A choice made to serve or choosing to serve because you have been commanded to.
One who chooses to disobey when they have been commanded does so at his own peril, willful disobedience to a commandment, a law if you will, is possible because each of us has been given free will, and it does not matter what the order is, but doing so will always require us to pay a price.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
That word “if” changes everything, it reveals, in part, all that has been written here so far, that loving the Lord Jesus Christ is a free will decision made by us, and that action, obedience, is required as validation of that love we profess.
This verse is a commandment.
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” (Mark 12:30)
In the first verse we hear the ability to choose, but not in the second, in that verse in the deepest recesses of our mind, we hear the possibility of consequences if it is not adhered to. There is no “if” in it, it is a commandment.
“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8)
Requiring is also not a choice given, it will be done or again there will be detrimental consequences.
Here my friends is the foundation of all works for salvation of the religious cults, here is the root cause of those who have no assurance of their salvation, here is how Satan deceived our first parents when he said, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Gen. 3:1b)
Here is a statement well worthy of your contemplation. If you do not adhere to the commandment of the Living God, that means you do not love Him, and if you do not love Him, there will be eternal consequences.
There is no “if” in His commandments, there are no alternatives, “thou shalt” always speaks of consequences in the negative if it is not obeyed. The word “if” offers a choice, the law does not, commandments do not.
As far as I can recall, the Lord Jesus Christ did not command anyone to love Him, He always left the decision to do so up to each individual, but He did tell us that if we do not love Him, there would be dire and eternal consequences.
“And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” (John 5:40)
Obedience solely out of a love for Him, or because you have been commanded to love the Lord your God. Which shall it be for you?
I have commanded you to love me with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, if you do not, you will suffer eternally. If you do not love me, if you do not obey me, the same will happen to you.
Choosing to love or loving because you have been commanded to, and if it is the latter, I suggest this, your love for the Lord that you profess is only revealed because of your fear of the possible repercussions upon yourself.
Do you understand a little better the trap of those works-based religious cults now? Are those words of Satan a little clearer to you now? Can you understand now how only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the promises of the Word of God can produce a love that serves to the glory of God without the need of being commanded to love?
“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matt. 7:20)
Willful obedience in love and because of His love for us cannot be commanded, we can disobey, but we choose not to do so. We love Him, and so we freely, and of our own free will, obey Him. This is love my friends.
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44)
Love draws us, and only those who choose to love Him willingly follow all His commandments.
