Gateway To Jesus Ministries Presents
The Bible Says!
These are all New Testament Scriptures below, directed to us Christians by Jesus and His Apostles.
(John 14:15) "If you love me, keep my commandments."
(John 14:21) "He that hath my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."
(1 John 2:3-4) "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that says, I know him, and keeps not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."
I could stop right here with these 3 very specific and plain statements about keeping this part of the Old Testament law, but there’s more. Almost everyone knows that Christians really do not need to keep the law to earn salvation. Christians are not justified, or under the law, for salvation. What the Bible really says makes this perfectly and plainly clear in Eph 2:8 and Gal 2:15. Most Christians recognize that grace, not law keeping is really the way to salvation, but the Bible actually says if we love Jesus, Christians WILL be keeping the commandments, part of His law, AFTER we are saved by grace. But which ones?
Even though Christians are saved by grace doesn't the Bible say very clearly about obedience being the means of expressing love for God? Was Jesus clearly speaking about keeping the ten commandments in Matthew 5, when He said "THESE", and then he went on to magnify several of them in the next few verses?
(Matt 5:19) "Whosoever therefore shall break one of THESE least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
Did Jesus say these laws are the "least" because they were really not important and you don't need to keep them? Or was it just a contrast to the two great ones found in Matthew 22? Are these not all His commandments which Jesus said we are to keep?
When asked what was necessary to obtain eternal life in Luke 18:18-20 Jesus had a great opportunity to say His old laws were really no longer necessary now that He was here, that all we really had to do was accept Him, love God and love our neighbor. Jesus didn’t actually say that. Instead, He started listing some of the 10 commandments Christians should be keeping.
“Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and your mother."
Why did He say this? It sounds odd to most Christians who believe any Old Testament laws are no longer really necessary to keep, but this looks pretty clear as the simple words of Jesus telling us what the Bible really says about Christians keeping the commandments. Was He making a point about some of His laws still being required, that Christians should still be keeping them? Elsewhere He plainly says we need His shed blood to cover our sins and save us, but here was He also telling Christians we really need to continue to obey God by keeping His commandments AFTER being saved to show our love for Him and His sacrifice? Does the Bible actually say this is a simple and plain truth that most Christians don’t understand?
(Matt 22:35-39) "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 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
The Bible actually says the 10 commandments hang on the two great ones. The Bible does not say they are replaced by them as many churches falsely teach. Nowhere does it say that! There are separate commandments differentiated as two great and ten least. When you add John 13:34 as yet another new commandment from Jesus that Christians need to keep, you can plainly see that the Bible really says there are actually thirteen that Christians should be keeping.
"A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another."
Does this in any way say the previous 10 are now null and void? No it does not say that! This is a single commandment we need to keep that appears to be an addition to the previous ones for Jesus’ followers.
Anytime you find the word "commandment" in the New Testament is the Bible referring to all of them? John 10:30 plainly shows that the Father and Jesus are one, therefore wouldn’t their commandments be one also?
“I and the Father are one.”
Isn’t it spiritually illogical to believe God is divided and He gave one set of His Royal Law to the Jews, and Jesus gave another set of magnified commandments that look exactly the same, for Christians to keep? Have we been deceived into believing the Bible says in the New Testament that references to commandment keeping really only means two or three of them and not all of them?
Two of them that Jesus magnified in Matthew chapter five are clearly part of the original ten that He wants His followers to keep. He plainly said so. They are taught by Jesus as being required both literally and in spirit. What does the Bible really say? Now you not only can't break the sixth literally by committing adultery, you also have to keep the principle of it in spirit, not even lusting in your heart.
(Matt 5:27-28) "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."
The same is true for killing someone. Now our Savior says you not only can't break the fifth literally by committing murder, you also have to keep it in principle, not even hating someone in your heart.
(Matt 5:21-22) "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment".
It wasn’t necessary for Jesus to really go through the whole list of commandments in the Bible to make His point here. He had already previously listed keeping these two commandments in His list we had to literally keep in Luke 18:18-20. Isn’t it clear that Christ is magnifying all 10 here with these two examples? Doesn't this plainly say that Jesus is showing us these 2 examples of this magnification because He wants us to understand keeping them really applies to all ten and He says we should obey them literally and in spirit? Doesn't it look clear to you now what the Bible says about Christians really keeping the 10 commandments?
Many Christian don’t like ANY of God's laws. Regardless of what the Bible may really say, they don’t want God telling them specifically what they can and cannot do. They just want to emotionally love the Lord and don’t want to get dragged down with all the effort required to obey God. It’s just too much work and too disruptive to their lives to keep any of HIs laws.
There is a phrase for this "no effort" Christianity. Easy Believism! It’s a term used that one needs only to believe in Jesus in order to be saved. They believe that no corresponding need exists for a committed life of Christian discipleship as proof of salvation; no need to keep the commandments out of love for God; no need to do good works out of love for their neighbors, no need to DO what the Bible actually says about keeping any of God's laws. Some believe they’re saved because they prayed the sinners prayer and accepted their Savior, with no real conviction of sin, and no repentance for breaking Christ's laws. Praying a prayer is easy, but there is more to salvation than mouthing words and feeling an emotion.
It's safe to say true faith in Christ will always lead to a changed life. What Christians actually DO will change because we will be keeping Jesus' laws both literally and in spirit. So YES, True Christians, saved by grace and acceptance of our Saviors shed blood for our sins, WILL want to obey God, keep His laws, and doing what He says out of LOVE for GOD!
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” (1 John 5:3)
Do we believe God? Then shouldn't we show it by doing what He really says and keeping His laws rather than continuing to justify ourselves for not obeying God? We always have a choice about keeping the laws that Jesus says. Jesus says His laws are still in force today for Christians. If we want to receive God's blessings and have the opportunity to live a happy life, then we should do what He really says and keep these simple laws that lead to eternal life.