Bible Question:
John 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. John 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." John 15:10 "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. 1 Thess 4:2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 1 John 2:3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 1 John 3:24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. 1 John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. 1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. Now after reading all of these passages about keeping God's commandments and the relationship we enjoy by doing so, read Matt 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Is making disciples a command? Is baptizing them a command? Is teaching the above commands a command? Now read Mark 16.15, 16 Mark 16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. Is "go into all the world and preach the gospel" a command? Is what to preach, "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved", a command? What is the consequence of not keeping the commandments? 1 John 2:4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; I didn't say this, God said it! |
Bible Answer: Greetings Teacher! Are Christians supposed to obey God? Of course they are! No one disputes that point! However, what is in dispute is whether or not obedience to God's commands saves us! The answer is no! We are saved by grace, not by ANYTHING we DO (2 Tim. 1:9). As I have quoted time and time again, Eph. 2:8-10 makes it perfectly clear that 'good works' are a result of salvation, not the basis for salvation. Not one of the verses you quoted above says that we are saved by obeying God's commands! Many verses say that we are not saved by anything we do! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |