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If you love me, keep my commandments.

These are the words of Jesus Christ in the fourteenth chapter of John the fifteenth verse. They are direct and to the point. However, when you really look into how those that call themselves “Christian.” How many of them truly do not love Jesus. For the majority do not follow this direct and simple directive from Jesus Christ the Son of God.
One of the main reasons for this is due to not even understanding their own faith and beliefs that form this faith. This is something that need to be addressed. Many perceive this as legalism.
The main reason for this is due to how the true Word of God has been diluted or not even taught fully or completely. They live under a belief that if all they do is believe then they will make it into heaven.
James 2:14 – What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Faith alone without following the commandments is dead. It is a simple statement. It comes straight to the point. If you do not follow and live the teachings of Jesus Christ you are dead unto Him. If you are dead unto Him, you are not of Him, and so hate Him. They are living what is called a lukewarm live.
How does Jesus Himself few the lukewarm?
Revelation 3:15 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!
They are so distasteful to Him that He spits them from His Body.
So how can we change this? How can we make it where we are not spit out by Jesus?
We come full circle back to where we began. We follow the commandments.
It is here that someone will start to argue that Jesus dying upon the cross and then rising upon the third day removed the need to follow the commandments. However that is not the correct interpretation of what the Bible teaches.
Matthew 5:17 – “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
Again we are told by Jesus Christ Himself that we are to follow the commandments. So how can you even attempt to question? It is not me that you are challenging but Jesus Christ Himself and His own words. So following the commandments, especially those taught by Jesus Christ Himself are not legalism, it is the required works of a living faith in Jesus and His Father, God. It is the act of love He asks of us to do.