Bible Refresher 50 - Trust And Obey

When you love someone, do you simply sit and admire him/her, or do you show your appreciation?
True love is when you care about someone more than yourself; you want that person to be happy and you are willing to do your best to make it happen. So what about making God happy? Is feeling good in church enough?
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Jesus said:
• "If you love Me, keep my commandments...He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." (John 14:15, 21 NKJV)
• "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." (John 15:10 NKJV)
In this verse Jesus is not asking for a favor to "prove your love to Him", rather, the Bible is clear that works do not save us (Galatians 3:21). He is implying that someone who truly loves Him will as a result keep His commandments.

King David said in his psalms:
• But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
(1:2 NKJV)
• The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul... (19:7 NKJV)
• "I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart." (40:2 NKJV)

Paul said:
"Do we then avoid the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law." (Romans 3:31 NKJV)

God's righteous are the ones who keep God's law:
• "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." (Revelation 14:12 NKJV)
• And the dragon [Satan] was enraged with the woman [God's church], and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:17 NKJV)
•"Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city." (Revelation 22:14 NKJV)
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So as we can see, those who keep God's commandments do not live in mourning for their lack of freedom, rather, those who feel that way not only do not truly have Christ in their hearts, they are living in a lifestyle of legalism just like the Pharisees did. When Jesus lives in you, doing what He wants us to do is a delight, not a chore, because we know it makes Him happy, and it's the right thing to do.

An apple tree does not grow apples to become an apple tree; it grows apples because it is and apple tree. Likewise Christians keep God's commandments not in order to become Christians. They keep God's commandments because they are Christians.