He Gave Them Commandments

He Gave Them Commandments

Jesus Himself gave His disciples the greatest, eternal riches. For forty days—after His resurrection—He spoke of things that He Himself had first lived and so was able to pass on to His disciples. He had lived and tested every single commandment He had received from His heavenly Father. Now the disciples could go out with great boldness to the ends of the earth and proclaim what they were living and were teaching others to live.

Every commandment contains Spirit and life, even abundance of life. We can see how serious and how necessary it was to keep the commandment when Timothy received Paul’s strongest exhortation: “I command you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.” 1 Tim. 6:13-16.

In these days Jesus Christ’s commandments are defiled by doubt and unbelief and presented as something that is not at all necessary for our salvation and development. We have therefore a great and holy mission in our time to keep the commandments without spot and blameless, until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing. We must watch that the commandments are not perverted and made worthless. Each commandment contains eternal riches that surpass all other riches. Those who keep the commandments and teach others to keep them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 5:19. Every commandment in the Sermon on the Mount and throughout the entire new covenant is an eternal light from God and is radiated from Jesus’ and from the apostles’ hearts in purity and clarity. Each commandment is followed by great promises, and by an inner, unshakable peace and joy. A gospel without commandments is an insult to the true gospel, which is full of God’s power and wisdom. The light of Christ’s commandments brought the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the scribes to light. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matt. 23:27-28.

Jesus hated it when a person had an impure heart behind an external façade of purity. That is hypocrisy and unrighteousness. This hypocrisy made them rage against Jesus until they nailed Him to the cross.

Each commandment is a great trust given to the elect and an eternal judgment to those who close their hearts to them. In the old covenant the commandments were written on tablets of stone; this gave the Israelites an external glory by separating them from the heathen nations.

In the new covenant they are written in a new and pure heart resulting in an inner life in fellowship and eternal brotherhood together with Christ and the saints.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” Ezek. 36:26-27.

The laws of the Spirit of life are written in this new and pure heart of flesh.

“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 4:6.

“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:10-12.

Through obedience to Christ’s commandments we enter into that perfect love which enables us to love one another as Christ loved us. That is the greatest thing we can attain to through Christ’s love. Then we can also love every person even while he is still a sinner.

In this obedience and devotion we can come to Christ’s perfect joy. This inner joy gives us great strength to walk in love “as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” Eph. 5:2.