PRESCRIPTIVE OR DESCRIPTIVE
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15, R.S.V.
Try to remember what it was like when, as a child, your parents asked you to do something you really didn't want to do. They tried to find various ways to persuade you to do it, from promising a reward to gently threatening that there might be a "laying on of hands" if you didn't comply! Perhaps they even used the familiar approach of reminding you of all the good things they had done for you, from the gifts at Christmas to the warm bed and plenty of food. Then they would ask, "Do you love us?" In a tiny, cautious voice you would answer, "Yes." Then you would hear the logical trap spring shut with a note of triumph: "If you love us, you will do what we say."
It's called being manipulated by love, and it doesn't feel very good. But what can you say without sounding like an ungrateful cad? Many Christians read John 14:15 through those same eyes. They see God as parading in front of us the infinite evidences of His generous love--life, health, salvation in Jesus Christ, and all the gifts and blessings of His kingdom. Then as we look in slack-jawed amazement at the immensity of it all, He has us right where He wants us and He tightens the noose. "For all of this," He asks, "Do you love Me?" We nod dutifully. "If you love me," He concludes, "keep my commandments."
There isn't a shadow of doubt: God really does love us. But His love is intended to heal us, not to manipulate us. His great caring for us is intended to make us inwardly adequate, not to make us feel trapped. It enhances us; it does not obligate us. When Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments," He was describing what we will do, rather than prescribing what we must do. It was a statement of fact: This is what people do when they love their Saviour.
So highly does our Father prize our freedom of choice that He does not use even His great love for us to "twist our arms" into obedience. Though we quickly see that He does not use physical force to cause us to obey, it is vital to notice that He also avoids using emotional force. For only the love-healed heart truly can obey!
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15, R.S.V.
Try to remember what it was like when, as a child, your parents asked you to do something you really didn't want to do. They tried to find various ways to persuade you to do it, from promising a reward to gently threatening that there might be a "laying on of hands" if you didn't comply! Perhaps they even used the familiar approach of reminding you of all the good things they had done for you, from the gifts at Christmas to the warm bed and plenty of food. Then they would ask, "Do you love us?" In a tiny, cautious voice you would answer, "Yes." Then you would hear the logical trap spring shut with a note of triumph: "If you love us, you will do what we say."
It's called being manipulated by love, and it doesn't feel very good. But what can you say without sounding like an ungrateful cad? Many Christians read John 14:15 through those same eyes. They see God as parading in front of us the infinite evidences of His generous love--life, health, salvation in Jesus Christ, and all the gifts and blessings of His kingdom. Then as we look in slack-jawed amazement at the immensity of it all, He has us right where He wants us and He tightens the noose. "For all of this," He asks, "Do you love Me?" We nod dutifully. "If you love me," He concludes, "keep my commandments."
There isn't a shadow of doubt: God really does love us. But His love is intended to heal us, not to manipulate us. His great caring for us is intended to make us inwardly adequate, not to make us feel trapped. It enhances us; it does not obligate us. When Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments," He was describing what we will do, rather than prescribing what we must do. It was a statement of fact: This is what people do when they love their Saviour.
So highly does our Father prize our freedom of choice that He does not use even His great love for us to "twist our arms" into obedience. Though we quickly see that He does not use physical force to cause us to obey, it is vital to notice that He also avoids using emotional force. For only the love-healed heart truly can obey!
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