Jesus says if you love me keep my commandments Part 1/2

A study of the covenant love found in John 14:15 and in Malachi Chapter 1.

INTRODUCTION: COVENANT LOVE, THE LOVE GOD ACCEPTS

What if Jesus were to measure your love for Him today?Not by the songs you sing.Not by how often you attend church.Not by how emotional you feel in worship.What if He measured your love by one thing alone: your obedience?

That is exactly what Jesus does in John 14:15:“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”Those words are simple, but they are deeply searching. They confront every believer with a question that cannot be avoided:Do I truly love Christ, or do I merely say that I do?

Today we will see that both Jesus in John 14 and Father God through the prophet Malachi teach the same truth: genuine love for God is demonstrated through faithful obedience.

To understand that truth, we must begin where Jesus begins. Rather than allowing us to define love on our own terms,

He tells us exactly what love for Him looks like.

I. JESUS DEFINES LOVE AS OBEDIENCE (JOHN 14:15) Jesus does not say, “If you love Me, feel close to Me.” He does not say, “If you love Me, sing loudly.” He does not say, “If you love Me, attend church.”He says:“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

This is covenant language.

Love in Scripture is reciprocal loyalty, allegiance expressed through obedience.

After reading John 14:15, pause and say:“Jesus did not say, ‘If you love Me, admire Me.’ He did not say, ‘If you love Me, sing about Me.’ He said, ‘If you love Me, obey Me.’”If that is true, then the obvious question becomes: What exactly has Jesus commanded? If obedience demonstrates love, then every disciple must understand the commands of Christ.

II. WHAT JESUS COMMANDS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

The Three Main Commandments Given by Jesus

In John 14:15, Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." The following four commandments summarise the heart of Jesus' teaching and the life He calls His followers to live. Based on The 3 main commandments.

1. Love God Completely

Matthew 22:37-38"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

Known as the Greatest Commandment, this calls for wholehearted devotion to God. Jesus taught that loving God must be the highest priority in every believer's life.

2. Love Your Neighbour as Yourself

Matthew 22:39"Love your neighbour as yourself."

Jesus declared that this commandment is equal in importance to the first. He taught that all the Law and the Prophets are founded upon these two great principles: love for God and love for others.

3. The New Commandment: Love One Another

John 13:34“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

This verse from the King James Version appears in Jesus’ final discourse to His disciples, emphasizing love as the defining mark of His followers.  John 13:35 states: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

We are now going to drill down into these main commandments so see what they mean in practice,

A.     Commandments Concerning God• Seek first the Kingdom (Matt. 6:33)• Abide in Me (John 15:4)• Take up your cross (Matt. 16:24).

B. Commandments Concerning Others• Forgive seventy times seven (Matt. 18:21-22)• Make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19-20).

C. Commandments Concerning Holiness• Repent (Matt. 4:17)• Do not lust (Matt. 5:28)• Do not be anxious (Matt. 6:25-34)• Let your yes be yes (Matt. 5:37)

D. Commandments Concerning Worship• Remember Me in communion (Luke 22:19)• Pray always (Luke 18:1)• Give in secret (Matt. 6:3-4).

These are not suggestions.

They are covenant terms.Obedience is the evidence of genuine love.

But why does Jesus connect love and obedience so closely? To answer that question, we must understand the nature of covenant love throughout Scripture.

  III. COVENANT LOVE: THE HEART OF MALACHI 1 AND JOHN 14:15

The Book of Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament and God's final prophetic word before the coming of John the Baptist. Israel had returned from exile and rebuilt the Temple, yet their hearts had drifted from God. Worship had become careless, the priests had lowered God's standards, and the people honoured God with their rituals while withholding true covenant loyalty. Malachi's message is a call to authentic worship and faithful obedience, making it a fitting companion to Jesus' words in John 14:15: "If you love Me, keep My commandments."

i.   Covenant Love Is Not Emotional, It Is Covenantal

Malachi Chapter 1 teaches an uncomfortable but essential truth: genuine love for God  demonstrated through faithful obedience.In Scripture, love (ahav) in covenant contexts does not primarily mean affection or sentiment. It speaks of:• Loyalty• Allegiance• Reciprocal commitment• Faithfulness to covenant obligationsThis is why God can say:“I loved Jacob but hated Esau.” (Malachi 1:2-3)

“Hate” here does not mean emotional hostility but covenant rejection.

Jacob's line became the covenant family through whom God's purposes would advance, while Esau's descendants stood outside those covenant promises.

Therefore

:• Love = covenant loyalty

• Hate = covenant rejection

Jesus is speaking covenant language when He says:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

The slide above explains that God’s love is not the same as human emotional love.

In Scripture, love (Hebrew ahav) has several shades of meaning, but the kind of love God shows — and the kind He expects in return — is covenant love.

Covenant love is:

Chosen — God elected Israel freely, not because of merit.

Faithful — rooted in His covenant promises.

Personal and intimate — expressed in His ongoing commitment to His people.

Reciprocal — it expects a response.

And the response God calls “love” is obedience. Warm feelings, affection, or emotional devotion are not the biblical measure of loving God. The Torah defines love for God as keeping His commandments — loyalty to the covenant terms.

Amen

Personal Prayer

in Part 2/2 we continue our study of covenant love.