And you know this how? Because you dogmatically assert that the "Jews of the Old Testament" were really ancient Southern Baptists who went around singing hymns and passing out gospel tracts?
It is simple logic. Every misunderstanding of God and every erroneous doctrinal belief that seems to spring up, occurs from this one idea-that man has "free will". You stated that we are capable of obeying the commandments of God. I fully agree with your conclusion if, in fact, man had the free will. The question then is, if a person is freely capable of choosing right or wrong, then WHY don't they choose to obey God's commands. If, as you say, "Every commandment we obey unleashes unseen spiritual forces in the world" then why unleash anything if you can freely choose what to obey and not obey?
And, yes. Half the Southern Baptists don't understand this simple issue.