Commands to Follow
Now that we have established that His law and commandments are holy and good, and confessed that Jesus is our Lord who saves us from our unintentional sin, we must seek to know him and his will. Knowing him and knowing his commandments go hand-in-hand.
Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
Some reject the observance of the Feast Days, others take issue with observing the Sabbath, and still others debate eating pork and shellfish. Each of these issues and more will be addressed as we learn to walk as Jesus did.
All Scripture [the Old Testament is all that existed when this was stated] is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
NKJV
If all Scripture is profitable for instruction in righteousness, then clearly the Old Testament laws are still profitable. There was no law from the Old Testament that Jesus broke; therefore, to the best of our ability, we ought to do the same. If you are unable to do all these things, you can still be saved, as was the thief on the cross. The key is to know the difference between being unwilling and unable. The thief was willing to be baptized but was unable because he was on the cross and about to die. Is anyone in danger of losing their salvation by keeping the feast days and Sabbath? Clearly not! However, teaching against them puts you in danger of being little or nothing in the Kingdom. What is the consequence of not repenting and continuing in that behavior while professing, “Saved by grace through faith alone”? Couldn’t a murderer exclaim, “Works-based salvation!” at anyone who dared to rebuke them and warn them that they were grieving the spirit of grace? If we can expect people to repent from murder, on what basis is murder different from keeping the Sabbath? Are they not both among the Ten Commandments?
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness (eating pork, etc). But that is not the way you learned Christ!
ESV
Many modern translations have substituted “impurity” for “uncleanness” to hide the clear connection to uncleanness in the Old Testament. Repentance is a type of “work.” Identification of any extra commands from Scripture creates “more work.” Any obligation that people wouldn’t willingly assume without the law is deemed “work.” Even atheists are against murder and theft, and they often have higher “moral” standards than many professing Christians. If you only obey instructions that your flesh agrees with, then you are no different from the Gentiles. So anyone who brings Scripture forward to teach additional instructions beyond what even atheists would naturally follow is rejected as “preaching works-based salvation.” Hypocrites! Obeying legitimate commands is not works-based salvation; the only debate we should have is whether a command or instruction is from the LORD. Can you lose your salvation for willfully ignoring a command? I believe the Scriptures say yes. Can you get your salvation back by repenting from that willful act? Yes.
If I tell the righteous man (he who is covered by the blood of Jesus) that he will surely live (be saved), but he then trusts in his righteousness (Jesus is our righteousness) and commits iniquity (lawlessness), then none of his righteous (lawful) works will be remembered; he will die because of the iniquity (lawlessness) he has committed.
BSB
You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness (law). Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Can you lose your salvation by obeying what you thought was a command but was actually a misunderstanding? Not that I can tell, unless your actions conflicted with another command. If they did, you have a situation in which one interpretation of Scripture appears to conflict with another. In any case, seeking Him means seeking out his instructions and being willing to follow them, not rejecting anyone who presents scriptural evidence that there are certain things we are supposed to do.
He Put an End to Sacrifices
As prophesied by the Prophets, the LORD put an end to sacrifices for sin, and now any sacrifice for sin other than the blood of Jesus is an abomination. This future end to the sacrifice system for sins was expected from the time of Moses and the Prophets. Furthermore, the commands related to sacrifices were for the Levitical priests and did not apply to anyone other than the priests. And without Levitical priests, we cannot make sacrifices of any type.
Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.
We have a new High Priest who intercedes on our behalf and covers our sins; however, this doesn’t eliminate sin, just the penalty of sin for those who repent. Someone paying your speeding ticket on your behalf doesn’t remove the law of speed limits. And your speeding ticket is only covered if you truly repent and do not grieve the spirit of grace. While there are no more sacrifices for sin, there will still be other kinds of offerings presented in the Millennial Kingdom by a reinstated priestly class. Notice that when the book of Hebrews was written, there were still priests who rightly offered gifts according to the law, a copy or shadow of the heavenly things. For example, the Feast of Tabernacles will be observed along with related sacrifices (those that are not related to sin).
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
If Jesus is your Lord, then your will would be to obey the law of gifts and sacrifices when you are able to, but until the Levitical priests are identified and trained, and the millennial temple is built, we are unable to offer such gifts. This failure might be a sin, but if it is, it is a sin covered by the blood of Jesus, much like the failure of the thief on the cross to get baptized. In any event, the laws of sacrifices and gifts are so underspecified that we will have to wait for them to be written on our hearts before we can do them properly.
What Is the Smallest Commandment?
Everyone agrees that we should follow the greatest of the commandments:
And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
But I think that we should also ask ourselves, “What is the smallest commandment?” Thinking, “I follow the greatest, so the smallest doesn’t matter,” reflects a spirit of rebellion. Perhaps some remain intentionally ignorant, covering their eyes, putting their fingers in their ears, and saying, “I can’t hear you.” Imagine you have a child who “obeys” only your greatest commands—those with which the child happens to agree—but otherwise ignores everything else you ask. Do you think such a child loves you or despises your commands? The greatest command is, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
Therefore, you cannot even keep the greatest commandment without attempting to keep the smallest commandment with all of your heart, soul, and mind.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Notice that this may not be a salvation issue; it is a treasures-in-heaven issue. Apparently, even teaching people to relax the least of the commandments isn’t enough to lose your salvation and be denied the Kingdom if it wasn’t willful. That said, there are translations that suggest that “least in the kingdom” could be translated as “like nothing in the kingdom.” It is better to stay away from that side of the spectrum.
…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
We are commanded to lay up treasures in heaven. If you are not concerned with treasures in heaven, then where is your heart? And how do we lay up treasures in heaven? Those who follow and teach the least of these commandments will be the greatest (richest) in the kingdom of heaven.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
The Pharisees focused on the small things to the exclusion of the big things, but modern Christians teach the “big things” to the exclusion of the small things. Many teach that keeping the weightier matters is all that matters; however, Jesus clearly stated that we should not neglect the smaller matters. So my challenge to you is to enumerate as many commands and instructions as you can identify from His word and then follow them as closely as you can as a means of loving him with all of your heart, mind, and soul, not as a means of earning your salvation.
Are Those Instructions Just for the Jews?
Many people assume that God has two sets of expectations: one for the Jews and one for everyone else. According to this doctrine, the “Jews” have many more commands they must follow, while everyone else—the “Church”—is given a much lower bar.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
ESV
The question you must ask yourself is this: how do you know whether you are a “Jew” or a member of the “Church”? The early church consisted entirely of Jews who followed Jesus and accepted Him as their savior. Was this early church expected to follow more commands than everyone else because of their genetic heritage? Must we do a DNA test to determine what category we fall into? No!
Are You a Party to the New Covenant?
The New Covenant is only with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, into which we are grafted as wild olive branches.
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.
The intentional sinner is blaspheming the LORD and shall be cut off. Causing people to “doubt” the law is the oldest deception in the book.
And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
This is the same technique Satan is using today. He is deceiving people by getting them to make excuses for ignoring and denying God’s law, the very law the Northern and Southern tribes were scattered for breaking—the law of the olive tree into which we have been grafted, under a new, superior High Priest. His law clearly states in many places that it is forever, and He can neither lie nor contradict himself.
So this day (Passover) shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance…. “And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons (future generations) forever.”
24
Therefore the children of Israel (and those grafted in) shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. ‘It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’
NKJV
“This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.
31
‘And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
‘You shall keep it (Tabernacles) as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ‘You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths.
“Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.
As evidence that forever means forever and not just “until Jesus,” consider this prophecy about the millennial reign:
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
By this point, you should get the idea that we are commanded to love him by keeping the smallest of his commandments and that many commandments modern churches teach us to ignore are actually declared by the LORD to be ordinances forever, and are even prophesied to be observed in the future. This book will summarize how to follow commands that we are to observe, such as the Sabbath, the calendar, and the diet. In this way, you can avoid grieving the spirit of grace and have confidence that you have repented from what likely caused you to miss the rapture in the first place, so that you will have more assurance that, if you die a martyr, you will wake up on the right side of eternity. Jesus could not teach against the commands of the LORD given through Moses because, if he did, then by the very law of the LORD, he would be considered a false prophet.
If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us follow other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.
Beware Traditions of Men
One of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming that the Jews and their traditions align with the LORD’s commands. The Jews put more weight on their oral tradition written down in the Talmud than on the Bible.
“Watch out!” Jesus told them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”… Then they understood that He was not telling them to beware of the leaven used in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
12
Modern-day Jews are the descendants of the Pharisees and carry on with their teachings.
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
As a rule of thumb, if you cannot find the command in the Bible, then you should treat it as a tradition of men. Not all traditions are “bad,” so long as they do not contradict or nullify the commands documented in the Bible and you do not teach or impose those traditions on others as if they were commands from the LORD.