Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

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The book of Romans says that some people celebrate holidays and others don’t. But most of your wives celebrate Valentine’s Day, so you men aren’t off the hook. Valentine’s Day gives us a chance to show our love for each other, which is important for any relationship, including our relationship with God.

“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He 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 Counselor, 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 14:21-27)

We cannot earn salvation by obeying Christ’s commandments. Our salvation is by grace alone, through faith in what Christ did for us. The gospel is that God is holy, we are sinful, and that God took on human flesh and became a man. He then died on a cross for our sin. But God’s not dead. He rose from the grave. Salvation is not by what we can do for Christ, it’s by what Christ has done for us.

Obeying Jesus is evidence that we love Him. Faith and works are very much connected. What kind of marriage would you have if you said you loved your wife, but never acted on that love? While it’s important to many couples to do something special on Valentine’s Day, don’t reserve showing love for one or two days a year. Make every day a day in which you show your loved ones that you care about them in real, practical ways.

In the same way, our love for Jesus must be tangible. Not because this earns salvation. It’s hard to grasp, but nothing we do will make God love us more or less. In fact, if you’re under the impression that working for Jesus earns salvation, then that is proof that you’re not saved. You don’t understand the basics of the gospel. Rather, we work for Jesus because we are full of joy that we have been given salvation. We don’t give up addictions to please God, we give them up because God pleased us. We strive for holiness not to bring joy to God, but because He brought joy to us.

Those who love Christ are loved by God, and will come to know God more clearly. Judas (not the one that would betray Jesus) asked a question regarding Christ’s atonement: “why won’t everyone be saved?” Jesus responds that in order to be saved, God must come into your life. This happens when you believe in Jesus. When God comes into your life, you begin to serve Him. You won’t serve him perfectly, because we’re sinful people. But ask yourself, “Are there specific things that I do that serve God?” If the answer is yes, don’t trust in those works, continue to trust in God’s grace. If the answer is no, the worst thing you could do would be to try harder to serve God. The answer is to trust in Christ.

God alone offers the kind of peace that we need. The world offers peace through many things: worldly pleasures, financial security, family, etc. But God’s peace is both an inner peace and a judicial peace. And that’s what we need both in this life and the life to come.