If You Love Me

The proof we love Jesus is not by what we say but by how we obey. Today, we are looking into the 14^th chapter of the Book of John. This chapter is among the most important chapters in the whole Bible. Here is what one commentator wrote about this chapter:

We now come to that portion of the evangelical history which we may with propriety call its Holy of Holies. Our Evangelist, like a consecrated priest, alone opens up to us the view into this sanctuary. It is the record of the last moments spent by the Lord in the midst of His disciples before His passion, when words full of heavenly thought flowed from His sacred lips. – Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 155.

It is in this chapter that Jesus promises us a place in heaven: “In my Father’s house are many rooms…I go and prepare a place for you.” And here we find Christ’s famous words, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And here in this chapter, we find the passage that tells us that Jesus will not leave us as orphans, but He will come again. Jesus tells us that the Father will send the Holy Spirit, “whom the Father will send in my name.” And we find a verse most believers quote: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.“

So far, I have only touched the surface of the 14^th chapter of the Book of John. Now, I want us to zero in on one thought Jesus spoke to us.

“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 14:23-24 ESV

This short passage of Scripture has a lot to unpack, but it is well worth the time. Notice that before Jesus tells us that only people who obey His commandments ( i.e., keep my word, see vs. 15) love Him, and it is these people that the Father loves. This doesn’t mean people who never sin; rather, it means people who have given their lives to Christ and show their love through their actions are those who love Jesus. God gave us 1 John 1:9 to be forgiven for sin.

Next, Jesus reveals something that we now take for granted. Jesus tells us that Father God, as in “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,” will come and live in our souls, as will Jesus and the Holy Spirit! Almighty God lives in people who love Jesus! This amazing event does not happen until, by grace, through faith, the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts. When He lives in us, we can cry out, with full confidence, “Abba, Father!”

Jesus tells us that the message packed into John 14:23-24 is a message from Father God. Wow! By Jesus distinguishing between His words and the Father’s words and the coming of the Spirit, Jesus makes it clear that there is one God who exists as three persons; a proof of the trinity of God is packed into these two verses.

I hope this article encourages you. From these two verses, we learn that we don’t have to guess whether or not Father God loves us, whether the Holy Spirit will live in us, and how we can demonstrate our love for Jesus. The proof we love Jesus is not by what we say but by how we obey. That’s a lot of work for just two verses out of 31,102 verses in the whole Bible!

God Bless,
Gary