As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:9-11
I first taught this passage as a pastoral intern the summer of 1992, more than 30 years ago. I remember it clearly because my teaching created a bit of a stir at the week-long high school Christian camp where I was one of the Bible teachers. Why the controversy? Because of my emphasis on the connection between love and obedience found in John 15…a connection evangelical Christianity usually seeks to play down. I will confess…I was a bit of a rabble-rouser in those days. I liked to push against popular theology in the face of Scriptures that did not fall into line. This was certainly one of those Scriptures. Jesus said, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love.” The implication seems to be that if we do not obey Jesus’ commands, we will not, or do not, remain or abide in His love. You can see how this teaching aroused not a little controversy. Honestly, we all struggle to understand the relationship between love and obedience. Yet, what must NOT be denied, in the face of the verses above, is that there is a relationship between love and obedience. Having said this, we also must refuse the temptation of proof-texting, of taking these words out of Biblical context, and acting as though love and obedience are purely transactional, quid pro quo. God is not a parochial teacher who gives us high marks if we’re good or low marks if we’re bad. Nor is he a banker who credits our account when we make a deposit (do right) or debits or account when we make a withdrawal (do wrong). And he is certainly not a parent who only loves the well-behaved child and despises the naughty one. All of these pictures severely misrepresent the love of God we find in Scripture. In what way? First of all, God’s love always takes the initiative. It’s right there in the most well-known verse in the Bible, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God loved. God gave. He takes the initiative. As we read in 1 John 4:19, “We love because he first loved us.” And Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Second, this divine love that takes the initiative is the means to our obedience. God’s love changes us. And it is only through this transformation that we are enabled to obey. In other words, the obedience that is an expression of genuine love for God is only truly possible for those who have been changed by the sin-conquering love of God. Jesus commands us to love God and love others, but He is also the means by which we are enabled to obey this call to love, by the indwelling presence of His Spirit (Gal. 5:16-26). Third, God’s love is not something we can ever earn or deserve. It’s what we read in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” Well, you might say, that passage doesn’t say anything about love. But if you read it in context, you find it is actually entirely about love. Verse 4 reads, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” What is the impetus of this salvation introduced in verse 4 and expanded on in verse 8? His great love for us!!! And God’s love, expressed in salvation, is a gift…by grace. You cannot earn a gift. By definition, a gift is not based on the recipients worth, but the giver’s graciousness. It is in view of this wider witness of Scripture that we see the impossibility of viewing Jesus’ statements in John 15 as a formula by which we earn God’s love. As one scholar writes, “Protestant scholars may feel uncomfortable with the condition of obedience for God’s love in this passage, but throughout John the initiative comes from God, who then provides more love in response to human obedience and perseverance; what is portrayed is…not a formula but a developing relationship.”1 That really is the key, isn’t it? Salvation is not about a formula or a transaction, it is about a developing relationship. Jesus’ aim, here, is not to present God’s love as something we can earn or deserve, but to embed growing obedience in the context of a growing love relationship with our Redeemer, the lover of our souls. As one of His final words to the disciples, Jesus challenges them, and us, to lean into a love relationship with God that naturally expresses itself in growing obedience to God. Growing obedience, then, is not the means to getting God’s love, but a reflection of the fact that we are partakers of and participants in God’s love. With what result? Joy! Not just joy, but full joy, complete joy. It may be an over-simplification, but I appreciate how it’s expressed by the old hymn, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” 1 Keener, C. S. (2012). The Gospel of John: A Commentary & 2 (Vol. 1, p. 1003). Baker Academic.
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
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