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THE
COMMANDMENTS OF JESUS CHRIST
THE
LAW OF LIBERTY AND THE
GUIDE OF LIFE OF THE SPIRIT
OF GOD'S LAW.
© Carlos Padilla, September 2009
In the search for the True way, as far as the moral, ethical and spiritual way
of life is concerned,
Christians just like other people who reach out for the Lord often ask: which
should be the code of behaviour for a Christian and for Christianity, since the
Bible teaches the Law of Moses and the Gospel of Jesus Christ?. Additionally,
they judge or have already judged the different churches and Christian leaders,
and they doubt about which should be the commandments or moral laws that should
guide the lifestyle before God once someone has known Jesus Christ and has
received Him as saviour.
The Lord already
recommends in the Bible that, as well as the sound doctrine, we must learn to
know who
His people are, his followers: ...You will know them by their
fruits...Matthew 7:16, and ...By this all will know that you are My
disciples, if you have love for one another...John 13:35.
This is the Lord's Church. If there are divisions, disagreements and any other
scandals, those who have been called by God and see this type of behaviour are
immediately scared away and stray from the Way. Some people also ask whether they
only have to fulfil the Ten Commandments or the whole Law of God. As always, let
us refer to what the Bible says and its interpretation:
"For Christ is the
end of the law". Let me start with this statement of Romans 10:4, to take a deep
look at the end of the Law. I do not mean the end as in "final ending" but as in
"objective", the spiritual purpose for our hearts. When man meets the Lord is when
the law can be comprehended in full depth, because it is the law that shows us
that our nature is fallen - as it is obvious in our civilization - and needs
God's salvation. But once Jesus Christ lives in our soul through the Spirit, we
are set free to live in the
liberty of the Spirit, serving the Lord and our neighbour. The
purpose, the essence and the fulfilment of the Law is the love of God, Romans
13:10, because "For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment". James 2:13.
Christianity goes
beyond Mosaic Law, and its purpose is of greater excellence because it starts in
Jesus Christ Himself, Who fulfils the Law and takes us to a higher level in the
Spirit, the Ruach HaKodesh. What we refer to here as "the Commandments of Jesus
Christ" is not a code of a new Law; this is not the purpose, and I want to make
it clear from the beginning, because the Lord warns us not to lay burdens on our
shoulders that are too big for any man to carry, and it is not my intention to
do so. When a Christian is taken to "the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ", Ephesians 4:13, as far as the knowledge of the Lord and His eternal
love, knows a new way of life which is not focused on fulfilment but on being,
and on receiving and giving God's love in our heart. This is the approach of
this code of behaviour, so that it may be used as a guide and direction for our
life in Christ. Therefore these "Commandments of Jesus Christ" should not be
interpreted as a door or way to salvation, since the Door and the Way is Jesus
Christ Himself, who opens them for us in the Cross of Calvary.
You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’38
This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’40
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets.” Matthew 22.
The true Christian is a
new person who follows Jesus Christ wherever he goes, besides being a new
person who has been transformed in the heart through God's love. It is not a
life of liturgy, of man-made commandments, of traditions, but of the love of
Christ, of brotherly kindness, of the fulfilment of the commandments of the
Master, of Jesus Christ, who knows perfectly well the 613 commandments and rules
in the Torah in the Tanakh or Old Testament and who teaches us what He is really
expecting from us: make us like Him, to His image and likeness.
The word "Torah" does
not mean law, but teaching or instruction. Therefore, the people of Israel when
they received the Law in Sinai they did not understand it as a mere list of
prohibitions and permissions, but as a guide for living their life with God,
even though it was a guide through which God would lead them to see that
they ultimately needed His mercy because they could not be perfect and they would
depend on the priests' sacrifices. This is what Jesus teaches us when He tells
us about the man who would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but prayed:
God, be merciful to me a sinner. He went home in peace with the Lord whilst the
other one praised himself about his fasting and tithing. Luke 18:13.
We have become aware
of our imperfection through the guide of the Torah,
Jesus Christ took our sin to the Cross and in His flesh so that through faith in
Him, and realizing that He has loved us as much as to give His life for us, the
bride, not any human life, but the divine life of the Son of God, eternal, our
heart would be changed forever, being born again, through His ultimate act of
love. Therefore, the Commandments of Jesus Christ are the guide
for life, the Christian's guide of behaviour, if he is looking for the truth and
God's love because he has been born again. This is what Jesus tells us about it:
...If you love me, keep my commandments...John 14:15.
This guide is a help for Christians, who
will see it confirmed in their lives through the Holy Spirit, who teaches us and
guides us into all truth, because once we are saved, we will live giving fruits
of the Spirit, because faith without works is dead in itself, as James 2 teaches
us. I am not going to provide a list or "the" perfect or ultimate "list", far
from it, what I will provide is a compilation of the teachings of the Master of
the Spirit, Jesus Christ, in His Word, which reaches us through Christ's mind
inside us, 1Corinthians 2:16, and which is confirmed and taught by our faithful
Helper, the Lord's Holy Spirit, our companion, teacher, helper and guide, the "Parakletos",
He is our guaranty. Let us trust Him!
Jesus Christ, our spiritual husband, has
and gives us the earnest of the Spirit, to go to
the marriage of the Lamb, offers Himself to us as bridegroom and price who has
signed the marriage covenant and certificate with His blood, because the Law of
God also had the meaning of a covenant, the old covenant, and it was like a
marriage covenant between Him and Israel. Now, under the new regime of the
Spirit, we are no longer under the old covenant of the letter, we can come to
the presence of the Lord without fear, covered by the blood of Jesus Christ who
cleanses our sins. The only sin that is not forgiven is the blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit. Besides this, when we repent we become dressed in fine
linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Revelation 19 about the marriage of the Lamb.
For these righteous acts, a Christian, as sheep of the Shepherd - our Lord - is
set aside to the right to be called amongst the "blessed of my Father" Matthew
25:34, because we gave food to those who were hungry, we gave drink to those who
were thirsty, clothed those who were naked and we visited the sick and the
prisoner, because the Lord becomes manifest in all those who are in need, in the
despised ones, the ones who are rejected by society, He is with the humble ones. Thus we
shall do and fulfil the commandment of good works, which will be a proof of the
fact that we are walking in the faith of Christ, as we preach the Gospel for
salvation.
Love is the biggest commandment of all, God's love, to love God and our neighbour, as taught by the Lord in the
Law, by the prophets, by Jesus Christ, by the apostles, and taught and practiced
by the Church, by those of us who are alive. Therefore,
brethren, let us love one another because love comes from God, whoever does not
fulfil this commandment does not fulfil any at all and remains in death.
Paul's commandment in Hebrews 13:1:
...let brotherly love continue...
Peter's commandment in 1Peter 4:8:
...have fervent love for one another...
John's commandment in 1John 4:7: ...let
us love one another, for love is of God...
Jude's commandment in Jude 21: ...keep
yourselves in the love of God...
Jesus Christ shows us in His word a
greater vision than the Law which man is capable of keeping in his heart, I
refer to the man of good will, the man who fears God, man or woman, for example
when He teaches us to love our enemy, Matthew 5:43, or to greet, not only our
brethren: ...And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than
others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?...Matthew 5:47, or to consider
coveting another woman in the heart as adultery, even without committing it.
This teaching, when it is revealed by
God to man's spirit, it takes man spiritually from being in the scope of the letter
to becoming one that gives fruits of the Spirit, those fruits that come from
someone who is born again from the spirit and who has a personal relationship
with the Holy Spirit. The One which Jesus Christ promised that He would send us
to be our helper and teacher to lead us to all the truth and which
was poured over 120 brethren in the first Pentecost after Jesus ascended to the
right of the Father.
However, simple people, those who
although they are religious on the outside are enemies of God and His Church,
those who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel, use this apparent
contradiction to the eyes of the mind that remains on the rational side only, in
order to argue that one teaching does not correspond with the other, they do not
understand that the Law of God is spiritual and goes beyond fulfilment of the
commandments per se. Like those who reject any type of church, even
though they are Christians, without belonging to any of them, because they have
not studied about this in the history of the Church, or they deny Trinity
because they have been taught that way and they have not studied it in depth, or
those who - because they cannot understand the depth of the Lord - they conclude
that such doctrine is unacceptable and they forget that there are many others,
like eternity, resurrection, etc which the natural man can only understand on a
basic
level, and this changes in the man who is a disciple of Jesus Christ.
The same way that Jesus Christ fulfils in Himself all the Law of the Torah, of
both sacrifices and priests, he also becomes Master of the Spirit, a
unique and irreplaceable Master and Who, as well, is the Word or the
Verb of God, therefore His teaching, which He has experienced in His own being
since the foundation of the world - which we will study here - becomes the
ultimate and definite interpretation of God's will for saved men whilst they are
on earth.
Regarding the meaning of the Law of God given to Moses for the salvation of
those who would fulfil it in each and every commandment and rule, it was
necessary for God to save us because we could not save ourselves though our
fulfilment of His Law, because the flesh cannot submit to it; this is why God
offers us salvation through faith in the Cross of Christ, once the Sin Offering
of the Lamb of God is accomplished, who fulfils the Law for us and takes into account those who
were holy and made every effort without boasting about it and admitted to being
sinners in times of the Old Testament.
The biggest Biblical evidence of the real, deep and spiritual meaning of the
teachings of the Master are the famous Parables of Jesus Christ, where we can
learn many of His doctrines. The Lord tells us in the Gospels about
the faith being like a mustard seed, because the seed is so small but it then
grows very large, or the teaching about casting the net on the right side of the
boat, as a reference to the power or God on which we must trust when we preach
in the church or to our neighbour, because God is Who does the work, and His
Word, Christ, is what transforms the heart of the fallen man into a saved one,
for eternity. We cannot forget to mention the history about Job in the Old
Testament, because each and every one of us are like him.
We can also see some great parables in the Old Testament, like the one which
Nathan the prophet told David when he took the wife of Uriah the Hittite,
telling him about the two men, a rich one and a poor one. The rich one took the
poor man's only small ewe lamb, and David became very angry and Nathan showed
him how David had acted wrongly, sinning against God, and thus He killed the
son from his adultery. 2Samuel 12. Additionally, we can read the parable of the
vineyard, about Israel, in Isaiah 5, or the parable of the ruined linen sash in
Jeremiah 13 about Israel's arrogance, which can also be applied to many
Christians and Churches as a whole who believe they have Jesus Christ as an
exclusive and that their interpretation, history, hierarchy and traditions are
the only ones worthy before the Lord, but the Lord will lift their skirts and
their uncleanness will be seen by all, like the ruined sash. Or the parable of
the eagles and the vine in Ezekiel 17.
Coming back to the New Testament, we find well-known parables: Who will build
his life on the sand (the arguments of the world) and will not see it fall,
instead of building it on the Rock of the faith in Christ and the Word of God?.
How can we forget the prodigal son, who is any of us who repents and comes to
the arms of the Father; and what about the barren fig tree which refers to
Israel that does not receive the Messiah in Jerusalem; or the parable of the
rich man and Lazarus; or the sheep and the goats or the impacting parable of the
ten virgins and the oil in their lamps which is the anointment of the Holy
Spirit for our souls, in order to have the holy fuel to light the flame of the
fire of the Holy Spirit to give light to the world, until He returns and takes
us with Him. And without oil there is no baptism of fire, which the Lord gives
us once we have the oil by pressing the olives which are our souls in
intercession for others, laying down our lives for Jesus Christ and the Church,
taking our cross - 1John 3:16 - and taking the yoke of Christ - Galatians 6:2 -
and in sacrifice of praise, that is the fruit of lips that confess His name -
Hebrews 13:15 - for the Lord's glory.
LAW OF GOD -
LAW OF CHRIST
In the first Council of Jerusalem described in Acts of the Apostles 15 they
discussed about the commandments which the Gentiles had to observe, different to
the Jew, but the result has been a brief list of four observances which the Holy
Spirit soon enriched and extended, as it could not be any other way, maintaining
the result of the first council and perfecting it in the History of the Church.
The spirit of the Law of God was focused on one's self, "I", and for that "I" to
come closer to God. The spirit of the Commandments of Jesus Christ is focused on
everybody else, because He has already established us as temples of the Eternal
God, where Jesus Christ lives through the Holy Spirit, therefore our life
changes from "I am looking for God" to "I bring God to them so than they become
God's children".
The Law of God is not a different Law to the Law of Christ, or vice versa. The
Law of God is the beginning; the Law of Jesus Christ is the end. The Law of
Christ is the spiritual fulfilment in utmost depth and perfection of the Law of
God. The Son honours the Father. Man is thus taken from "living soul" to become
"life-giving spirit".
The Law of Christ is: ...Bear one another’s burdens...as Pauls teaches in his
letter to the Galatians 6:2, which comes from ...love your neighbour as
yourself...Leviticus 19:18, and this, in turn, comes from: ...love the Lord your
God with all your heart...Deuteronomy 6:5. The fact that there is a commandment that instructs
us to love God shows how far away the natural man is from God when He has to
give him this Word, because a Son of God loves His Father and does not need the
commandment to tell him to do so, because it comes out from the soul. Just as we
have human love towards our beloved ones, we love God with our heart because He
loved us first, and His love is irresistible, as Augustine and Calvin taught.
The list of what we could refer to as the "Commandments of Jesus Christ" becomes
a way of life in the Spirit for us, and it is more than a law, it is the new
relationship with the Lord, the way to treat our neighbour and to follow God, so
that when the enemy tempts us in the flesh we are still tied to, we pray to the
Lord in the Spirit and we have references of His Word.
Jesus Christ is specific about the Law and its permanence in Matthew 5:17 to 20
when he says: ...Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I
did not come to destroy but to fulfill... ...For I say to you, that unless your
righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Following this statement, the Lord
teaches us several Commandments of the new Christian life:
Do this in remembrance of me...Luke 22:19, about Holy Super.
I wanted this to be the first
commandment in this list, for whoever is in Christ, until He returns.
However, due to its relevance, the first commandment is this one: is:
‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the
first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:29-31. Israel and the Church are
called by the same commandment, and mankind too.
Repent, "change your mind, the way you think, for the mind of Christ" Mark 4:17.
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder... ...But
I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause
shall be in danger of the judgment. Matthew 5:21-26.
You have heard that it was said to those of old ‘You shall not commit
adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has
already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28. Obviously,
this also applies for women towards men.
Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say
to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except fornication causes
her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits
adultery. Matthew 5:31.
Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear
falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ But I say to you, do not
swear at all... ...But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Matthew
5:37. We find a good list in the Gospel: Do not commit adultery. Do not murder.
Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and
your mother. Sell whatever you have and give to the poor. Mark 10:19-21.
You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'
But
I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right
cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your
tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go
with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from
you do not turn away. You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your
neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those
who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully
use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He
makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good...Matthew 5:38-48
Be salt, be light. Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is
the way that leads to destruction...Matthew 7:13. Give to the poor without being
seen; when you fast, don't let it show; pray Our Father...; lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven; be anxious for nothing; do not judge; ask, and
it will be given you, seek and you will find... ...Live under the Golden Rule of
Luke 11:9-13. Beware of false prophets, you will know them by their fruits, Mark
7:15. Do not fear those who kill the body. Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar’s, Mark 12:17.
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and
children, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. We have to
learn the difference between hating the person and the meaning which the Lord
refers to, which is whatever they may bring us that is not from the Lord:
teachings, traditions, idolatries, worldly life. And we go on: Come to me and I
will give you rest. Cast the net on the right side of the boat. Forgive your
brother up to seventy times seven. Let the little children come to Me, and do
not forbid them. Shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them,
Mark 6:11.
Take up your cross and follow me, Mark 8:34. Take my yoke upon you. Love your
enemy. Feed my sheep. About Matthew 10: And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The
kingdom of heaven is at hand'. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the
dead, freely you have received, freely give. Love one another as I love you. Do
not be afraid, only believe. Mark 5:36. Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak
in the light. Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your
servant, Mark 10:43. Take heed that no one deceives you. Watch therefore, for
you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. Watch
and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the
flesh is weak. Matthew 24, 25 and 26. And of course Matthew 28 and the famous
Great Commission: ...Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them... ... and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Amen.
BIBLE TEXTS
...The Lord came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth
from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints;
from His right hand came a fiery law for them.
Deuteronomy 33:2.
...This Book of the Law shall not depart from your
mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may
observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make
your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8.
...The law of Your mouth is better to me
than thousands of coins of gold and silver. Psalm 119:72.
...The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s
house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted
above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. 3Many people shall come and
say, “ Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the
God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall
walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the
Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke
many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they
learn war anymore. Isaiah 2:1-4
...Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees,
who write misfortune, which they have prescribed 2 To rob the needy of justice,
and to take what is right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their
prey, and that they may rob the fatherless. 3 What will you do in the day of
punishment, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you
flee for help? And where will you leave your glory? 4 Without Me they shall bow
down among the prisoners, and they shall fall among the slain.” For all this His
anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. Isaiah 10:1-5
...Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, you
people in whose heart is My law: Do not fear the reproach of men, nor
be afraid of their insults. 8 For
the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool;
but My righteousness will be forever, and My salvation from generation to
generation. Isaiah 51:7-8.
...For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons
of Jacob. 7 Yet from the days of
your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them.
Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says
the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:6-7.
...“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it
will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds,
and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who,
if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish,
will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good
gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give
good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to
you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the
Prophets. Matthew 7.
...But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they
gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing
Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great
commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.’40 On these two commandments hang all the Law
and the Prophets.” Matthew 22.
...And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him,
“What is written in the law? What is your reading of
it?” 27 So he answered and said, “ ‘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.’”28 And He said to him,
“You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?” 30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain
man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped
him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by
chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by
on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and
looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he
journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he
went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on
his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day,
when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said
to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I
will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you
think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then
Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10.
...Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by
faith apart from the deeds of the law. 29 Or is He the God of the
Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30
since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the
uncircumcised through faith. Romans 3.
It is important to mention that the works which Paul refers to in the text above
are the works for fulfilment of Mosaic Law, he is not referring to good works -
since without them our faith is dead, as we can read in James 2. I want to point
this out because there are many discussions between Catholics and Protestants
who do not understand this. Catholics defend salvation through good works and
Protestants defend salvation through faith. The faith that God gives us
produces good works, therefore a Christian must live in the good works which, as
Paul says, the Lord prepared beforehand so that we should walk in them. Therefore, Catholics must know that salvation is not obtained through doing good works, but
through Christ's work on the Cross, and Protestants must understand clearly that
unless they do good works, if they are able to do them, once they have received
faith, faith will be dead.
Therefore, both Catholics and Protestants and all Christians must know that we
are saved through faith in the work the Cross of Christ, and without it nobody
can be saved, no matter how many works we do, and Jews must also know that it is
impossible to fulfil the 613 commandments, and that salvation is through faith
on the Messiah Son of God. Good works flow from the heart, out of love and
compassion and not for justification. When we do good works, let us put
ourselves in the place of whoever is receiving them, pray for them and the Lord
will be with us always, through faith, because the just shall live by his faith.
...Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to
the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to
another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.
5 For when we were in the flesh,
the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to
bear fruit to death. 6 But now we
have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that
we should serve in the newness of the Spirit
and not in the oldness of the letter. Romans 7.
...There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has
made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could
not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not
walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds
on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the
things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be
spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8.
...I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the
lust of the flesh. 17
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do
the things that you wish.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit,
you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of
the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lewdness, 20
idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of
wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you
beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who
practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23gentleness,
self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are
Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5.
...But he who looks into the perfect
law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a
forgetful hearer but a doer of the work,
this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone among
you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his
tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
27 Pure and undefiled
religion before God and the Father is this:
to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself
unspotted from the world. James 1.
CONCLUSION
The Law included as commandments, customs and facts that God had
placed in the hearts of those who were called God's friends, like
Abel who offered God a lamb, because he considered that nothing from
what he had was any good for God, and it was the threshold of accepting
the Lamb of God. This is why Cain killed Abel, because he considered
that the result of the work from his hands would justify him before
God. Or Abraham, who gave his tithe, which he did a long time before the Law and
denotes a recognition to God that we are conscious that He is the
one who
blesses the fruit of our work.
Christians are above tithing, they are free from it but they
acknowledge before the Lord that all material blessings come from
Him, therefore Christians do not only give their tithes and
offerings, but also their whole life to Christ, therefore each
person should give according to what is in their heart and their
love towards God and their prosperity,
for the Gospel, for the church and its needs, for the poor, for
brethren in need, for the elders, bishops, leaders, pastors whom a
Christian wants to acknowledge as source of blessings whom the Lord
has used to bless their lives, The Lord goes beyond and says in Mark
10:21: ...sell whatever you have and give to the poor...who is
capable of doing that? the first Christians, Acts 2:45.
Traditions in the different churches are no substitute for
commandments, because they become man-made commandments. This is
what the Lord reproached priests saying that they had made the
commandment of no effect by their tradition. Likewise, Catholic and
Orthodox churches have added sacraments which they have turned into
commandments that do not exist in the Biblical Church, in the Lord's
or the Apostles' teachings.
The structure of the Law is focused in three aspects: towards
God, towards ourselves and towards our neighbour. These three, in
turn, are related by God to the moral, the 10 Commandments, the
slaves, the acts of violence, restitution, humanitarian laws, the
three annual feasts, the Angel of the Lord as guide, Moses and the
elders in Sinai, the offerings, the ark, the tabernacle which would
later become the Temple, priests, sacrifices, oil, frankincense and
the presence of the Lord. All this structure is fulfilled in Christ
and in Christians.
Maimonides, rabbi of the 1st century, established a division of
the Law in 613 commandments and rules, in 14 books that have become
the structure of Talmud tradition, and they are still in force today
in the observance of the Mishneh Torah, the standard of orthodox Jews.
"Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your
tradition", this is what the Lord reproached priests and scribes.
Likewise, how many traditional and ritual churches in the world,
through their traditions - sometimes centuries old - invalidate the
sound doctrine of Jesus Christ?
Blessings and curses for obedience and disobedience are listed in
Deuteronomy 28. People think that they are no longer in force - I
mean Gentiles - but their validity is proved by daily happenings in
people's lives. But Christians are no longer under the Law but under
the grace.
Just like the United States of America have their famous
Constitution, as any other democratic country does, or just like
Human Rights rule United Nations, the Law of Moses is the
Constitution of the theocratic estate. But God's purpose for man
since Eden - as shown in the relationship between Adam and Eve and
the Lord - was not the Law but the Spirit; but the serpent knew that
by tempting human mind (Eve) with a code to live under, a moral
code, even if it was personal and modifiable, she would have the
control over man's life, because as man cannot be faithful to
himself, through disobedience to God, he would be left at the mercy
of the prosecutor's accusation, with the law in the
hand. Later on, man's enemy uses the Law of God to accuse us of sin,
this is why our kingdom is not of this world and we await patiently
the coming of the Kingdom of the Lord to enjoy eternity, a perfect
relationship with our Father.
I would like to conclude by remembering the famous Beatitudes,
since I believe they include the spiritual essence of what our
attitude should be in our relationship with the Lord and our
neighbour with reference to what I wanted to call the "Commandments of
Jesus Christ". These commandments - I would like to point this out
one last time - do not represent an enclosed code but an open and
free path, far from the domain of that serpent of Eden, even though
we know the science of the knowledge of good and evil, so that we
live free in the Spirit in our new relationship with God, the
spiritual Way of a Christian's heart who has to live in freedom
under the anointment of the Holy Spirit:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they
shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all
kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be
exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they
persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5, Luke 6.
The final conclusion is that a Christian is led by the hand of
the Holy Spirit, who shows us all truth and who supports us every
day in our lives, confirming in our spirit what we must and we must
not do according to His Word. For a succinct summary of Christian
behaviour read Hebrews 13.
I hope that this study about the Commandments of Jesus Christ may
have set the readers free from the mistaken need of
our mind which is always looking for rules and codes of conduct and
which opposes the freedom of the living relationship with God..
Therefore, let us all live as Job concludes about his relationship
with God: Job 42: ...I will question you, and you shall answer Me...
This is how the Spirit dwells inside us, and if we live under a law
we do not allow him to live inside us, because we do not allow him
to speak, on the contrary, we act according to the code, we no
longer listen to Him, we only fulfil.
My prayer for you is for a blessing of life in the Spirit,
according to Galatians 6:2, so that you bear one another's burdens,
and so fulfil the law of Christ, and may the Lord bless you in His
Way with every blessing from Above in every church until His coming,
which is close; in the meantime let us continue to have a personal
relationship and in congregation too, under the law of freedom, from
the Spirit, in the love of God to accomplish the Great Commission as
in Mark 16:
...And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be
saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these
signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out
demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up
serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means
hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will
recover.”19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was
received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20
And they went out and preached
everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word
through the accompanying signs. Amen.
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