“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
John 14:15Jesus never separated loving him from obeying him. Again and again he said that the people who truly love him are the ones who keep his commandments, and that keeping God’s commandments leads to eternal life.
Jesus died for us, so we are not our own: “he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:15). And if we belong to him, we will follow him.
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.
John 14:21 (ESV)If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.
John 14:23–24 (ESV)If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
John 15:10 (ESV)You are my friends if you do what I command you.
John 15:14 (ESV)Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Matthew 10:37 (ESV)Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.
Matthew 19:17 (ESV)“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
Luke 10:27–28 (ESV)Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.
John 8:51 (ESV)And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.
John 12:50 (ESV)Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 7:21 (ESV)Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
Luke 6:46 (ESV)An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
John 5:28–29 (ESV)Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
John 3:36 (ESV)And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.
Hebrews 5:9 (ESV)He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
Romans 2:6–8 (ESV)But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
Romans 6:22 (ESV)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.
1 John 2:3–4 (ESV)And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
1 John 2:17 (ESV)For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
1 John 5:3 (ESV)If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!
1 Corinthians 16:22 (ESV)Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12 (ESV)At a glance
We gathered the commands Jesus gave in the Gospels, combined the ones repeated across Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and grouped them, starting with the two commandments Jesus himself called the greatest.
What he said it takes to enter life.
“The weightier matters of the law.”
The law kept from the heart.
Living as his disciples until he returns.
Every one matters. Jesus warned, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven
(Matthew 5:19). Each command below is meant to be obeyed.
1–3 · The greatest
Asked which commandment is the greatest, Jesus named two and said everything else depends on them. To his disciples he added a third: love one another as he loved us.
The first and greatest commandment. Put God first in everything: your affections, your life, your thinking, and your effort.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.
Matthew 22:37–38 (ESV)The second is like the first. Treat others the way you want to be treated, and see anyone in need as your neighbor.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 22:39–40 (ESV)His “new commandment” to his followers: a self-giving love, modeled on the cross, that shows the world who his disciples are.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:34–35 (ESV)4–6 · Come and follow
What Jesus said a person must do to enter the kingdom of God and be his disciple.
Turn away from sin and put your whole trust in Jesus. This is where following him begins.
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.
Mark 1:15 (ESV)Put Jesus above your own comfort, your possessions, and even your family. Count the cost, and follow him every day.
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:23 (ESV)Stay joined to Jesus like a branch to the vine. Hearing his words is not enough: build your life on doing them, and endure to the end.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
John 15:4 (ESV)7–12 · Mercy
Jesus rebuked religious leaders who tithed carefully but “neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23). These commands show what loving God and neighbor looks like day to day.
Forgive from the heart, again and again. Jesus warns that those who refuse to forgive will not be forgiven.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:14–15 (ESV)Bless those who curse you, pray for those who persecute you, and turn the other cheek instead of striking back.
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Matthew 5:44 (ESV)Deal with your own sin first. Do not condemn others by appearances, but judge with right judgment.
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Matthew 7:5 (ESV)In his kingdom, greatness means serving. Take the lowest place, become like a child, and wash one another’s feet.
Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Mark 10:43–45 (ESV)Feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and the imprisoned. What you do for them, you do for Jesus.
Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail.
Luke 12:33 (ESV)You cannot serve God and money. Store up treasure in heaven, guard against greed, and do not worry about tomorrow.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33 (ESV)13–18 · Purity
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus carried God’s law past outward actions to the heart.
Do not murder, commit adultery, steal, or lie. Honor your father and mother. Jesus came to fulfill the law, not to abolish it.
You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 19:18–19 (ESV)Anger and contempt are murder in the heart. Make things right with others quickly, even before you come to worship.
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 5:23–24 (ESV)Lust is adultery in the heart. Deal with sin radically, removing whatever leads you into it.
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Matthew 5:27–28 (ESV)Marriage is one man and one woman, joined by God for life. To divorce and marry another is adultery.
Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
Luke 16:18 (ESV)Be so honest that you never need an oath. You will give account for every careless word.
Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
Matthew 5:37 (ESV)Give, pray, and fast in secret. Beware the hypocrisy of religious show.
Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 6:1 (ESV)19–25 · Faithfulness
Commands for the daily life and mission of his followers until he returns.
Share the gospel, baptize, and teach others to obey everything Jesus commanded. Let your light shine.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)Ask, seek, and knock. Pray to your Father simply and persistently, and keep watch so that you do not fall into temptation.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7 (ESV)Fear God, not people. Openly confess Jesus, even under persecution, and rejoice when you suffer for his name.
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 10:32 (ESV)No one knows the day or the hour. Live faithfully now, do not be weighed down by the cares of this life, and endure to the end.
Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
Matthew 24:42 (ESV)Do not be deceived by those who come in his name. You will recognize them by their fruit.
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Matthew 7:15 (ESV)Share the bread and the cup of the Lord’s Supper, remembering his body and blood given for you.
This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
Luke 22:19 (ESV)Pay your taxes and respect earthly authority, while giving God what belongs to him: yourself.
Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.
Matthew 22:21 (ESV)