Much is made of the word “commandment” in Christianity. Many times, we see well-meaning teachers look back to the Ten Commandments or various things Jesus has commanded as ways for us to live and conduct ourselves as Christians.
While this seems well and good, the Ten Commandments were part of the Old Covenant, and as you know by now, we don’t live under the Old Covenant. We don’t live under a system where God’s disposition toward us is based on our behavior towards Him.
And when it comes to Jesus’ words, we need to be careful, incorrect reading of Jesus’ words will put us under a works-based system, where we believe things like we need to forgive others in order for God to forgive us.
So how do we read Jesus’ words, and what commandment do we live under as New Testament believers?
When Jesus tells us that we must forgive first in order to be forgiven (Mark 11:25), we can see that this is to Jewish people who lived under that Old Covenant. That is our first indication that this commandment is not for you and I to live under. This is where we can see that His instructions were pre-cross, while you and I live post-cross.
We know through Paul’s writings that God is not good to us because we are good, we are good because God has first been good to us. By reading Jesus’ words in that light, we can clearly see that this is a specific reference to people who lived under a vastly different covenant than you and I.
So what commandment are we supposed to live under? How do we conduct our lives under grace?
I’m so glad you were asking that question. Look at 1 John 3:21-23. “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 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.”
Did you catch that? His commandment is that we should believe on the name of His Son and love one another. If we walk in that, the Bible tells us that our heart will not condemn us!
Now, I know some of you are thinking now, “Ok, but how does that work with what I’ve been taught my whole life? How will people know not to steal if we don’t teach them ‘Thou shalt not steal.’”
If we love one another as the Bible says to, we’re not going to steal from them, we’re not going to commit adultery, etc. It’s why Love is called the greatest commandment. It’s why you and I are told that they will know us we are Christians by our love, not by our rule-keeping.
There is so much more in this one passage, but I hope you’re beginning to grasp the depths of what we’re starting to get into.
By Grace,
Dave