I have a teenage daughter, which means I hear A LOT of sarcasm and the questioning of nearly everything emanating from my mouth. A few weeks ago she questioned the legitimacy of the chorus of a worship song that says: “there is freedom in the house of God.” She sassily questioned “how can we say there is freedom in the Church when Church is all about rules?” Now, as a disclaimer, my daughter has a strong relationship with God, but she is very inquisitive. If we are honest with ourselves, we’ve probably struggled with this question. Why, as Christ followers, are we expected to follow so many rules/commandments? Do we really have to miss out on some of the fun things in life, while our non-Christian friends bask in them? That leads to our big question: why follow God’s commands?
John addresses this question in 1 John 2:
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. 1 John 2:1-6
John teaches two big things here. First, because of Jesus’ death on the cross, our sins can be forgiven. His death is the atoning sacrifice we all need. Some may look at this and say “great, if I’m forgiven I can do whatever I want!” Look, however, at what John says. If we know about Christ’s salvation than we should follow His commands. Why? First, to demonstrate our love for God. Second, because God’s ways are the best way.
Think of God’s commands like warning signs. Warning signs don’t exist to ruin your fun (though some of you may think differently), but to keep you safe. Recently, my aforementioned teenager chose to ignore a “no swimming” sign. Two minutes later, as she limped to shore with blood running down her leg, she discovered why the sign was there: because of giant and jagged rocks. Similarly, God’s commands are not about taking our freedom away, but about directing us towards the best life possible. This is true not only for us, but for all others as well. Imagine if we all followed God’s ways, loving our neighbor as ourselves and giving God glory. That would be an amazing world! So, why follow God’s command? Because He gracefully saves us AND desires us to avoid the many dangerous of our sinful world.
