Jesus says if you love me keep my commandments Part 2/2.
A joint study on Covenant Love between John 14:15 and Malachi Chapter 1.
2. Covenant Love Requires Reciprocity.
Bible Teacher Tom Bradford writes:“Covenant love is reciprocal. God gives love and expects love back.”
God's covenant love calls for a response of covenant faithfulness.Malachi's warning through Edom is clear.
Covenant privileges can be despised, and covenant loyalty can be abandoned.
3. Covenant Love Is the Backbone of Both TestamentsJames echoes the principle:“Faith without works is dead.” (James 2:17) Jesus echoes the same truth:“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”The New Testament does not discard covenant faithfulness. It deepens and internalizes it through the work of Christ and the Spirit.
4. Covenant Love Is the Kind of Love God Seeks. Affection has its place. We have affection for family, friends, and companions.But God seeks something deeper from His covenant people: faithful obedience.
This is why Malachi 1 is so devastating. Israel continued offering sacrifice, ritual, tradition, and attendance, but their obedience was absent.
God therefore says:“I take no pleasure in you ... I will not accept an offering from your hands.” (Malachi 1:10)Understanding covenant love helps us understand God's complaint against Israel in Malachi. Their problem was not a lack of religious activity.
Their problem was a lack of covenant faithfulness. They continued to worship, but their obedience had disappeared.
IV. MALACHI 1: POLLUTED WORSHIP AND ITS MODERN EQUIVALENTS
1. Blind Sacrifices: Giving God What Costs Us Nothing (Malachi 1:8)
Are we giving God our leftovers instead of our best?
2. Casual Worship: Treating Holy Things as Common (Malachi 1:12-13)
Do we approach worship with reverence and expectation?
3. Priestly Failure: Leadership That Lowers the Standard (Malachi 1:6-7)
Do leaders model wholehearted obedience?
4. God Rejects Disobedient Worship: Expecting Blessing Without Obedience (Malachi 1:9-10)
Are we asking God for what we refuse to honour Him with?
This connection between love and obedience has been recognised by faithful believers throughout church history.
Observe how several respected Christian voices expressed this same truth.
V. THREE QUOTATIONS ON OBEDIENCE AS LOVE
Dietrich Bonhoeffer:“Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.”
Oswald Chambers:“The best measure of love for God is obedience to him.”
Charles Spurgeon:“Obedience is the hallmark of faith. Where obedience is lacking, love is hollow.”
The question, therefore, is not what Israel did centuries ago. The question is how these truths confront us today.
What does covenant love look like in your fellowship?
VI. APPLICATION FOR ENCOUNTER CHURCH
Bathgate and West Lothian do not need a church that merely feels love for God.
They need a church that obeys God
.• Give God your best, not your leftovers
.• Honour Him in worship, prayer, giving, holiness and mission.
• Live out Jesus' commandments visibly and courageously
.• Reject casual worship and embrace costly obedience.
• Become a people whose love is proven by action.
CONCLUSIONS
Church, throughout this message we have heard the same truth echoed from both the Old Testament and the New.Malachi exposes a people who continued their religious activities while withholding true covenant loyalty from God.
Jesus removes all ambiguity when He says:“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
The question before us is not whether we sing passionately.
The question is not whether we attend church faithfully.
The question is not even whether we feel affection towards God.
The question is this: Are we obeying Him?
Because in Scripture, obedience is the primary evidence of genuine love.
God is not looking for empty ritual.
He is not seeking half-hearted worship.
He is not impressed by outward performance disconnected from inward surrender.
He desires a people who trust Him enough to obey Him.
A people who give Him their best rather than their leftovers.
A people who honour Him not only with their lips but with their lives.
That was God's call to Israel through Malachi.
That is Christ's call to His Church today.
But we must remember the gospel.We do not obey in order to earn God's love.We obey because we have received God's love through Christ.
Obedience is not the cause of our salvation.
Obedience is the evidence of our salvation.
And the wonderful news is that what God commands, the Holy Spirit empowers.
Therefore let this be the prayer of your church:
Prayer
Abba Father, Lord Jesus, teach us to love You, not merely with words, but with faithful obedience.
Let our worship be sincere, our faith be visible, and our lives bear witness that You are worthy of our wholehearted devotion.
Amen.
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