Loving Obedience

“And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.”—2 John 1:6

Going to church doesn’t make one a Christian. Reading one’s Bible and praying doesn’t make one a Christian. Giving to the poor, evangelizing, doing good works, tithing, signing a church roll, or being baptized doesn’t make one a Christian. Neither does going to an altar, praying a prayer, or crying when feeling conviction. What makes one a Christian? Belief in Jesus Christ—but this belief makes all of the other things desirable and possible. All of the things just mentioned are good things and desirable things, but they do not save an individual. They come after one is saved, not before. Belief is the entryway into the Christian life, but once one enters into the Christian life, he or she desires to do all of the aforementioned things.

I have met several individuals over the years who wrongly believed that it was their church attendance that saved them. They continued to indulge in all kinds of sin without a care in the world, all the while attending church on Sunday morning. But being in church doesn’t make someone a follower of Christ, no more than being in a garage makes one a car, being in a hospital makes one a doctor, and wearing army fatigues makes one a soldier. The identifiable mark of a Christian is a transformed heart that seeks to obey Christ’s commandments.

If we love God, then a sure sign of our love for God is obeying His commandments. John states it clearly, “And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments.” “Walk” is a metaphor for living according to the Word of God. If we love God, then we are going to desire to live according to His Word.

This doesn’t mean that if we sometimes fail to live according to His Word at one time or another then we’re not saved. As true believers in Christ, if we fail to live according to His Word, we will feel a deep sorrow in our hearts. If we love God, then we want to obey Him, and whenever we fail to obey, and sin, then we feel the painful sorrow of conviction. And when we are convicted, we are to repent, which means to turn away from our sin and back to our Savior. Just like riding a horse, we might fall off, but we dust ourselves off and get back on the horse. We don’t stay on the ground. When we fall off the horse of discipleship, Christ is reaching out a hand to us, ready to help lift us back on the horse so that we might be able to continually ride along with Him.

Do we know in our hearts that we truly are believers in Christ? Is there that identifiable mark that we can see in our hearts that shows we belong to Him? Are we looking beyond token performance, attendance and actions and into our heart’s desires, motivations and loyalties? And if we do claim to be a believer in Christ who loves God, are we seeking to obey His Word?

Let’s pray that we would continue to fall more and more in love with Christ as we continually seek to walk in obedience to His commands. Amen.