K048. Jesus said, If you love me, keep my commandments

Many said, We know that our children love us if they bring us to the best restaurant and that our wives love us if they cook their best dishes for us. But Jesus said, If you love me, keep my commandments. What does it mean? It means that He did not make it complicated or tricky for us to love Him too. Just do His words.

Interestingly the world will know we are Christians by our love.; but Jesus knows our love simply by our obedience to His words and commandments:
Joh 14:15-24 KJV  If ye love me, keep my commandments ... (21)  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him .. (23) .. If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.  (24)  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

This is the fruit that Jesus was looking for or checking when He said:
Mat 7:20-21 KJV  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.  (21)  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

If we know the commandments of the Lord and the will of the Father, we will be known by the world that we are His disciples:
Joh 13:34-35 KJV  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  (35)  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
It means that we must have the words and commandments of God first before we can truly love others in the churches or the world.

Many will ask, "Why do you always focus on the commandments, but not the words? Don't you think that it is more legalistic to tell people to keep the commandments than to keep the words of God?"
I will ask them, Does it make a difference? Please think, Does it make a difference if we say that we must love God, compared with another one who says that it is God's commandments to love God? Moses gave us the commandment to love God, but some radical grace preachers say that we must love God too; will this in any way make the radical grace preachers less legalistic than Moses just because they do not mention anything about God's commandments? No.
Hence, the mention of laws or commandments alone won't make us more or less legalistic; it is rather how we use the laws and commandments to stiffen God's works in the people's lives. Sometimes, the overdose, abuse, exaggeration, or perversion of grace may cause some preachers to become more legalistic and hypocritical than the Pharisees too.

Many may still argue, "But there is no more law under the new covenant. Under the new covenant, it is all about grace; not law, because law demands and grace supplies .."
I will ask them, Are you sure that there is no more law? Before you say anything unwise, please read the Bible first. If you cannot see from the Bible, just think of this: In politics, one party may take over from the other and change all the policies. But do you think the new party will remove all the law of the country, for eg. the laws against corruption, crimes, and injustice? No, there are laws which we must still keep even though we may change the whole government. Similarly, in God's kingdom, many things have changed under the new covenant, but there are certain laws which do not change, especially God's laws which He has set since the foundation of the world.

Many will still argue, "But the Bible said that the law is created not for the godly; but for the ungodly. Hence, we are the godly people who will no longer need any law or commandment. Why do we still keep the laws of God? They are the ministry of death .."
I will tell them, Yes, I know that you have quoted from the following Bible verses:1Ti 1:8-9 KJV  But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;  (9)  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers ..
Yes, the laws and commandments are used to judge the ungodly. But do you know that the laws and commandments are also used to mark those who are from God or the godly people too, and they give life:
Rev 12:17 KJV  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Rev 14:12 KJV  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 22:13-14 KJV  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.  (14)  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

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