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Jesus said that the person who obeys his Father will enter the kingdom of heaven.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’  Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.'” (Matthew 7:21-23.  See also Luke 13:23-27)

Jesus then tells the parable of the wise and foolish builders, illustrating and reinforcing his teaching about the importance of not just hearing his words, but acting on them.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall!” (Matthew 7:24-27. See also Luke 6:47-49)

Other examples of Jesus teaching on the importance of doing the will of his Father include:

“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:50; Mark 3:35: Luke 8:21)

“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:28)

“You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:14)

“If you hold to my teaching, you are truly my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

“If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” (John 13:17)

So, it is very important that we do the will of our loving Father.  If we rely on our faith, our beliefs, our creeds or our doctrines to save us, but do not do his will, then we will be risking hearing Jesus say: “I never knew you”.

 

Jesus tells us that if we love him, we will obey his teaching.

There are two passages close together in John 14 which are surprisingly similar,

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.  This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.  I will not leave you orphaned.  I am coming to you.” (John 14:15-18)

and;

“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. All this I have spoken while still with you.  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:23-27)

It may be that Jesus is repeating these thoughts to emphasize their importance to his followers.  However, the Greek in these verses is not completely clear.  Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” and “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching”.  Is he saying that anyone who loves him must make sure that they obey his teaching?  Or is he saying that anyone who loves him will automatically find themselves obeying his teaching?  The answer may be that both are correct.  If we love Jesus then, through the activity of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we will find that we are becoming more and more obedient to his teachings.  But it is also true that, if we love him, we will want to be obedient to his teachings and we will pray that we will be obedient.

 

What is the will of God that we should be doing?

Fortunately, the answer to that question is found throughout scripture and is very clear.  We must love  our loving Father and we must love our fellow human beings.  Specifically, we must look after those who are in need.  We must give to those who are poor, befriend those who are alone, act justly towards others and promote justice for those who need justice.   There are many, many verses in our Bible showing that our loving Father wants us to look after those in need.  Here are just a few of them.

• In Genesis our Father says: “I have chosen (Abraham) that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice” (Genesis 18:19).
• In the law of Moses there are many, many commands to look after those in need.  For example:  “Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.'” (Deuteronomy 15:11).
• In the prophets, to take one example, “what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).
• In the gospels, Jesus says “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16)
• Jesus takes it for granted that his followers will give to the needy, instructing them how to do so (Matthew 6:1-4).
• Jesus also gives a chilling teaching on what will happen to those who do not look after others (Matthew 25:31-46).  (The “sheep and goats” teaching.  Check it out for yourself.  It’s too long to reproduce here.)

This does not mean we should think we can earn salvation by our good works.  As our brother Paul put it:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Unfortunately, some Christians use this verse to suggest that works are unimportant.  This is a misleading and dangerous thing to teach.  Paul himself emphasizes the important of good works in the very next verse, saying that God has always intended good works to be our way of life.

“For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” (Ephesians 2:10)

We cannot guarantee our salvation by looking after others.  Salvation is the gift of Jesus and Jesus alone. (See the article “What did Jesus say about being saved?”  Link below).  But our loving Father commands us to love our fellow human beings, and he is particularly concerned that we should love those less fortunate than ourselves:  the poor, the lonely and those who need justice.  If our love for others does not result in us taking care of others, then it is not love.

May our loving Father bless us and strengthen us as we learn to live in obedience to him.

Peter O

 

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How do I know what God wants me to do?

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