Posted on 10/21/2016 6:44:21 AM PDT by metmom
"The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes" (Ps. 19:8).
Obedience to the Word is the hallmark of a true believer.
It isn't popular these days to speak of God's Word as a book of commandments. Commands imply law and we're accustomed to grace. But the fact is, both the Old and New Testaments contain many commandments that all God's people are to obey.
The apostle John said, "By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, 'I have come to know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected" (1 John 2:3-5). John equated the commandments of God with the Word of God.
Jesus Himself said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:15) and "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father" (v. 21). If you truly love Christ, your life will be characterized by a pattern of obedience to His Word.
Every commandment of God is "pure", the psalmist said (Ps. 19:8). Its effect is "enlightening the eyes." God's Word brings spiritual truth into clear focus. Not every passage of Scripture is easy to understand, but taken as a whole, the message of the Bible is clear to the regenerate mind.
But as clear as the Bible is to believers, unredeemed people can't understand it. To them it's foolishness because their minds are unenlightened (1 Cor. 2:14). In their spiritual blindness they choose humanistic philosophical speculations over God's Word. But as a believer, you are continually being enlightened by the truths of God's Word as the Holy Spirit enables you to understand and apply them to your life.
Your ability to understand the Word is a priceless gift. Take advantage of it daily by expanding your Bible knowledge and increasing your obedience.
Suggestions for Prayer
Thank the Lord for opening your mind to the truths of His Word. Commit yourself to discovering at least one additional truth from Scripture each day.
For Further Study
Read 1 Corinthians 2:14-16. What comparison did Paul make between the natural (unregenerate) man and the spiritual (regenerate) man?
Studying God’s Word ping
Many people find themselves challenged when asked, “what are the commandments of Christ?”
There are several lists on the internet. Here is one:
http://www.trusting-in-jesus.com/Commandments-of-Jesus.html
There are a couple there that I think strictly applied to the apostles, but still, a good list. There are lots of others but they are all pretty similar (if not identical) to this one.
And here is a full bible study on it.
http://swapmeetdave.com/Bible/Commands/index.htm
love the url name. :-)
Interesting list.
I’ll have to read it over more thoroughly.
from that link- The Commandments of Jesus must not be confused with the “Ten Commandments” in the Old Testament.
then he says-
The Greatest Commandment”
Jesus was asked: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments,” (Matt 22:36-40, Amp).
those are the 10 Commandments-summed up into 2.
those are the Commandments being broken in Revelation 13..
which might explain one way satan deceives the whole world..
That is pretty much how I see it as well.
Beware false prophets in these times of many false prophets. They call God a liar, claiming He didn’t say something He said and claiming He said something He didn’t say. Thankfully we’ll know them by their rotten disobedient fruit. They apparently delude themselves into believing they’re saved, but it’s their disobedience that condemns them. (Matt. 7:15-23)
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." John 13:34.
"Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: a wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife." 1 Cor 7:10,11
"How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. . . . . . . . . If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord." 1 Cor 14:26-37
"For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit." 1 Thess 4:2-8
"And THIS is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.". 1 John 3:23.
based on the calendar in scripture,
Jesus made referenced to the Law in His 30,60,100fold in His parable of the sower.
the problem is the world is conformed to another set of times and laws and not able to see it.
aimhigh, Do ***NOT*** be deceived by the Judaizers on this forum. They preach salvation by works and would lead people away from the grace of Christ back to being in bondage under the law.
Christ fulfilled the Law in us and we are free from the obligation to observe it.
It does not lead us to Christ or please God more, or make us more in tune with the Holy Spirit by doing so.
the whole book of Galatians teaches against the bondage to the law that Judaizers would have us come under again. The Hebrews Roots people are false prophets preaching a false gospel. Their faith is weak but it leads to deception.
Romans 14:1-9 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
quote-aimhigh, Do ***NOT*** be deceived by the Judaizers on this forum. They preach salvation by works and would lead people away from the grace of Christ back to being in bondage under the law.
who mentioned salvation?
I didn’t.
I simply mentioned that in the foundational parable of the parable to the sower, Jesus used 30,60,100 for a reason. and the 10 Commandments, or the Law, applied to two of those in a specific way.
And Judaizers don’t know it either. If they did, they would see how they too have been deceived..
It isn’t something one will learn in a temple, synagogue or church.
Which is why He gets all the Glory!
It is a blessing to understand what 30,60,100 represented when He taught the parable.
And I suspect, His disciples understood it- or we would have had them asking that too.
That mystery isn’t much of a mystery but it does require non conformity to the world bent on changing times and laws (as Daniel 7 predicted rome would do)
You,metmom are absolutely within your right not to follow the 10 Commandments. Or think any or all of those are the ‘least commandments’- Jesus Himself said those people would be called ‘least’in the Kingdom.
And that makes complete sense when someone understands what Jesus was showing with His reference to 30,60,100.
something todays world cannot teach. But His Word does. for those who are willing to not be conformed to the world..
your choice..
It gets right to the heart of the new covenant and the laws being written on the hearts of His people..
We are under grace, not under the law.
BTW, how do you make or keep appointments without using the regular calendar?
Do you work using it and do your banking using it?
Or do you use your own made up dates? How does that work out for you financially?
Absolutley agree with you. When Paul said we died to the law, his example of the law of the 10th commandment. This is why I focus on New Testament commands.
again, people throw around grace like they are free not to be sanctified with His Truth.
His Word is Truth and I dare say, with one or two questions, the Word could show that you may have a different 1st importance of the gospel than Paul taught to the Corinthians.
And so does Rome. and most her daughters..
and the Messianic Jews would concur but even they would have to admit, if they studied His calendar, how they too have accepted the Roman version ‘in spirit’.
big deal?
depends on whether one sees another Jesus or another gospel is possible-
He has shown me that very thing..
By using His calendar and timekeeping..
It’s in His Word- it is on our future. The Kingdom is set to it because it only points to Him- everyday- His Creative Work, His Redemptive Work, His Convincing Work.. every day, week, month..
Just because it is foreign to a babylonian world doesn’t mean it isn’t profitable for instruction, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness..
and Rome (and Islam’s and Jewish) calendars can be exposed with one verse as counterfeit- is that not the work one must do- test and prove all things?
but one could read that verse over and over and not see it..
He blesses with eyes to see. because this world is not going to show it..
as for how one lives in a world not set up by His timekeeping, -one can live in babylon and not be conformed to it. and I have been blessed to understand His language of time.
Why He set it up the way He did and why the world decides to use Rome’s(or the Islamic or the jewish) calendars, to their own blindness..
It isn’t a condemnation of eternal destruction I am talking about- I am simply showing how He has a calendar that the world doesn’t use- and if they did, babylon would fall in their own lives.
They would start to understand why John said ‘and the Word became Flesh.
It is quite a sight to see. and then a sight to see everyone wander after Rome and her version of events instead.
But it was prophesied it would happen..
Our Redeemer used Paul’s simple 1st importance of the gospel to lead me out...
and it is so subtle a difference that it would mean like nothing-
which is exactly how satan works.
Things that seem like nothing or nitpicking, points people to a world that is set up to break the Commandments people say are no longer to be followed.
Which describes what is happenening in Revelation 12,13,14.. and it isn’t a physical forcing. It is a willingness to allow the enemy to set the premise. and it happens on a spiritual level this very day..
today can be goddess Friday October 21 to any and all. and I can work within that language.
But I have been blessed to know what today is to our Creator and Redeemer.
And I choose to follow that way...the calendar of the Kingdom of heaven.
Some of the fruits for that obedience is understanding things that even the most holy people can’t see yet.
Which is what His Word says would happen to disciples of the Kingdom-
out of the storehouse are things old and new..
It seems like it would be new to follow the way the Creator tells time as it is a little different than what we are used to-
but it is very old.. and a blessing to see that it all points to the work from the beginning to the end.. and Jesus is in it- All of it...
I pray more get to understand what He meant by ‘the Word became Flesh’.
that doesn’t happen until someone starts testing if today is really Friday to the Creator and Redeemer.. and they, too, can be blessed to see how the enemy deceives the whole world-
simply by using time.. the Word is sharp and one verse can expose the worlds calendars. and one day on that calendar can point to why the world still shuts down on the wrong day-december 25..
conformity to the world will not bring about the renewing of one’s mind.
we just don’t know how conformed we are-
we assume it is biblical because we haven’t tested it against His Word- or because it fits our understanding of the 1st importance of the gospel-
satan’s trick..
We are to be sanctified in His Word. His Word is Truth..
too many assume too much.. even to the very 1st importance of the gospel- which has led the entire world to wander after the enemy.. even in the age of grace.. that might change the way people see the end times and who the real enemy is-
It did for me..
All for His Glory!
What a waste of bandwidth in a non-answer to my questions.
Do you use our calendar for business transactions?
When you write checks, fill out deposit slips, make doctors appointments, fill out insurance forms, buy property and vehicles, and all the other millions of things we do every day that require dates on them?
Do you use the Gregorian calendar? Yes, or no?
Simple question, simple answer.
Matthew 22:36-42
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he?
1 Sam 15
9. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not completely destroy them; but every thing that was despised and worthless, that they destroyed completely:
10. Then came the word of the Lord to Samuel, saying:
11. I regret that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments; And it grieved Samuel; and he cried to the Lord all night:
12. And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a monument, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal:
13. And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed be you of the Lord; I have performed the commandment of the Lord:
14. And Samuel said, What is the meaning then of this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear:
15. And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have completely destroyed:
16. Then Samuel said to Saul, Stay, and I will tell you what the Lord has said to me this night; And he said to him, Speak:
17. And Samuel said, When you were little in your own sight, were you not made the chief of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed you king over Israel:
18. And the Lord sent you on a journey, and said, Go and completely destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed:
19. Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but did fly upon the booty, and did evil in the sight of the Lord:
20. And Saul said to Samuel, Indeed, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites:
21. But the people took of the booty, sheep and oxen, the best of the devoted property to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal:
22. And Samuel said, Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen better than the fat of rams:
23. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry; Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king:
24. And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and your words; because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice:
25. And therefore, I beg you, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord:
26. And Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel:
27. And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it tore:
28. And Samuel said to him, The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you:
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself =
Thou shalt love DAVID as thyself.
David's heart was perfect (complete) with the Lord, because David loved the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind. IOW, David = the Shema, "Hear O Israel"...
David's heart, mind, and soul *was* the Shema. Messiah son of David is the perfection of David. It answers the question, "If David called him Lord, how then is he his son?"
David's son is the master, having mastered the Law via the heart of his father David. He *is* David, only better. That's another fascinating subject, how David becomes perfected through his own son. A child has both a father, and a mother.
to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen better than the fat of rams
Whosoever loves David as himself would do anything that David asked, with eagerness and joy. And David being the king, to please the king is really important, so it is a good thing to love the king that way. It would be a guarantee that no one would run afoul of the Law. It would be the natural order and desire to “obey”, there not being any sense of obligation at all.
Genesis 29:20 And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
I do have to buy a gregorian. Go to the dollar store every year.
And then write over it with His calendar. every day. like a teacher would correct a paper-
Just takes His Word, His Creation and a pen..
And it is a testimony daily of just how Rome has changed times and laws- like Daniel 7:25 said would happen..
To see if unfold daily is a blessing I pray more get to see. It will mess with their ‘doing business’ though at some point..
but not in the way you think- It is easy to know today is goddess Friday to the world- it was a work day on His calendar too this week, so not too hard to get business done.
But what is interesting, is that Friday to the world isn’t ‘Friday’ to Him- Example- to the world, Friday is a set apart day for the muslims to pray- Friday night is a night that jews and some christians prepare for the Roman sabbath day, tomorrow.
And yet, on the biblical calendar, today is simply His 4th Day- a work day. (So is tomorrow a ‘work day’ for those Judaizers you were so quick to clump me in with- they don’t fully understand how Rome has changed times yet, either)
4th Day- a Commemoration of the The day He made the sun,mmoon and stars to do what we are discussing- (for signs and moeds-appointments,feasts,solemn times, days and years)
my business transactions are very limited for the past 4 years, by His Grace.
He led me out of the world before He showed me through His Word and Creation, how He tells time.
people who need to work and go to school according to Rome would not be in a position to follow the calendar- They certainly can mark it on the pope gregory calendar as a reference, but they start to see Daniel 7:25 before their eyes-
and have a crisis of faith-or at least wonder just how much satan deceives the whole world.
how does the 1st importance of the gospel apply that Paul taught?
What day did Jesus die, in accordance with the Scriptures?
What day did Jesus rise from the dead, in accordance with the Scriptures?
1st question-Rome says Good Friday and they are correct on their calendar, but not on His.
2nd question- Rome says Easter Sunday and they are correct on their calendar, but not on His.
When one uses His calendar, they are wrong and have led even muslims and jews who reject jesus, to accept the 1st importance of the gospel.
The only way one can test that is with His Word. And that is exactly what He led me to do.
All for His Glory.
It may be that you and I do not share the same 1st importance of the Gospel or the same Jesus, metmom.
I reject Rome’s version- even their Good Friday/Holy Saturday/Easter Sunday false 1st importance.
I choose Passover(14th Day-6th Day of week), Unleavened Bread(15th day-7th Day Sabbath), First Fruits (16th Day-1st day of week- in accordance with the scriptures.
and the difference is subtle and sometimes stark. and that ‘pattern’ of 14th/15th/16th is exactly what Paul taught the Corninthians-
and that ‘pattern’ doesn’t change in any of His months- something people of faith would be blessed to know
I suspect most of the world accepts Rome’s version. even judaism ‘in spirit’- because they don’t have the Son.
That is why I choose His calendar. He showed me how Rome changed times and laws. leads to a completely different 1st importance of the gospel and another jesus-
and satan deceives the whole world.
where you see trying to get things done in the world, I see the Word made Flesh...The way the Kingdom will run.. where it all points to Him..
I met Him as Rome’s Jesus but He didn’t let me stay there. And that is a place people may scoff at because of a calendar, but it is a place of complete freedom!
All for His Glory!
May He bless your journey in the wilderness...
I don’t doubt we don’t share the same Jesus.
The Jesus of Scripture never put man back under the Law. He came to set us free from it.
It’s about Jesus, not David.
David was a man after God’s own heart.
His actions were far from perfect and he never perfectly obeyed God’s commands either.
NOBODY can.
NOBODY has the righteous perfection that God demands of someone for them to be in right relationship with Him. That’s why it has to be imputed to him, credited to the man’s account from someone else who DID fulfill the Law perfectly.
Even if someone could from this point forward obey God’s Law perfectly in the smallest detail with absolute heart perfection, it still wouldn’t save anyone because everyone has sinned at least once in their lives and that one sin, even if they had an otherwise perfect record, would be enough to condemn them.
Abraham BELIEVED God and it was credited to him as righteousness. He wasn’t declared righteous after obeying. He was declared righteous BEFORE obeying and his life reflected that later.
Works followed as the result of the faith which they always will, but that faith is what saved him before the works were manifest.
And the works don’t keep anyone saved. We don’t begin by the Spirit and continue in the flesh.
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