IBS John 14:15 (2-17-14)

Inductive Bible Study Method for John 14:15 (2-17-14)

“”If you love Me, keep My commandments.””

Jesus tells us here that if we truly love Him, then we will obey Him. What is love? In this context, we know that love is a choice. Love does not force itself on another. God does not tell us flat out to keep His commands. He says IF you love Me, keep my commandments. So, if we love Christ and desire to please Him, we will WANT to obey Him. 

A few years back, I read a book called None of These Diseases. This book opened my eyes to the fact that God really does want the best for His people. I’ve heard it my whole life that “God doesn’t make rules to be mean”, but this book gave example after example of how the commands God gave to the Israelites saved many of their lives. 

Something that seems so simple to us - like washing your hands - came from God. Many people have died from all sorts of disgusting things, when a LOT of this could be prevented by putting God’s laws in place. The reason God has commanded us to do and not do things is not so that He can be a killjoy, but so that we are being set apart from the world and being safe. 

An important thing to touch on here is the fact that this verse could be misinterpreted to say that in order to please God, we need to simply keep His commands. We cannot be saved by obeying God’s commands. We are saved by God’s grace, through our faith in Christ. As a result of repenting and believing on Jesus, the desire within us should be to pray to God, read His Word, fellowship with other believers, spread His Gospel to the ends of the earth and obey what He’s commanded us to do.

I’ve been reading in Exodus and Leviticus lately, and these books are full of commands that God gave the Israelites - to set them apart from the world and prevent them from getting sick and dying from preventable things. My application is to write down 10 of these commands He gave them and give an example as to how they apply to our modern day society. This is so that these laws come alive to me and aren’t just something God says to be mean.