◄ What Does John 14:15 Mean? ►

The Lord Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Law on behalf of all who would trust in His name as Saviour, so there is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. The law of the Spirit of life has set us free, in Him, from the law of sin and death. And yet, Jesus called us to keep His commandments, why would this be?

We may no longer be under the curse of the Law but this does not exclude us from living godly in Christ Jesus. We are now under grace and so if we love our Saviour, we will keep His commandments out of our love for Him and not out of duty. But what is His new commandment and how can we keep it?

We have been removed from our old life into our new life. We have been transferred from the ministration of condemnation into the ministration of reconciliation. We are no longer under the old covenant that was cut in stone but under the new covenant that was written in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. He gave His life for love of us, and we simply love Him because He first loved us and gave Himself for us.

And the commands of our Saviour to all His followers are rooted and grounded in love - His love - the love of Christ dwelling in us and the love of Christ flowing through us to others.

The commands of Christ are distinct from those given to Israel and so much more glorious, for we are commanded to love one another in exactly the same way that Christ loved us. And when we abide in His love and walk in spirit and truth, we truly fulfil the new commandment that the Lord Jesus gave to His disciples, shortly before His death and Resurrection.

Jesus gave us a new and better covenant and He also gave us a new and better commandment that can only be carried out in spirit and truth. We can only fulfil His commandment of love in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit as we live our life in total dependence upon Him, trusting His Word and doing only those things that we hear from Him.

"A new commandment I give to you," were some of the last words that the apostles heard before His crucifixion, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you." This new commandment to the Church is a foundational principle upon which Christianity is founded - and if we truly love the Lord Jesus, we will keep His commandments of love so that the life we now live in the flesh is not of us, but Christ living in us.

Heavenly Father, thank You that Christ died for my sins, and rose again to give me His new, resurrected life so that in the power of the Spirit, I may love as He loved. Lord, I cannot love as Christ loves in my own fleshly strength, but only as I submit to the work of Your Holy Spirit, only as I walk in spirit and truth. May the love of Christ flow through me to others so that Christ’s love is seen in me. In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN.