Must We Keep Christ's Words?

Millions of Americans seem to love the gospel of John more than any other book in the entire Bible. Is there some reason for this preference for John? Did you know that millions of copies of John have been printed separately from the rest of the New Testament? I suspect the reason for this professed love of John is a serious misunderstanding of John. When one reads John, he may believe that John does not require obedience to the gospel to be saved. There is great stress in the book of John on believing. Does that exclude obedience? John does not use either the word "obey" or the word "obedience." In the eyes of many people, that means John is teaching salvation by faith alone. In fact, that is precisely what Dr. Ron Rhodes argues in his book, The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001). Dr. Rhodes affirms: "Salvation is said to be by faith alone close to 200 times in the New Testament." He lists five verses from John to prove his contention. I shall read just one of those verses. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He who hears my word, and believes on him who sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but has passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). When John employs the word "believe," is he advocating faith only?

Have you ever examined the many words John uses that are roughly parallel to the word obey? For example, John uses the word "keep" (tereo in the Greek) seventeen times. Jesus told his disciples: "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). John uses the word "abide" (meno) eighteen times. What did our Lord mean in the Parable of the Vine and Branches when he said: "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned" (John 15:6)? If we are not required to do anything other than believe, why does John use the word "do" (poieo) dozens and dozens of times? Jesus assured his disciples: “you are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you" (John 15:14). When Jesus Christ had washed his disciples' feet, he asked them if they understood what he had done. He then exhorted: "For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done unto you....If you know these things, happy are you if you do them" (John 13:15, 17).

I am fully aware that the words "keep," "abide" and "do" are not used exclusively of human responsibilities. Many times the words are used of what God or Christ has done or will do. But they are employed often of what God requires of men. Our text today will confirm that truth. Jesus predicted his return to the Father. "At that day," he told his disciples, "you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He who has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is who loves me: and he who loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." Judas, not Judas Iscariot, asked him, "Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world" (John 14:20-22)? Please listen to our Lord's words to Judas. "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. He who does not love me does not keep my sayings: and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me" (John 14:23-24). These last two verses will serve as the basis for our lesson on the question, "Must We Keep Christ's Words?"

When Christ told Nicodemus: "Except a man be born of the water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5), he did not stipulate any conditions of being born again. Is that one of the reasons so many teachers and preachers in the religious world seem to prefer the gospel according to John to other New Testament books, especially to Acts of the Apostles? The fact is, as every student of the book of John must admit, Jesus did not tell Nicodemus what was involved in being born again. He just told him he had to be born again or born from above. The apostles in the book of Acts interpret the meaning of Christ's words to Nicodemus. I shall return to the new birth before our time expires. It may seem strange to some people in the religious world, but there is a scriptural connection between love for God and keeping the words of God. You can discern that truth in the verses I have read to you, but you can discover it in many other biblical passages. I know some may think there is a great difference between God's requirements under the Mosaic covenant and those under the new covenant. Obviously there are differences in the content of the commandments, but there is no difference in the principles involved. For example, the book of Deuteronomy continually urges God's children to obey his commandments. Moses exhorted God's people: "Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land where you are going to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; and this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people" (Dt. 4:5-6).

Moses asked the Israelite people: "What does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command you this day for your good" (Dt. 10:12-13)? The Lord attached blessings to the obedient and threatened punishment to the disobedient. "And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord your God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that the Lord your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God....But it shall come to pass, if you will not hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God, to observe to do all his commandments and statutes which I command you this day; that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you" (Dt. 28:1-2, 15).

But do we not live under a covenant of grace and not a covenant of law? Surely we do not have to obey the commands of the Lord to be saved; would we not be trying to earn our salvation? We certainly live under a covenant of grace, but does that relieve us of having to obey the voice of the Lord? I read to you a few minutes ago what Jesus told his disciples. "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). May we conclude that we do not love the Lord if we fail to keep his commandments? Does it surprise you that one Calvinist, Dr. Ron Rhodes, argues: "Maintaining holiness is not a condition of salvation" (p. 274)? In other words, we do not have to obey the Lord's command about being holy to go to heaven. What did the author of Hebrews have in mind when he charged his readers: "Follow peace with all men, and holiness (or sanctification) without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14)? Paul pled with the Corinthians: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and mind, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1). Was Paul merely suggesting that the Corinthians perfect holiness in the fear of God or was that a command they had to keep to have God's approval?

The New Testament does not use the word "commandment" so often as does the Old Testament. But it is no less plain in its teaching on that topic. The beautiful little book of 1 John says: "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous (or burdensome)" (1 John 5:2-3). This passage is very similar to one I read to you a few minutes ago. "He who has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is who loves me: and he who loves me shall be loved of my Father, arid I will love him, and will manifest myself to him" (John 14:21). It would take help to miss the import of these simple and powerful passages.

In his outstanding commentary on The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991), Dr. D. A. Carson says: "The ongoing relationship between Jesus and his disciples is characterized by obedience on their part, and thus is logically conditioned by it. They love and obey Jesus, and he loves them, exactly in the same way he loves and obeys the Father, and the Father loves him" (p.503). How can anyone deny that God accepts us on the basis of our obedience to his will, especially in view of these words from the book of Hebrews: "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them who obey him" (Heb. 5:8-9)?

John quotes Jesus as telling his disciples: "He who does not love me does not keep my sayings: and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me" (John 14:24). I do not wish to become monotonous, but how can anyone fail to see the necessary connection between our obeying the Lord's commands and having his approval? If we love him, we shall obey his commandments. If we do not keep his commandments, we do not love him. In the words of Dr. Carson, our relationship with Christ is logically conditioned by our obedience (p. 503).

Which of Christ's commands must we obey to be pleasing in his sight and which may we ignore? If the radical Calvinists were correct, we would not have to obey any of God's commandments. But one can never get that impression from a careful reading of the word of God. Jesus firmly established faith as one condition of salvation. He told some of his fellow Jews: "I said therefore unto you that you shall die in your sins: for if you do not believe that I am he, you shall die in your sins" (John 8:24). Faith is an absolute requirement for all who desire to be saved and added to the Lord's church. Although it is not possible to exercise faith without the grace of God, it is we who believe—not God. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17).

But faith without works of obedience is dead faith—not saving faith (Jas. 2:17, 24). That was our Lord's reason for telling his contemporaries. "Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish" (Lk. 13:3, 5). Do not these words plainly tell us that we must keep the commands of Christ? Paul told some Athenian philosophers: "God now commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30). The expression, "all men everywhere," is about as comprehensive as words can be made. Repentance is not one option among many. It is an absolute requirement of the gospel.

Have you thought about your standing at the last judgment? Would you like for Jesus Christ to confess your name before the throne of God? Do you have any idea how that will be accomplished? Jesus Christ does not leave us in the dark about our appearance before God almighty at the last day. Our Lord preached and wanted his disciples to preach: "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father who is in heaven" (Mt 10:32). If we are ashamed or afraid to confess Christ before men, he will not confess us before our Father in heaven. Can you think of anything worse than having Christ say, "Depart from me, you who work iniquity?"

Tragically and inexplicably, many religious leaders vigorously reject what Jesus and the apostles teach about baptism. They seem to think that those who are baptized for the remission of their sins are trying to earn their salvation. Jesus instructed his apostles: Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Mt. 28:19-20). Although Paul was not present when Jesus gave the Great Commission, he preached the conditions of salvation the other apostles preached. He reminded the Galatians of their obedience to the gospel. "For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:26-27).

I promised I would return to our Lord's teaching on what it means to be born again or from above. Christ's meeting with Nicodemus, a ruler among the Jewish people, is one of the best-known incidents in the life of Christ. Nicodemus approached Jesus in a nighttime setting. He addressed our Lord: "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that you do, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus was understandingly disturbed by Christ's response. He asked Christ, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" Jesus elaborates on his initial response to Nicodemus: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born of the water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:1-5).

Preachers of all denominations and of almost all theological orientations acknowledge that Acts of the Apostles is the New Testament book of conversions. How could they do otherwise when Acts records the conversions of the Jews on Pentecost, the Samaritans, Saul of Tarsus, Cornelius, the Ethiopian eunuch, the Corinthians, the Ephesians, Lydia, and others? When alien sinners, like the believing Jews on Pentecost, asked what they had to do to be saved, not one time did the apostles or other faithful preachers tell the questioners, "You must be born again." Were the apostles giving men and women a different answer from the one Jesus gave Nicodemus? Jesus told Nicodemus what he had to do to enter the kingdom of God. Is that not also what Peter and the other apostles told the Jews on Pentecost?

The language Jesus used in his discussion with Nicodemus is highly figurative. That was one of the reasons Nicodemus did not fully comprehend what Jesus meant by being born again. Peter's instructions to the Jews on Pentecost, Philip's preaching in Samaria and Paul's teaching at Corinth were inspired interpretations of what it means to be born again. The apostle Peter commanded the believing Jews on Pentecost: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).

I have some questions for you to consider. Was Peter preaching different conditions for entering the kingdom of God from the ones Jesus taught Nicodemus? When 3,000 Jews heard the preaching of the gospel, repented of their sins and were baptized into Christ for the remission of their sins, were they born again or from above? If they were not born again, what else did they have to do to be born again and to enter the kingdom of God? How very simple the truth is when we are not blinded by denominational traditions and dogmas!

But we must not conclude that our initial obedience to the gospel fulfills the will of God for our lives. God demands that we worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Tragically, some people in the early church must have assumed that regular worship was not essential to their being holy and righteous in the sight of God. The author of Hebrews vigorously refuted that false notion. He pled with his fellow Christians: "Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as you see the day approaching" (Heb. 10:24-25).

The inspired author of Hebrews was concerned about the ignorance that prevailed among some of the Christians he knew. He accused them of being dull of hearing. They had been Christians long enough to have been teachers, but instead, they needed to be taught again the first principles of the gospel. They were in need of milk and not strong food (Heb. 5:12-14). They needed to grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I shall end our discussion today with a few brief excerpts from 1 John. The apostle John urged his readers to engage in the work of the Lord. "Whoso has this world's goods, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his heart of compassion from him, how does the love of God dwell in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:17-18). "If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God love his brother also" (1 John 4:20-21).

If you have ever had any doubt about what constitutes righteousness, the following verses should remove that doubt forever. "Little children, let no man deceive you: he who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous....In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever does not do righteousness is not of God, neither he who does not love his brother" (1 John 3:7, 10).

Winford Claiborne

The International Gospel Hour

P.O. Box 118

Fayetteville, TN 37334

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