I always w
anted to cross it out. Every time I read John 14:21 it discouraged me. It condemned me to being a perpetual failure. I disconnected it from the gospel and read it this way…
“You need to obey to show God you love him so that He will be pleased with you and will love you back.”
Another day trying hard but most likely not hard enough and therefore unloved. But when I put my version of verse 21 in the context of the gospel, I knew it could not have the meaning I was giving it.
- It makes His love for us dependent upon our love for Him…which we must PROVE by our obedience.
- It makes us the initiator
- It puts our love first.
- It makes God the responder.
When I learned to re-read this beautiful verse in the light of the gospel – it changed from a “prove your love verse” to an “identity verse” – a verse describing me and who the gospel has made me to be. The gospel has taught me to read it like this:
“You keep my commands and love me because I have given you a new nature and I have loved you first. Don’t ever think you obey and love me so that the Father and I will love you back. We made you into someone who has the ability and desire to obey, not so you can earn our love, but so that you can experience the love we already have for you.”
Or more simply:
“He who has my commands and keeps them and loves me (because of who I have made them to be and because I loved them first) is that person who experiences the love of God. And that is you!”
It is no longer a prove it or a performance verse…it is an identity verse that describes me…and it showcases the GOOD NEWS of the gospel! I have my “gospel version” taped in the back of my Bible so I can keep reminding myself of the gospel everyday.
ACTION: Tape this “gospel version” in your Bible and then Facebook a friend who needs some good news today and suggest they become a subscriber.
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Bill, this is a thought God gave me one day during my QT. MY LOVE IS NOT DETERMINED BY THE NATURE OF ITS OBJECT BUT BY THE NATURE OF ITS SOURCE. Hope you are doing well. I’ve enjoyed your blog.
Like it!!
I am wondering if somehow your comments on this verse somehow undo a healthy tension between grace and obedience. There are many verses that lay out how we are loved, saved, and can rest in God’s grace and love for us. Yet there are many verses which talk about the importance that our faith be alive, that we bear fruit, and that we obey. I tend to see this tension as healthy and agree that we can easily for a variety of reasons err on one side or the other. I am reluctant to do away with the tension. In our sinfulness as human beings, I believe the tension is needed and thus if understood properly, drives us constantly back to the Cross of Christ where we find the grace and forgiveness of God. Thanks for the opportunity to comment!
Jay – thank you so much for your comment…and welcome safely home. I am amazed at how God is using you. Regarding your comment, I have always hesitated using the word and the concept of tension – perhaps because of my background in the hard sciences. To create tension, as on a wire, you need forces pulling in opposing directions. I know you do not mean to communicate grace and obedience are opposites – we both know and have experienced that there is no obedience without grace. Grace pulls us in the direction of obedience. But I am with you, we never want to think that grace might facilitate a softness on sin, or downgrade a desire to obey. It will never do that. I love Titus 2:11-12 – where grace teaches us to say NO to ungodliness and YES to righteousness…and may it do so ever more in our lives. Will be praying for your next adventure…and KEEP commenting!
Great verse and blog Bill… Thanks for sharing! Blessings on this Easter holiday weekend.
Thanks for the comment Bill. Trust you are having a great Easter weekend as well. Christ is risen!