Scripture:
Psalm 119:166-167; John 14:23-24; 1 John 2:3-6; 2 John 1:6
In this, our 10th examination of John Wesley’s writings on what a Methodist should be about, we begin with this excerpt from his tract “The Character of a Methodist” – "All the commandments of God he accordingly keeps, and that with all his might. For his obedience is in proportion to his love, the source from whence it flows.”
Wesley had come to know that the first commandment that
we need to accept and nourish in our relationship with Almighty God
is our love for Him. That is what Jesus was telling us in Matthew 22:36-38 - that we are to love the LORD
our God with our entire being, and not just in ways that may be
convenient! Without depth in the bond that our LORD
offers to us, faith will never move beyond the shallowness that it
began with. The problem, unfortunately, is that many folks don’t
fully understand what “loving God” is all about! It requires
that we trust Him and His word, have compassion and understanding for
others, live in a desire to learn His ways, and develop a dedication
to follow in the steps of His Son Jesus. And efforts that are made
in a half-hearted or tentative way can never lead us to the throne of
our Almighty God.
Obedience to the commands and ways that Christ taught us
will never go anywhere until we love God in His
entirety – Father, Son, and Spirit – and with our
entirety. Anything less will end in personal failure, a wayward
life, and false worship. Love of God, and obedience to His perfect
word, is that important for our growth and life in faith!
So what else does scripture say about this?
Read Psalm119:166-167
The Psalmist is reassuring the reader that our God is a
God of Hope and Promise. Salvation itself is the promise of Christ
for all who will believe that the eternal life that He lives can also
be ours! But we also know that while the world's way would be to
require a quid pro quo of equivalent value, the LORD
asks very little of us to receive that great and exceptional promise.
While we wait for Jesus to arrive on that great day of expectation,
we are to continue living a Christ-centered life, following the
commands and teaching that He gave while He walked among us.
But should our attitude about this issue be the same
that we show toward the commands of society? Do we readily accept,
obey and even appreciate the laws of the nation? If you are anything
like me, most laws will fit with my own desires and I follow them to
the best of my ability, but there are always a few that I either
regularly complain about, or flat out decide that I can live a much
better life without!
But when it comes to the ways of the LORD, we are to
accept, and love them ALL.
Not because we have to, not because the punishment for disobedience
is too great, but because we know that they come from the One who
loves us, knows all about us and will always have our best in His
heart. And in response, we not only love Him for His gracious and
forgiving nature, but because He and His ways are given to us out of
His eternal and infinite love.
Love of God? Absolutely! Love of His ways and
commands? Without any hesitation or objection whatsoever! They come
to us out of Godly love, and we accept them out of love and gratitude
for all that He has already done and given to us.
And there is no other way.
Read John14:23-24
In the verse preceding this passage, a follower of Jesus
asks Him to explain why He will be seen and understood by the
faithful, but not by the rest of the world's people! And He gives
the reason that we see here. Jesus is saying that the ability to see
Him at work in our lives is proportional to the love that we have for
Him – and that proof is founded in our obedience to all that He has
taught us.
Now you may ask - does Jesus really need proof that we
love Him? Doesn't He already know if we love Him or not? Of course
He does, but I think the point here is whether we are living proof of
the depth of our love of God to others, or if we are still holding
back in a few areas! Love, true love, must be total, uncompromising,
and obvious!
And our love of Christ, and our obedience to His ways,
will be rewarded through the complete and divine love of God through
His acceptance, His salvation, His forgiveness, His restitution, and
the gift of His eternal life. And then in verse 24, we see that the
lack of obedience is
the evidence that we are lacking in our love of Christ! But note
that the LORD didn't say that we won't be loved –
God loves all, regardless of our sin! In Romans5:8, we read that God's love was demonstrated
to each of us through Christ's sacrifice at Calvary – and that was
long before we ever loved Him. But the one thing that God will not
be able to do until we do
love Him, is to send the Holy Spirit to our lives, to work within us
and through us. For without our love and obedience to Jesus, the
Father and the Spirit will be absent from all that we do (John14:15-17).
Read 1John 2:3-6
Here is the reason for proven love – it is for our
understanding, not for God's. We
will know Him if we obey His commands! We will know God
if we love Christ's teachings and obey them. It's as simple as that!
And if we refuse to obey? That is the proof that there is no love
for God within us. But are we disobedient every
time we slip up and sin? Yes, but the critical issue is whether we
love His ways and want
to follow, and seek His forgiveness, or whether we reject
those ways and have no intention of obeying!
When we deny Jesus' teaching and live in a way that is
not what He has taught, we can never claim to know God and He will
never know us. (Matthew 7:21-23)
And when we lie about our relationship with Christ, the truth of God
will never be in us. Remember that it will never be what we say, or
even what we do that will matter – it is what is in our heart that
God will see, and heart felt love for Christ and His way is the only
hope that we will ever know.
The love that God has shown to us through the works of Christ, must always be our example for how we are to love Jesus and His word in return. But again, without obedience, we will never be able to love Him in any meaningful way.
Read 2 John 1:6
Walking in love is demonstrated by walking in obedience
– but still, what does that mean? Loving others has nothing to do
with what they do with
their life – it requires acceptance of the individual, not the
things they do; it demands that we listen and help them in any way we
can, without being judgmental and discriminatory; it is leading them
to recognize the sinfulness of their ways, and to desire the hope
that life in Jesus can bring, while letting them decide for
themselves that they need to welcome Christ into their lives; it is
allowing love to become evident when we live a truly Christian life
in the way of Jesus, and becoming an example of that way for others.
The problem is that this isn’t all that easy to do,
and even more difficult to describe. But in spite of our own
inadequacy of words, our actions - those that mimic those of Jesus -
will be seen by others, raising up a curiosity as to why we are
different. Humanity may say that they want to live differently, but
it is the example of others that they actually see and understand.
After all, why did the Father send His Son, in human form, to this
unGodly place? So others could see, and discover the
difference between humanity and Christ for themselves!
And I would leave you with one more quotation from
Wesley’s tract – “He continually
presents his soul and body, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to
God; entirely and without reserve devoting himself, all he has, and
all his is to His glory”! Are we devoted
and committed to loving and living the difference that will make
Jesus obvious and real for others? If not, maybe it’s time!
