“If You Love Me…”
Saturday’s Verse:
From John 14:15 ESV
Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
Our verse for today comes from our Epistle reading this weekend at church. Leading up to Ascension Day next Thursday (May 14), consider that Jesus’ words here can seem overwhelming at first. We read “keep my commandments” and immediately begin thinking about performance-based religion - failing, trying harder, etc.
But read where Jesus starts: love.
Jesus does not condition our salvation on our obedience. He begins with love. “If you love me…” The Christian life doesn’t start with our effort, striving, or attempt to follow Christ. It starts with Christ’s mercy and love towards sinners. We love Him because He first loved us. Through the power of the cross and His resurrection, Jesus claimed us as His own death once for sinners. He secured our forgiveness and made us right with the Father.
Lutherans rightly affirm that obedience is not the cause of our salvation. Christ alone saves. Faith alone receives that free gift of grace. But that faith is never alone. The Christian who believes in Jesus Christ is made new through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our good works and obedience to Christ will follow, as a natural result of our salvation, imperfectly yet truly, as fruit on a living tree.
The words of this verse should not be a threat hanging over the heads of Christians. It is an invitation into a relationship with Jesus Christ. His commandments aren’t burdens designed to crush us into submission. They are the instructions of the One who loves us and knows what is best for us.
And when we fail- and we will fall short of keeping Christ’s commands- we don’t run from Him in guilt. We run back to Him. To His promises. To His forgiveness. To His amazing grace. The same Jesus who calls us to follow will go to the cross for us time and time again.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus, You have loved me with an everlasting love and offered Yourself up for me. May Your Word and Spirit strengthen my faith, that I would live a life bearing fruit in keeping with my calling. Draw me near to Yourself when I fall away in shame and repentance. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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