KEEPING GOD'S COMMANDMENTS

KEEPING GOD’S COMMANDMENTS

Some contemporary Christians believe that the commandments divinely commissioned under The Old Covenant are somehow outdated and nullified by The New Testament.  Nevertheless, in the words of Jesus Christ, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17, NKJV)

On a practical level, all of the original commandments are absolutely fulfilled by Jesus Christ, the personification of divine love, via “the new commandment” which is cited in John 13:34-35 as the primary evidence of discipleship.  Its requirements are aptly summarized by Dr. Luke: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

The fact that Christ fulfills (not eliminates) The Law is the only proof we need to validate the present day requirement to revere and adhere to them.  As such, it is prudent to occasionally reread and reconsider the ordinances that God originally shared with His people:

Exodus 20:1-17 (NKJV, New King James Version)

¹ And God spoke all these words, saying:

² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

³ “You shall have no other gods before Me.

⁴ “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 

⁵ “You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

⁶ “But showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

⁷ “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

⁹ “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 

¹⁰ “But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 

¹¹ “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³ “You shall not murder.

¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵ “You shall not steal.

¹⁶ “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

¹⁷ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Whenever we respond with an unequivocal “YES” to God’s law, we position ourselves for divine favor and blessing.  “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (II Corinthians 1:20)  Amen?  Amen!

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING.  Maranatha!