The Commandments of Christ
The commandments of Christ are the basic principles by which we
should live each day. Christ told us that we are only his friends if we
follow his commandments. John 15:14 reads, "Ye are my friends if ye
do whatsoever I command you." Only those who obey his commandments will
have a chance to be part of the kingdom. Mathew 7:21 reads, "Not
everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven." We
must do Christ's commandments as well as just know them. 1 John 2:4
reads, "But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your
own selves."
The teachings of the apostles are also Christ's commandments. 1 Cor.
14:37 reads, "If any man think himself a prophet, or spiritual, let him
acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments
of the Lord." Therefore, we must conclude that it is important to know
what the commandments of Christ are and we must follow them. We should
also ask whether we should be friends of those who do not follow
Christ's commandments. If he will not be our friend if do not obey his
commandments should we be friends of others who do not obey his
commandments. We can probably conclude that our friends must at least respect our
beliefs and not openly disregard Christ's commandments.
In Mathew 22:36-40 Jesus tells us what the two greatest commandments
are. "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said
unto him, Thou shalt love the lord thy God with all they heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets."
Love Your Neighbor
Jesus wanted us to realize that our love of God and our love of our
neighbor must be the motivation behind all that we do. If we do not have
that love, all of the other commandments lose their significance. The
phrase "love your neighbor" originated in the Old Testament in
Leviticus 19:18, "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the
children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as theyself. I am
the Lord."
The NIV has some interesting comments about this verse. "Love your
neighbor as yourself". The stricter Pharisees (school of Shammai) added
to this command what they thought it implied. "Hate your enemy".
Jesus' reaction "Love you enemies" was in line with true OT teaching and
was more in agreement with the middle of the road Pharisees. Jesus
emphasized to those stricter pharisees that we must love our enemies as
well. "Neighbor" does not merely mean one who lives nearby, but anyone
with whom one comes in contact. Romans 13:9-10 reads in the NIV, "The
commandments, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do
not covet, and whatsoever other commandment there may be are summed up in
this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to
its neighbor. Therefore, love is the fullfillment of the law." All
of the commandments in the law have no significance without loving our
neighbor first.
Sermon on the Mount
In the Old Testament, the 10 commandments were the foundation of the
law. Jesus added to what was taught in the ten commandments and the law.
Obeying his commandments was more that just actions such as thou shalt
not kill or thou shalt not steal. We see this in the Sermon on the
Mount. When discussing the commandments of Christ, we must refer to the
Sermon on the Mount at some time. The Sermon on the Mount is for the
most part a series of commandments. The book "A Life of Christ" says the
following about the Sermon on the mount. "The teaching and precepts of
Jesus expressed in the clear symmetry of the Sermon on the Mount are
not abstract ideal, as beautiful as mountain peaks and as remote, to be
preserved and worshipped in devotional hours and ignored in the
hurly-burly of daily living. They form a working philosophy of life which is
the only road a disciple can tread." Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount
shows the difference between his commandments and the law of Moses.
With Jesus it is not the act only that is a sin such as the act of
committing a murder, it is what is in the heart. It is wrong to hate your
brother long before it festers into murder. Jesus says, "Ye have heard
that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill: and whosoever
shall say to his brother Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but
whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the alter, and go thy way. First be
reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with
thine adversary quickly whiles thou art in the way with him, lest at any
time thy adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver
thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Mathew 19:16-24
It is what is in the heart that is important not just our actions. No
one can just command us to love our neighbor. Our heart must be in
the right place first or it would be impossible to obey this commandment.
The rich man found this out. In Mathew 19:16-24 we read, "And behold,
one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do,
that I may have ethernal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me
good? There is not good but one, that is, God: But if thou wilt enter
into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, which? Jesus
said, thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt
not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy
mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And the young
man saith unto him, all these things have I kept from my youth up: what
lack I yet: Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell
that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in
heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying,
he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions."
Maybe this man didn't have the love of others that he should have had.
Jesus was making a point. I don't think he would want us all to sell
everything we have and give it to the poor. Maybe he was just trying to
emphasize to the rich man that his heart had to be in the right place.
The rich man thought he was righteous, and Jesus wanted to emphasize
that he had to have love in his heart for others as well. Biblically
wealth is not a bad thing to have, but it is very dangerous. It can take
our heart away from God very quickly as Jesus indicated in the parable
of the sower and the seed. Our love of God and his word can be choked
very quickly.
The Sower
Mathew 13:3-9 reads, "Behold, a sower went forth to
sow: and when he sowed some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls
came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places where they had not
much earth; and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness
of earth; and because they had not root, they withered away. And some
fell among thorns: and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other
fell upon good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold,
some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear; let him hear.
Concerning the seed that was thrown among thorns we read the following.
He also that received seed among thorns is he that heareth the word:
and the care of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the
word,and he becometh unfruitful. We read that riches are deceitful. They
make us feel that we are satisfied and happy, but they deceive us.
Labor not to be rich
Robert Roberts said, "This is plainly expressed in another part of the
word of wisdom thus "Labor not to be rich" (Proverbs 23:4). Nothing
in the whole range of language could be plainer than this. Christ who
surely knew better than all, states a fact which constitutes a powerful
reason for the commandment not to aim at riches. "How hardly shall
they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God." (Luke 28:24).
Riches he calls, "the mammon of unrighteousness." He does not say their
possession is absolutely inconsistent with divine favor and inheritance
of eternal life. But he gives us to understand that the danger of
their "choking the word" is extreme (Mathew 8:22, and that the only safety
of those who have them lies in turning them into friends and
safeguards. His advice is "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness." (Luke 16:9). How this is to be done, he indicates, "Give
alms: provide yourselves bags that wax not old, a treasure in the heavens
that faileth not (Luke 12:33). The advice is repeated by the apostles,
"Charge them that are rich in the world, that they do good, that they
be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate,
laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to
come." (1 Tim 6:17). Therefore, the 10 commandments were not enough.
The rich man had to love his neighbor first. The good actions would
naturally come when his heart was in the right place. That is why the
love of neighbor was the fulfillment of the law.
In conclusion,
I will quote a parable of Jesus concerning his
commandments. This parable was given at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.
"Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I
will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and
the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat
upon that house, and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock. And
every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall
be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. And
the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat
upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."
David Thomas Jr.
