Search Results for: commands of Christ

Make my house a house of prayer for the nations and do not make it into a market or a den of thieves.  

And he said to them, “It is written: ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of thieves.” Matthew 21:13

Then he taught them saying, “Is it not written: ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples’? But you have made it a den of thieves.” Mark 11:17

And to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” John 2:16

It is one thing to recover expenses when charging for goods and services related to the Kingdom, but there is a lot of profit made through the sale of “spiritual” products.  I believe we should be VERY careful about this.  All we have, all our knowledge and insight and experience and resources are from God.  Freely you have received, freely give.  (Matthew 10:8b)  It is also a severe indictment that the VAST majority of the income of the Church is spent on herself in one way or another.  That is in addition to a tremendous amount of graft.

Worship and serve God alone.

Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.’” Luke 4:8

At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’” Matthew 4:10

Whom or what are you living for?  How do you decide how to spend your life, time, energy, money, and other resources?  What is your motive for life?  Your purpose?  If the answer is anything except God, then that is the wrong answer.

Do not put God to the test.

Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’” Luke 4:12

Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’” Matthew 4:7

We are not to go off in pursuit of anything, including the Kingdom, and expect the Lord to bail us out.  If He leads us into a risky situation, we are to enter it willing to sacrifice everything and risk anything.  He may choose to deliver us for His glory.  He may choose to let us suffer and sacrifice and die for His glory.  Difficult situations are meant to be a test of us and not of God.

Live by God’s every word, not merely by food.

 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” Luke 4:4

He said in reply, “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4

This has many implications.  For starters, it implies that God is speaking to us and that we need to be listening to Him.  This requires intentionality on our parts.  It implies that this listening needs to be a continual state and that our very lives depend on it.  This is a deep subject, but rather than write voluminously on it, I will simply refer to some relevant Scriptures:

“Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”  John 8:47

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”  John 10:27-28

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”  John 16:13-14

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  Romans 8:14

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.  Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.  But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:  Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.  1 John 2:3-6

Many people have compiled lists of the commands of Christ.  There are actually a lot of “judgment calls” that are required to do so.  You need to make some decisions about whether He was making a generalized command or a specifically limited command which was only applicable to the specific person in the specific situation.  There are many places where He gives a command which is clearly to a specific situation but there is evidence from other Scriptures that the command can and often does have broader application.  There are also commands which were given multiple times in different contexts and one must determine whether to count that as a single command or multiple commands.  One must also decide whether or not to include passages where Jesus is quoting the Old Testament.

With all that said, I have made my own list.  It has 94 commands.

Why have so many people (including me) gone to the trouble to make such a list?  I cannot speak for everyone, but I (and I suspect many others) have done it because of Matthew 28:19-20, the Great Commission.  In that verse, Jesus commands His followers to make disciples.  There are several participles in that verse in addition to the primary (imperative) verb.  In one of those participial phrases, Jesus describes the act of making disciples as including “teaching them to obey all I have commanded you.”  In other words, every follower of Christ is to seek to get others to follow Jesus, and that includes getting them to obey all His commands.  Since that is the case, it is pretty important that we have a clear idea of exactly what His commands are.

A German friend of mine, Wolfgang Simson, compiled his own list.  He describes it as “the constitution of the Kingdom (of God).”  I believe that is a helpful way to think of it.  We are citizens of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus is King.  His commands are the constitution, the laws, the principles, the standards, the practices for living in that Kingdom.  With that in mind, I am starting a series of blog posts which look at the commands of Christ.  You may differ with me on the inclusion of some of the commands.  That is fine, but don’t lose the larger narrative that our lives should be characterized by what Jesus commanded AND as His followers we should be getting others to love (and thus obey) Him as well.  This is not optional or for extra credit.  It is the very essence of what it means to be His follower.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28:19-20

I am going to start a series of posts on the commands of Christ.  This is an exceedingly important topic.  In fact, the Great Commission describes the process of making disciples as baptizing people and teaching them to obey all Christ commanded.  There are a number of lists of the commands of Christ.  I am going to add to them by creating my own.

Perhaps the most well-known list of the commands of Christ summarizes them in just seven commands.  I feel there is value, however, in a more complete look at the topic.  If we want the simplest list possible then we should probably just limit ourselves to the Great Commandment (and the Second) as Jesus did.  If we love God with all our being and love our neighbor as ourself then all the other commands will be fulfilled.  In fact, Jesus equated loving Him with obeying Him.  That is another way we can look at it.

Obedience to the commands of Christ has nothing to do with legalism or with somehow earning salvation.  It is the response of our grateful heart in love to the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.  It is done in the power of the Holy Spirit Whom He has given us.  It is evidence of our new life in Him.  It is the expression of our love for Him.  As it says in 1 John 5:3, “this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”  It is not an onerous duty but an overflow of loving gratitude.

Christ is our King.  His desire is our aim.  He has specific plans for what He wants to do in us in conforming us to His image.  He has specific plans for what He wants to do through us as we are told in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  We want to please Him.  We want His will to be done.  That is what life in the Kingdom is all about.  Kingdom living is about seeing His will done on earth as it is in heaven.  That starts with obeying Jesus’ commands.

Luke 10:25-28  On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”  He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

Matthew 28:18-20  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 6:9-10  “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…”

Romans 8:28-30  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands.”

Here is a list of benefits of persecution and suffering if we respond well:

(These are taken from the verses quoted in the blog series.)

Position us to bless others

Test and refine and prove us and our faith

Give us hope

Show us God’s love is unstoppable and He is good and is all we need

Show us God is listening and is near

Bless us

Comfort us

Equip us to comfort others

Prepare us to inherit the Kingdom of heaven

Increase our reward in heaven

Discover our true and real life in the Lord

Help us know Jesus more intimately

Help us become more like Christ and identify with Him more fully

Help us gain more of Jesus’ character

Demonstrate the permanency and power of God’s love for us

Save our lives

Cause us to bear more fruit

Teach us peace

Teach us to hope in our future eternal comfort and blessing

Demonstrate God’s trust in us and honor of us

Give us joy

Announce God’s message broadly

Encourage others in their faith

Show our love to our brothers and sisters in the faith

Shows our worthiness for the Kingdom

Makes room for God’s justice

Shows God’s power in us

Demonstrates God’s life in us

Foreshadows our future glorification (like Jesus’ resurrection)

Causes others to be drawn to the Lord

Results in thanksgiving from others for our sacrificial ministry

Renews us day by day through the Lord

Earns eternal reward

Proves our genuineness

Validates our ministry

Validates our words

Makes our lives known

Enriches the lives of others

Shows where our true riches are, where our hearts are

Keeps us humble

Gives us perseverance, godly character, and hope

Honors us

Shows we are God’s children and heirs of His glory

Demonstrates our conquering lives in the Lord

Advances the gospel

Gives confidence to fellow-believers

Demonstrates our faith in the Lord, which is our righteousness

Shows us the power of Jesus’ resurrection, and helps us share in it

Provides access to Jesus’ life and helps us reign with Him in eternity

Gives us strength to stand

Crowns us with glory and honor

Perfects us

Teaches us obedience

Causes the Lord to be especially attentive to our prayers

Enables us to experience better and lasting possessions

Is a pathway to receive God’s promises

Is the way of salvation

Shows the world is not worthy but the Lord is

Is an opportunity for amazing victories that will glorify the Lord

Is a way the Lord teaches us discipline

Grows us in holiness

Produces a harvest of righteousness and peace in our lives

Produces endurance and perfects us and makes us complete in the Lord

Enables God to demonstrate His compassion and mercy

Proves the genuineness of our faith

Results in praise, glory and honor to the Lord

Helps us find favor with God

Fulfills our calling

Shames the enemies of the Kingdom

Helps free us from sin’s allure

Causes us to live more fully for God’s will and desires

Increases our future joy

Increases the glory of God in our lives and the fullness of the Holy Spirit

Will result in our restoration, strengthening, firmness, and steadfastness

Results in our receiving the victor’s crown

Achieves God’s good purposes in our lives

 

Desired Responses to persecution and suffering for doing what is right:

 

Think about God’s perspective on it

Wait for the Lord and rely on Him for relief

Hope in the Lord and seek Him

Quietly submit to the Lord

Humbly respond to the Lord and to the human agents

Do not grumble or complain

Examine our lives

Worship the Lord

Call out to the Lord

Do not fear

Mourn

Commit our lives to a life of difficult service

Do not be distracted from Kingdom purposes

Seek to please the Lord in the midst of it

Act righteously, even when it will result in persecution

Rejoice greatly

Be glad

Do not resist evil people acting against you

Love your enemies

Pray for those who persecute you

Love God more than anyone, including family members

Count the Lord as more important than anything in life

Be willing to sacrifice everything for Christ

Deny your own will and desires and serve Christ’s purposes daily

Do not be selfish or conceited

Humbly consider others as more important than yourself and serve their interests

Do not use your position to your advantage but rather to serve others

Humble yourself by being willing to suffer for others benefit

Be encouraged

Continue proclaiming the good news of Jesus publicly and privately

Continue teaching others about the Kingdom life publicly and privately

Promote the Kingdom wherever you go

Welcome instruction about the Kingdom even when it leads to suffering

Model service despite suffering for other believers

Imitate followers of Christ who suffer well for serving the Lord

Persevere, demonstrate faith, and endure

Be filled with the Spirit

View the trials as identification with Christ and for His sake

Continue to speak the truths of the Kingdom that you have believed

Do not lose heart

Fix your eyes on the unseen and eternal realities rather than your present situation

Do not cause others to stumble

Show great endurance through every kind of unpleasant circumstance and situation

Live out purity, understanding, patience and kindness

Demonstrate a Spirit-filled life of sincere love, truthful speech and godly power

Show forth righteous living in spiritual warfare in the face of any response

Be content with being considered false, being beaten, poor, sorrowful and dying

Work hard for the Kingdom

Be willing to face every kind of difficulty, danger, discomfort, and sorrow

Be concerned for others welfare

Boast in your weakness

Delight in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties

Glory in your sufferings

Share in Christ’s sufferings

Consider yourself to be a sheep to be slaughtered and sacrificed

Be willing to lose your freedom

Count any and every earthly thing as a loss compared to knowing Christ

Participate in Jesus’ suffering and death willingly

Intentionally suffer through self-discipline as a sacrifice of service

Seek to please the Lord

Consider your service and sacrifice as the “least you can do”

Die to self with Jesus

Persevere

Practice the Lord’s commands

Serve as Christ’s ambassador and represent His desires and ways to others

Fervently pray with cries and tears to the Lord for His relief

Reverently submit to God

Remember God’s faithfulness in past suffering

Stand with others who are suffering and join them in it

Joyfully accept the confiscation of your property

Live by faith

Do not shrink back from serving or speaking for the Lord

Choose to be mistreated with God’s people rather than hiding your citizenship to escape

Value the treasures of God more than the treasures of this world

Embrace any sacrifice the Lord calls on you to make

Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength

Keep God’s commands

Welcome and choose every form of opposition and pain and discomfort for God’s sake

Resist and struggle against sin, even to death

Do not make light of discipline

Do not lose heart

Endure hardship, knowing its benefits

Respect God and submit to Him

Consider it pure joy

Let endurance have its full result

Be patient and persevere

Bear up under unjust suffering

Patiently endure unjust suffering

Do not commit sin or deceive to escape it.

Do not lash out at those causing you pain

Do not threaten

Entrust yourself to God who will judge righteously

Do not fear threats or be frightened

Revere Christ as Lord

Be prepared to give a witness for your hope, with gentleness and respect

Arm yourself with the purpose to suffer as Christ did and with His attitude

Do not be surprised at fiery ordeals and tests, they are expected and normal

Rejoice at the opportunity to share in Jesus’ sufferings

Be alert and of sober mind

Resist the devil, firm in your faith

Be aware that believers around the world are suffering for their faith

Do not be afraid of future suffering

Be faithful to the point of death

Here is a summary of the desired responses we are to have to suffering:

(These are taken from the verses quoted in the blog series.)

Think about God’s perspective on it

Wait for the Lord and rely on Him for relief

Hope in the Lord and seek Him

Quietly submit to the Lord

Humbly respond to the Lord and to the human agents

Do not grumble or complain

Examine our lives

Worship the Lord

Call out to the Lord

Do not fear

Mourn

Commit our lives to a life of difficult service

Do not be distracted from Kingdom purposes

Seek to please the Lord in the midst of it

Act righteously, even when it will result in persecution

Rejoice greatly

Be glad

Do not resist evil people acting against you

Love your enemies

Pray for those who persecute you

Love God more than anyone, including family members

Count the Lord as more important than anything in life

Be willing to sacrifice everything for Christ

Deny your own will and desires and serve Christ’s purposes daily

Do not be selfish or conceited

Humbly consider others as more important than yourself and serve their interests

Do not use your position to your advantage but rather to serve others

Humble yourself by being willing to suffer for others benefit

Be encouraged

Continue proclaiming the good news of Jesus publicly and privately

Continue teaching others about the Kingdom life publicly and privately

Promote the Kingdom wherever you go

Welcome instruction about the Kingdom even when it leads to suffering

Model service despite suffering for other believers

Imitate followers of Christ who suffer well for serving the Lord

Persevere, demonstrate faith, and endure

Be filled with the Spirit

View the trials as identification with Christ and for His sake

Continue to speak the truths of the Kingdom that you have believed

Do not lose heart

Fix your eyes on the unseen and eternal realities rather than your present situation

Do not cause others to stumble

Show great endurance through every kind of unpleasant circumstance and situation

Live out purity, understanding, patience and kindness

Demonstrate a Spirit-filled life of sincere love, truthful speech and godly power

Show forth righteous living in spiritual warfare in the face of any response

Be content with being considered false, being beaten, poor, sorrowful and dying

Work hard for the Kingdom

Be willing to face every kind of difficulty, danger, discomfort, and sorrow

Be concerned for others welfare

Boast in your weakness

Delight in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties

Glory in your sufferings

Share in Christ’s sufferings

Consider yourself to be a sheep to be slaughtered and sacrificed

Be willing to lose your freedom

Count any and every earthly thing as a loss compared to knowing Christ

Participate in Jesus’ suffering and death willingly

Intentionally suffer through self-discipline as a sacrifice of service

Seek to please the Lord

Consider your service and sacrifice as the “least you can do”

Die to self with Jesus

Persevere

Practice the Lord’s commands

Serve as Christ’s ambassador and represent His desires and ways to others

Fervently pray with cries and tears to the Lord for His relief

Reverently submit to God

Remember God’s faithfulness in past suffering

Stand with others who are suffering and join them in it

Joyfully accept the confiscation of your property

Live by faith

Do not shrink back from serving or speaking for the Lord

Choose to be mistreated with God’s people rather than hiding your citizenship to escape

Value the treasures of God more than the treasures of this world

Embrace any sacrifice the Lord calls on you to make

Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength

Keep God’s commands

Welcome and choose every form of opposition and pain and discomfort for God’s sake

Resist and struggle against sin, even to death

Do not make light of discipline

Do not lose heart

Endure hardship, knowing its benefits

Respect God and submit to Him

Consider it pure joy

Let endurance have its full result

Be patient and persevere

Bear up under unjust suffering

Patiently endure unjust suffering

Do not commit sin or deceive to escape it.

Do not lash out at those causing you pain

Do not threaten

Entrust yourself to God who will judge righteously

Do not fear threats or be frightened

Revere Christ as Lord

Be prepared to give a witness for your hope, with gentleness and respect

Arm yourself with the purpose to suffer as Christ did and with His attitude

Do not be surprised at fiery ordeals and tests, they are expected and normal

Rejoice at the opportunity to share in Jesus’ sufferings

Be alert and of sober mind

Resist the devil, firm in your faith

Be aware that believers around the world are suffering for their faith

Do not be afraid of future suffering

Be faithful to the point of death

One of the ObeyGC² values is that work involves every member.

That is, every member of the church. This is for practical as well as theological reasons. Practically speaking, “Many hands make light work.” One of the major reasons the giants of spiritual lostness, self-centered leadership, poverty, illness and ignorance are so large and so widespread and so severe is that in many respects only “professionals” have been engaged in battling them. Most ordinary people are not involved in dealing with medical issues because they view that as the realm of medical professionals. Most education issues are left to the educational professionals. Most church-planting is left to religious professionals, and so on. There is not a good reason for this. There are basic but important contributions which can and should be made by ordinary people with basic equipping in all these areas. If more people were making such contributions then the professionals could have a significant amount of their time and resources freed up to deal with the more advanced issues that do require professional intervention. Two billion people claim to be Christians. What if all of these were regularly using their discretionary time to minister in simple ways to battle these evil giants?

God has made it clear that as His family, His body, His bride, His followers, we are to be involved in meeting needs in these various areas. Jesus spent His time doing that. He taught His disciples to do that. The Bible tells us to do that. The Holy Spirit guides us to do that. There are a few fringe theologians who believe that Jesus’ commands to His disciples, such as the Great Commission, were only given to the Twelve. If that is the case then we are “off the hook” so to speak. Unfortunately for those of us who are lazy, those people are regarded as crazy by most of the body of Christ and that thought would have been considered ludicrous throughout church history. The fact of the matter is that God intends for us all to be engaged in service for the Kingdom.

Eph 2:10
10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.