Why Jesus’ teaching “If you love me, obey me” is not gaslighting – John 14-16, Part 1

When I was in Bible College, I was in the college library one day reading Christianity Today magazine.  It was the September 1994 issue, and in that issue an article really caught my attention.  The title of the article is “Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit?” by Daniel Wallace, at the time a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. 

In the 1990s, as it had been for decades prior, Dallas Seminary was the seminary of choice for Lancaster Bible College grads who wanted to continue their education. So this article caught my eye for two reason.  One it was written by a Dallas prof, and two it was about the Holy Spirit. 

What Wallace writes at the beginning of the article had me hooked, with these very provocative words,

“I am a cessationist. That is to say, I believe that certain gifts of the Holy Spirit -namely, the “sign gifts” of healing, tongues, and miracles—were employed in the early church to authenticate that God was doing something new, but that they ceased with the death of the last apostle. This is what distinguishes me from a charismatic Christian, who believes the Holy Spirit still uses sign gifts today.

“While I still consider myself a cessationist, the last few years have shown me that my spiritual life has gotten off track—that somehow I, along with many others in my theological tradition, have learned to do without the third person of the Trinity.

“This has not hindered my academic work. Mine has become a cognitive faith—a Christianity from the neck up. As long as I could control the text, I was happy. I lived in the half-reality that theological articulation is valid only if it is based on sound exegesis and nothing else. Like the proverbial frog in the slowly simmering pot of water, I did not sense that I was on the way to self-destruction.”

Self-destruction?  A cognitive faith, controlling the text of the Bible, was killing him?  That caused me to ask: Is a cognitive faith killing us?  Do we really need the Holy Spirit?  The answer is “Of course we need the Spirit.”  But why?  Perhaps more importantly, do the actions and choices of our lives show that we need the Holy Spirit?

Let’s hear what Jesus has to say about that. Turn to John 14, verse 15.

The scene is the Upper Room where Jesus celebrated the Jewish Passover Feast with his disciples.  He washed their feet, and then over the meal, he revealed that Judas Iscariot would betray him.  Judas hightailed it out of there, and then Jesus had more bad news, saying that Peter would deny him.  As you can imagine, the air in the room was tense.  To ease the tension, Jesus assures the disciples that they will be able to find true home with God.  We know he wasn’t talking about the afterlife in heaven, though, because he says they will do greater things than him, and when they ask in his name, he will give it to them.  Jesus is talking about life now.  How he wants us to live life now continues in the next section, verses 15-31.

He starts with a very clear teaching in verse 15, “If you love me, keep my commands.”

I have a book in my office called I Wish Jesus Hadn’t Said That.  It’s about numerous commands that he taught.  There are some really difficult ones.  But Jesus says here in John 14:15 that if we love him, we will keep his commands.  Not just the easy ones, but also the difficult ones. 

Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.

Die to yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.

Forgive 70 times 7.

And should we talk about all Jesus had to say about money?

No matter how difficult, Jesus says if we love him, we will keep his commands. And if we don’t keep his commands, what does it say about our love for him?

I have to admit that I feel a bit strange when I think about Jesus mixing love and obedience to him.  Can you imagine saying that to anyone you love?  “If you love me, keep my commands.”  That would not go over well in many human relationships.  But there is perhaps a better way to understand Jesus’ heart here. 

If we love him, we will want to obey his commands. If we love him, we trust him.  We believe he is good and therefore we act on that belief.  He is for us and would only ask us to do what is good for us and others.

So this is a good point of evaluation for all of us.  How do you feel about obeying Jesus’ commands?  How passionate are you about following Jesus’ words and ways?  Or do you not really think about it that much in your day to day life?  Is there some apathy in you?  There are certainly some commands and teachings I struggle with.  So remember that God is gracious, forgiving, and there is no sin we can commit or good thing that we can omit that would cause him to love us less.  His death and resurrection has truly covered it all.

There is another way to think about love as obedience. Following Jesus’ commands are not only how we express our love to God, but it is also in our best interest.  When we follow God’s commands, which is to say, his way and his heart, we will discover flourishing.  When we do what he did, when we follow the ways and words of Jesus, even if they seem difficult, we will find the abundant life.  Not the easy life, but the abundant life.

If you ever think, “But sometimes following God’s commands is not just difficult, it is really, really difficult.  Sometimes it seems impossible!”  I get it. Our natural inclinations get challenged.  Loving enemies doesn’t come easy.  Giving sacrificially of ourselves. Forgiving those who have hurt us.  These are some incredibly difficult actions that Jesus calls us to follow.  It’s true. 

But know this, we are not alone.  We do not have to love God out of mere willpower.  He didn’t set us up for failure. We’ll learn how in the next post.

Photo by Julia Taubitz on Unsplash