Do You Love Jesus?
When one thinks of how unconditional God’s love for mankind has been – and forever will be, one can’t help but ask God, “Why, Why me; Why do you love such a sinner as me?” Though I consistently sin against you Lord, rebelling and rejecting your love, you didn’t hesitate to take my place on the cross; the same cross we (as Christians) wholeheartedly put you on.
When we are feeling down, God comes close by picking us up and giving us hope towards the future; but when Jesus was down, we spit in his face (Matthew 26: 67). Why is it that Jesus offers us a fountain to drink from where no more pain or sorrow will exist; yet, when he was thirsty we gave him vinegar to drink (John 4: 14). Jesus offers his followers a chance to walk with him into eternal life; but, we blatantly choose to walk over him ignoring all his warnings and statues which he gave for our own good. With all of God’s attempts to reach out to us, we can conclude that since the beginning of time there has been a great conflict between mankind’s sinful ways and God’s perfect divine nature. While it’s quite evident that Jesus loves you, there is one question you must ask yourself …
Do you love Jesus? John 14: 15, 21, and 24 says (in summary) that if you love Jesus you’ll keep his commandments and by keeping his commandments you are keeping his Father’s commandments. By choosing not to keep His commandments, you are choosing not to keep his Father’s commandments as well. Therefore, we can conclude that by not keeping his commandments – You do not love Jesus.
How do we know that we actually know Jesus? 1 John 2: 3, 4 says that we know him if we keep his commandments ,and if we say we know him without keeping his commandments then ultimately, we are liars! Rev 21:8 says “All” liars will enter the lake of fire and brimstone. In the book of James chapter 2 and verse 10 it says, if you keep the commandments you must keep them all together, and that by missing one you break all. Therefore, if you keep 9 out of 10 commandments, you are still considered to be breaking all 10. If you answered that you know and love Jesus, could you be considered a liar? What happened to the fourth commandment found in Exodus 20: 8-11? You know the one that starts off with “remember?” It’s ironic that many of us forget the one commandment that begins with the word “Remember.” Don’t forget this meaningful commandment and be called a “liar.”
It’s also Ironic that Ecclesiastes 12: 13 tells us that the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep his commandments, yet we take the Lord’s name in vain claiming to be Christians, and say the commandments are done away with. Simultaneously we take away the fear of God demonstrating that there are no consequences for breaking God’s law! But wait, Didn’t Jesus die on the cross for us? Doesn’t this mean that the law no longer stands, Right? Wrong! Colossians 2:14 says the “handwriting of ordinances,” the laws that were against us, the Moses law which can be found in Deuteronomy 31: 26. What is the law of ordinances which is contained in the Moses law? It was a certain set of laws in addition to the 10 commandments, but not the 10 commandments itself.Inside the ordinances we have what is known as “ceremonial law” which is the law containing the sacrificial system, the feast days, circumcision etc.These Laws -ceremonial laws- were a symbolic representation, the lamb dying pointing forward to Jesus’s death on the cross, which is why they were ‘nailed to the cross’! The 10 commandments, the Moral law, is still binding. The Bible says that without the law (the 10 commandments) there is no such thing as sin (Romans 4: 15, and 1 John 3: 4). So, if the 10 commandments are no longer binding and there is no such thing as sin, then what did Jesus save us from? Does this mean I can go out and kill people without worrying about the consequences? Romans 6: 1 certainly disagrees! Furthermore, if there is no such thing as sin would that make the Bible a complete contradiction? Doesn’t Romans 3:23 say that “All” have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God? If this is true, then how is it possible that the 10 commandments, otherwise known as God’s Law of love, can be done away with? How can the law be abolished when Romans 7: 7 tells us that it is through the law that we know sin?To answer the question, what did Jesus come to save us from, he came to save us from sin; and if there is sin, then there is a law!
Jesus said the greatest commandments were to love thy God with all thy heart, mind, and all thy soul, and to love thy neighbor as thyself, Right? Yes, indeed, but what did he mean when he said this? We see that these two commandments aren’t new at all as Deuteronomy 6: 5 and Leviticus 19: 18 stated this way before Jesus did. So what exactly did he mean then when he said these commandments( Matthew22:37-40 )? Jesus was simply restating the 10 commandments all over again (summing them up into two commandments). If you notice, the first 4 of the commandments have to do exclusively with God, while the last 6 have to do with mankind! If I love God with all my might, soul and heart, I will not break the 1st four commandments and if I love my neighbor I won’t break the last 6. God gave us grace but like Romans 6:1 says, this does not mean we can take advantage of it and act as if The Law does not exist! Grace exist because there is a law; when we choose to break that law, and if we sincerely choose to repent grace and mercy covers our transgression!
So, now that you know the truth, will you keep All 10 of the commandments? James 4:17 says that if you know better and do not do better then you have sinned! Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin are death! Jesus came not to destroy the law, he came to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17-18). Matthew 7:21 says that many will come in Jesus’ name, but if they don’t do the “will of the father” then it is in vain! In Matthew 15:3 Jesus says, “Why do you transgress the law for your traditions?” But could that be the reason you transgress the fourth commandment, is it tradition? But that’s O.T. law. No, no my friend, the Bible says Jesus does not change; He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8). The Bible also says in 2 Timothy3:16 that “all” scripture is profitable for good use! 2 Timothy2:15 states to diligently search the scriptures and if they do not speak according to His word then there is no light in them (Isaiah 8:20). Just what scripture is Timothy talking about here? We know at the time of this composition that the only scriptures available were from the Old Testament. After all, what scriptures do you think the first Christians used?
If God loved us so much that he sent his only begotten son (John3:16) then why is it so hard to keep his commandments? With many people telling you that the law no longer stands, it is very important to choose the path of the narrow. The Bible says the broad path leads to death and the straight and narrow path leads to life. It also says that many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 7:13). Who will you choose, man or God? The answer is simple, if you know and love Jesus, keep his commandments!
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Jim