““If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15 ESV
Reflection: which of Jesus’ commandments do you keep?
For some reason, this very simple topic of keeping the commandments is a big controversy. There are many within the church claiming that, since Jesus fulfilled the law, we don’t have to. And while the first part is absolutely true. Jesus did fulfill the law, as He said ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17 ESV. But then, is the second part of the claim correct, that we don’t have to since Jesus already did? Here again, we see the trick of the enemy. Taking a truth, and adding something that is not true to deceive people. Jesus NEVER said that we do not have to keep the commandments. Quite the opposite. He said,
““If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15 ESV
Jesus said, “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”Matthew 5:18-19 ESV. The law of God remains, it is not removed or abolished in any way. And, we are to keep the law, the commandments of God.
He said “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 14:21-24 ESV. To “have His commandments” means we need to know them, right? Ok, so let me ask you,
what are the commandments Jesus talked about?
If we don’t have a good understanding of them, how can we follow them? I am afraid the church here has not done a very good job teaching God’s way. We know that Jesus called Himself the Way. And, He showed us by His life what fulfilling the Law meant, ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17 ESV. So, as a starting point, Jesus is our reference, our example, our Lord. He said “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”” John 8:31-32 ESV.
And, it doesn’t take a lot of reading in the Bible to see that the conversation He had with His disciples, His followers, often centered around the commandments. Jesus was even asked about which was the most important commandment. You might remember. ““Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”” Matthew 22:36-40 ESV
Obviously, keeping the commandments of God is nothing new, and hasn’t changed. We read from the Old Testament, ““So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the LORD.” Leviticus 22:31 ESV. “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.” Psalm 119:1-4 ESV. “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,” Proverbs 3:1 ESV. “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13 ESV
Jesus didn’t change the law of God, nor did He abolish it. He fulfilled it and therefore showed us the way, what the commandments mean by His life. And, if we say we love Him and want to make Him Lord of our lives, we keep the commandments. Let us get reacquainted with the truth, with the Law and commandments of God.