And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying,
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:18–20, NKJV)
When Christ’s disciples (Christians) are taught to love and obey all things that Jesus commanded, they don’t look for excuses to disregard Christ’s commandments such as the following errors:
- ERROR: “God’s commandments delivered by the Lord Jesus were only for the covenant community, Israel and the Church; so they don’t apply to unbelievers.” (Attacks the Lord Jesus’ authority over unbelievers. Concludes that the imperative to submit to the Lord Jesus’ commands do not apply to unbelievers. Mat 25 shows unbelievers being judged by the Lord Jesus for their disobedience).
- ERROR: “It is a mistake to think one must ‘make a commitment’ to follow Jesus Christ, They just might end up later with a fearful heart, hiding in the ‘back of the boat’ because they see they are failing.” (Attacks the Lord Jesus’ authority over believers. Concludes that repentance from disobedience and acceptance that Jesus is Lord is a mistake that can become detrimental. THE TRUTH: In saying, “Jesus is Lord,” we commit ourselves to obey Him. Jesus asked, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). An acknowledgement of Jesus’ lordship is logically accompanied by a submission to Jesus’ authority. If Jesus is Lord, then He owns us; He has the right to tell us what to do. https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-is-Lord.html
- ERROR: “Once saved, always saved.”(Attacks the Lord Jesus’ authority over believers. Concludes that obedience to Christ after being born-again is irrelevant to receiving salvation for eternity).
- ERROR: “Christians have a already been resurrected at the New birth experience.”(Attacks the Lord Jesus’ authority over believers. Concludes that obedience to Christ after being born-again is irrelevant to receiving salvation for eternity).
- ERROR: “Salvation is by faith alone, without obedience, without repentance from disobedience.” (Attacks the Lord Jesus’ authority over believers. Concludes that obedience to Christ is irrelevant to receiving salvation for eternity).
- ERROR: “Salvation promises are for Israel Only,” (Attacks the Lord Jesus’ authority and relevance to believers. Concludes that Christ’s promises and commandments do not apply to non-Israelites such as you).
- ERROR: “Jesus is not God”. Denial of the deity of Jesus Christ, Unitarian Monotheism, Jehovah Witnesses, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Atheism, godless philosophies/ideologies, etc. (Attacks the Lord Jesus’ authority over anyone. Concludes that Christ’s commandments are not more authoritative than other prophets, philosophers or ideologues so they can be safely ignored like these others).
- ERROR: Distrust of the authority of the commandments of Christ as communicated through the New Testament that His Church has written, preserved, translated, and distributed, (Attacks the New Testament’s authority over anyone. Textual criticism that labels portions of the New Testament as “unauthorized additions, corruptions” that can be safely ignored up to discarding the whole Text).
- ERROR: “Christ’s teachings only applied to His own generation.” (Attacks the Lord Jesus’ authority over anyone beyond His own generation. Concludes that Christ’s promises and commandments do not apply to you).
- ERROR: Use the Old Testament against the New Testament to confuse, distract away from, nullify or override the commandments of Jesus Christ. (Attacks the New Testament’s authority over anyone. This was what Paul was condemning and is the original meaning of the word “legalism”).
- ERROR: “Jesus and His Apostles misuse the Old Testament to establish their teachings.” (Attacks the New Testament’s authority over anyone. Concludes that the New Testament is not to be taken seriously, therefore, not necessary to obey its commandments).
Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble, [nothing causes them to fall away or quit] (Psalm 119:165, NKJV)
For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. (Hebrews 7:12, NKJV)
Our obedience is so important to God that it took nothing less than the death of God’s only begotten Son on the Cross to deal with our lack of obedience. So, our obedience is as important as the Cross; our obedience is Cross-level important.
Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
(Matthew 16:24–25, NKJV)
Obedience to God is obedience to Jesus Christ. The commands of Christ are the new commandments of God.
Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 47 And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”
(John 12:44–50, NKJV)
Love For Christ’s commandments, or the lack thereof, is the fruit by which false prophets and false brothers are identified.
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.
(Matthew 7:15–16, NKJV)
1Co 7:19 EMTV Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God.
1Th 4:2 EMTV For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.