Jesus made a very simple statement that every Christian should grade themselves on.
If ye love me, keep my commandments. – John 14:15 (KJB)
Later in that same chapter, Jesus expands on this simple statement.
Jesus answered and said unto him, 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. – John 14:23 (KJB)
In reading these two verses, you must ask yourself, “What does it mean to ‘keep my commandments‘ or ‘keep my words‘”? Let’s look at a few verses for each.
Keep my commandments
John gives us this clear direction:
And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. – 1 John 3:23 (KJB)
Jesus told us this:
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: {30} And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. {31} And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. – Mark 12:29-31 (KJB)
If you think on these two passages, you will see that John is really restating what Jesus said. In fact, Jesus emphasizes further that we are to love one another.
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. – John 15:12 (KJB)
These things I command you, that ye love one another. – John 15:17 (KJB)
One thought to meditate on. All of these commands quoted above are relational. They are about love.
Keep my words
The first thing to understand is that Jesus is the Word of God.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. – John 1:14 (KJB)
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. – Revelation 19:13 (KJB)
And what does Jesus mean by “my words“? Since Jesus is the Word of God and God’s words are contained in the Scriptures, then we have the words of Jesus in our Bible. Scripture is primarily a New Testament reference to the Old Testament writings. (The only exception being Daniel 10:21.) In our day we also have the New Testament scriptures. We are to read, study and search the scriptures to know what God wants us to know. This is the only way you can obey Jesus when he says, “keep my words“.
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. – John 5:39 (KJB)
The word of God is our necessary food for spiritual nourishment.
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. – Luke 4:4 (KJB)
We can trust God’s words and keep them because they are pure.
The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. – Psalms 12:6 (KJB)
Remember to love God and love your neighbor. Spend much time in God’s word to understand and know it better. Most of all, it is the heart that you have in all of this. Have a heart right before God and man.
God bless, Mike