Is Obedience Without Affection Still Love?

Ask Pastor John

Desiring God

John Piper, Unknown, 163859, Pastor, Ask, Theology, Desiring God, Religion & Spirituality/christianity, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Questions

4.8 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2024

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If we obey God outwardly but feel no affection for him inwardly, is our obedience still love? Pastor John takes us to the heart beneath God-pleasing obedience.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to the podcast on this Monday.
0:07.0	We're going to start the week with a doozy of a question.
0:09.1	Do we love God only by obeying Him or do we also love Him verbally by using
0:15.5	affectional language about Him and to Him? A hugely important question today that
0:22.2	gets at the very heart of what we call important question
0:25.0	today that gets at the very heart of what we call Christian hedonism.
0:26.0	The question is from an anonymous listener.
0:29.0	Pastor John Hello to you, my pastor recently admitted
0:32.0	that he does not love God or Christ
0:36.0	emotionally he said he loves God or loves Christ by keeping his
0:41.1	commandments obedience is by keeping his commandments.
0:43.0	Obedience is love, he claims, returning often to 2nd John 1-6,
0:50.0	this is love that we walk according to his commandments.
0:54.0	And to 1st John 5.3, for this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.
1:01.0	I've know many other Christians in my life who seem to have no place for emotional or
1:06.8	affectional language for God. They like to relate to him merely in similar categories of obedience. Is this healthy? How important is it to
1:17.0	cultivate affectional language for God as God? And what would you say to those who are uneasy with such language for their
1:25.4	relationship with God and only ever use this obedience language?
1:30.3	Okay I hear three questions. Number one, is it healthy to relate to God only in categories
1:40.4	of obedience but not affections.
1:42.6	Answer, no, it's not healthy.
1:45.6	It's confusing at best, deadly at worst.
	...

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