“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.” (John 14:15-24 ESV)
Keeping the commandments of God has always been a stipulation of God for the fulfillment of his promises to us, his people, whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament. But we are not under the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, purification, sacrificial, and dietary laws and restrictions. We are under the New Covenant, which still has commandments that we are to obey, which are mostly God’s moral laws. And they are listed for us all throughout the New Testament.
The keeping of God’s commandments has always also been a sign of our covenant relationship with him, and of our love for him, and of the genuineness of our faith in him. For God has always equated faith with obedience to himself and to his commands, as he also equates disobedience with unbelief (see 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 John 2:3-6). So, just because we are under the New Covenant, and not the Old Covenant, it doesn’t mean that we are free from having to obey our Lord.
For if we truly love God, we will keep (obey) his commandments. And then notice the tie in between the keeping of the commandments and the receiving of the Holy Spirit whom we all receive when we trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, in truth and in righteousness. For the faith required of us to be saved from our sins comes from God, is gifted to us by God, and is persuaded of God, and so it will align with God’s will and purpose for our lives, which includes the requirement of obedience.
[Hebrews 12:1-2; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Ephesians 2:8-10]
And then notice what he said next about obeying his commandments. He said that whoever has his commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves him. And he who loves him will be loved by the Father, and Jesus will love him and manifest himself to him. And then he said that if anyone loves him, that he will keep (obey) his word, and the Father will love him, and they will come to him and make their home with him. So, again, there is this tie in between our obedience and our covenant relationship with God/Christ.
And what does it say in 1 John 2:3-6?
“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
And what about in Matthew 7:21-23?
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
And what about in Romans 6:3-4,6,12,16?
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.” “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” and its end is eternal life.
So, whether you are reading the words of Jesus or those of his NT apostles the message is still the same. Obedience to him and to his commands, in practice, is evidence of genuine faith and of love for God and of a genuine covenant relationship and fellowship with God/Christ. For our obedience to him proves our love for him, for if we truly love God, we will want to obey him, we will want to do what he says we ought to do, and we will want to please him, because we love him.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 8:51; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:8; 1 Co 10:1-22; 1 Co 15:58; 2 Co 5:9; 2 Co 9:8; Gal 5:6,16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 5:10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:9-14; 1 Thes 2:4; 1 Thes 4:1; 2 Thess 1:11-12; 2 Tim 2:4,21; Tit 2:11-14; Tit 3:8; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 5:9; Heb 11:6; Heb 13:6; Jas 1:21-25; Jas 2:17; 1 Pet 1:1-2; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10,22-24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70
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