Obedience: The Final Test of Love for Christ

By A.W. Tozer

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them,
he it is that loveth me. . .and I will love him,
and will manifest myself to him.   John 14:21

            The final test of love is obedience, not sweet emotions,
not willingness to sacrifice, not zeal, but obedience to the
commandments of Christ!

            Our Lord drew a line plain and tight for everyone to see.
On one side He placed those who keep His commandments and
said, "These love Me." On the other side He put those who keep
not His sayings, and said, "These love Me not."

            The commandments of Christ occupy in the New Testament
a place of importance that they do not have in current evangelical
thought. The idea that our relation to Christ is revealed by our
attitude to His commandments is now considered legalistic by many
influential Bible teachers, and the plain words of our Lord are rejected
outright or interpreted in a manner to make them conform to religious
theories ostensibly based upon the epistles of Paul.

            The Christian cannot be certain of the reality and depth of his
love until he comes face to face with the commandments of Christ and
is forced to decide what to do about them. Then he will know!

            I think we should turn for a while from finespun theological
speculations about grace and faith and humbly read the New Testament
with a mind to obey what we see there.

            Love for Christ is a love of willing, as well as a love of feeling,
and it is psychologically impossible to love Him adequately unless we
will to obey His words!

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Yours in Christ,
Paul N. F.