvation is to be born again.

Even unbelievers do good works and keep commandments.

The born again are to produce "fruit of the Spirit"<, and this is not commandment keeping or trying to keep the Law.

Please read the noted Scripture references in the OP. The Scriptures teach that being born again of the Spirit must result in us walking no longer according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, and that we must obey the Lord and no longer walk in sin. And they teach that if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in walks of surrender and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ that we do not have the hope of eternal life with God and that we are not born of God but we are of the devil.

 

[Chaleb]

And they teach that if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in walks of

Let me know if anyone here teaches that you can walk in deliberate and habitual sin.

Ive not read a post like that, here.

However, and on the other hand, the Cross of Christ is "Jesus became sin for us" and God does not Charge SIN to the born again.

And you might try to figure that out, as you have not yet, i noticed.

Start here...

2 Corinthians 5:19

Romans 4:8