Jesus did say if you love me you will keep my commands. I don't think, however, that we need to strive to keep his commands. It comes naturally as we love Jesus more and more and abide in him. Abiding in Jesus, I believe, involves resting. How can we rest if we are striving to do good? How can we love Jesus to the fullness when we believe we have to strive to do good works in order to please him? We already please God because we are in Christ and Jesus' righteousness is imputed to us as his children.
naw its not about trying to please him at all, thats kind of what others add to it.
the reason we are to strive to keep His words in the gospel, not the law of moses, but Jesus words he taught His disciplrs isnt about pleasing Him, its about honoring the price God paid for our Lives. when people quote a verse like this
John 8:32 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" and then explain how see, jesus set us free were not bound by obedience, or were already done just rest ect. its ALWAYS a great idea to go look at whats being said
john 8:31-35 "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?34Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
you see the difference in accepting the context? Jesus is saying Keep His words within you, keep them in your mind and heart, because if we do that, well see all the many things hes saying about obeying and actually doing them. and His words have power. also, His words are full of Grace and assurance which is another reason we need to keep them oin us . when people are saying " we shouldnt put effort into following him, and make that a self righteous works argument, its directly contradicting the entire word of God. He says plenty of how were forgiven, were accepted , but he says even more about how to live a worthy Life according to His will, and thats the most important thing because He is the one who suffered in our place, was spit on, mocked, beaten more than once, flogged and then died an "excruciating" death to save us from condemnation.
He died for us, and also He calls us to live our lives for Him, in essence we Owe God our Lives for the shedding of Jesus blood on our behalfs. there is enough security, and also his righteousness is only imparted through His word, its why He says so often Keep my words, obey my doctrine, keep my commandments ect. hes not saying first keep every jot and tittle and then maybe ill accept you, or creating mindless meaningless hoops we have to jump through, Hes teaching us the way of Gods children, to actually live and live Lives of uprightness in Gods Eyes. Hes already proven How much He loves us, its a matter of whether we Love our ways more than the value of His Word.
there is grace because were not perfect, there is truth to teach us as we accept and follow, there is motivation to keep us from becoming complacent and falling backwards, there is mercy when we stumble and fall down, everything we need is found in the word of God, all because of what Happened at the end of the gospel. Jesus taught us to daily pick up our cross, because He was telling them already he would die for them on His cross.
resting in Jesus for instance includes taking upon us His yoke, learning from Him, thats where the rest is found for our souls. Hes not a dictator but the gospel includes
2 corinthians 5:14-15 "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
were followers abd thus disciples, He is good because He teaches us as were able to walk in things ten years ago, i was living a terrible life, never considered myself Lost because i didnt Know what i know now, as we follow His words, He makes more and more aware to us that we are commanded to walk in, just like children, learn and grow, and a 15 year old, has duties, they arent still learning about cleaning thier room, or washing thier hands or things a 5 year old is being taught, the 15 year olds are being taught how to drive, about adult responsabilities, being taught how to be an adult, but the 5 year old is just learning how to be a 5 year old. its all between the believer, and Jesus, the only rewuirement is for us to take His words as He left them for us. and they do include serving Him, those who serve Him are called freinds