Remember loving God is a salvation issue. If we dont love him we won't keep his commandments. Hebrews 5:9 Eternal Salvation is for those who OBEY.
I often hear works-salvationists misinterpret these passages of scripture in order to support salvation by works. 1 John 4:7 - Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who
does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1 John 2:3 - By this we
know that we have come to know Him, (already know Him/demonstrative evidence) if we keep (Greek word “tereo” - guard, observe, watch over) His commandments. 4 The one who
says, “I have come to know Him,” and
does not keep His commandments,
is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Hebrews 5:9 is another favorite verse of works-salvationists who use it to teach "salvation by faith + obedience/works" by writing a blank check with the word "obey" then filling out whatever amount of works they feel are necessary to obtain eternal life.
In Hebrews 5:9, who obeys Him? The saved or the lost? *Only believers have obeyed Him by choosing to believe the gospel (Romans 1:16) in order to become saved, and only believers obey Him after they have been saved through faith by "keeping" (Greek word "tereo" - guarding, observing, watching over) His commandments and practicing righteousness and not sin (1 John 2:3; 3:9,10). *
In either sense, only believers obey Him.
Unbelievers have not obeyed Him by refusing to believe the gospel (Romans 10:16; 1:16) and without faith its impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), so unbelievers do not obey Him no matter how much "so called" obedience that they attempt to conjure up through the flesh in a vain effort to obtain salvation by works. *
So in either sense, unbelievers do not obey Him.