by Dave Root, VividChristianity.com, last modified on 07/16/2024.

As you read this section, keep in mind that the New Testament is not merely a history book, it's meant to change us to become more and more like Jesus. When we read any passages in the New Testament, our goal should be to discern what God wants us to believe and do so that we can be obedient to Him.


In Mark 12:28-31 (partially quoted below), Jesus said that the most important commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Many Christians say that they love God, but they're talking about an emotional feeling in their hearts, which is only a small part of what the New Testament says about loving God. Look closely at the first few passages below and notice that love for God specifically involves obeying all of His commands, and this is how we love Him with all of our soul, mind, and strength as Jesus described (because our heart is where we have feelings of affection and friendship for God as described in my book called Divine Healing Absolutely Is for Today). This means that if we're not trying to obey all of the commands given to Christians in the New Testament then we can't honestly say that we love God (no matter how strong our emotional feelings for Him might be). It's not our place to pick and choose which commands we feel like following.

In the passages below, notice that our obedience is very important to God. We're told that if we claim to know Jesus but we don't do what He commands then we're a liar. We're told to not merely listen to the Word of God but to do what it says. We're told over and over that if faith is not accompanied by obedient deeds then it's a useless and dead faith. We're told that our faith is made complete by our works of obedience. We're told that we're considered righteous by our works of obedience and not by faith alone. For a full understanding of how to be righteous in God's eyes, see my article called How to Receive Salvation. As that article shows, we become righteous before God by our faith in Jesus, but it needs to be an obedient type of faith. If our faith doesn't have any evidence (i.e., no works of obedience) then it's essentially worthless because it's just "all talk but no walk" as the saying goes. That's why we're told that our faith is made complete by our works of obedience.

In the following passages, notice how important our obedience is to God:

[Jesus is speaking:] Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30)

In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3)

And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. (2 John 1:5-6)

[Jesus is speaking:] If you love me, keep my commands. (John 14:15)

[Jesus is speaking:] "Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them." Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me." (John 14:21-24)

[Jesus is speaking:] If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love. (John 15:10)

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. (1 John 2:3-6)

[Jesus is speaking:] Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? (Luke 6:46)

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. (1 John 3:21-22)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it - not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it - they will be blessed in what they do. (James 1:22-25)

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14-17)

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. (James 2:18)

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. (James 2:20-24)

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:25-26)

So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. (Acts 26:19-20)

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13)

In the above passages, notice how important our obedience is to God. Are you giving Him complete obedience? As described in my articles called Cheat Sheet #11, Cheat Sheet #12, and Cheat Sheet #13, we'll be disciplined (perhaps severely) both in this life and in heaven for not obeying Him.