Obedience: God’s Love Language

I Kings 6:11-13 “Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, ‘Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Isreal and will not forsake my people Isreal.’”

Four hundred and eighty years after Israel was delivered from the chains of Egypt, a defining moment in redemptive history began to unfold. Solomon, son of David and king of Israel, commenced the construction of the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem—a permanent dwelling place for the name of God among His people.

Solomon spared no expense. Towering cedars from Lebanon were felled, bound into rafts, and floated to Israel. Massive stones were quarried, dressed, and transported at great cost and effort. Every beam and stone was measured and shaped with such precision that, when assembled, they fit seamlessly together. Scripture records a striking detail: no hammer, no axe, no iron tool was heard on the temple grounds as it rose. Even the process of construction was an act of reverence. God was honored not only in what was built, but in how it was built.

Solomon followed the divine blueprint first given to Moses for the tabernacle (Exodus 26:15–29), but on a grander scale. The temple doubled the dimensions of the tabernacle, signaling permanence and maturity in Israel’s worship. Inside, the structure was lined from floor to ceiling with intricately carved cedar and overlaid entirely with pure gold. The result was breathtaking—unmatched in beauty, splendor, and sacred significance. It is no wonder this temple came to be regarded as one of the great wonders of the ancient world.

Yet while Solomon was occupied with stone and cedar, God was concerned with something far more enduring.

In the midst of construction, the Lord spoke to the king (1 Kings 6:11–13), offering a promise that revealed the true purpose of the temple. God’s word to Solomon carried three profound assurances:

First, God promised to establish His word among His people—His covenant purposes of blessing, protection, and faithfulness would not fail.
Second, God promised His presence—He would dwell among them, not as a distant deity, but in covenant intimacy.
Third, God promised permanence—He would not forsake His people.

These promises are amazing! But they were not unconditional.

God made that clear in verse 12: “If you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep my commandments and walk in them…” The promises were real, but so were the conditions. Obedience was not optional; it was relational.

That raises an unavoidable question: what does this ancient promise have to do with us?

The New Testament answers plainly. Believers in Christ are now the temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). Those who belong to Jesus are the true Israel of God—not by ethnicity, but by promise and faith (Galatians 6:16; Romans 9:6–8). If that is true—and I believe it is—then the promises God spoke to Solomon concerning the temple apply to us today. And if the promises apply, so do the conditions.

At this point, some object: Doesn’t attaching conditions to God’s promises amount to works-based salvation?

Scripture says otherwise. The book of Hebrews alone is filled with conditional warnings and exhortations—“if” and “lest” clauses that call believers to perseverance, faith, and obedience (see Hebrews 2:3; 3:6, 14; 4:1; 5:9; 10:26). These are not contradictions of grace; they are expressions of it. God’s promises invite response, not passivity.

In fact, the conditions attached to God’s promises are not burdensome demands—they are revelations of love.

Obedience, as Jesus makes unmistakably clear, is the language of love in God’s kingdom.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word” (John 14:23).
“Whoever does not love me does not keep my words” (John 14:24).
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (John 15:10).

Jesus does not separate love from obedience; He defines love by it.

The conditions attached to God’s promises are, in reality, God graciously teaching us how to love Him in a way that honors who He is. When obedience flows from a sincere and trusting heart, the Father and the Son receive it as genuine love.

This is crucial to understand: loving God is not primarily about emotion or sentiment. It is about trust—trust expressed through obedience. When we obey, we are declaring that we believe God is good, faithful, and worthy of our allegiance. That obedience is not a means of earning God’s favor; it is the evidence that we already trust His heart.

And Jesus says, unmistakably, that is what real love looks like.

Is it what my love for God looks like?