Jesus' Command #8 - Keep Your Word

In Matthew 5:33-37 Jesus seems to give us one command to keep our word, but with a few points to make along the way.

First of all He says, "Do not break your oath".  Clearly, we must understand the importance of keeping our word.  In verse 33 he references the Old Testament commands in Exodus 19:12 and Numbers 30:2.

He goes on to say, "Do not swear an oath at all."  People would (and still do) swear an oath 'by Heaven' or  'by Earth' or 'by their own head' and that would be their way of saying that they really mean it.  Jesus says 'You can't even make one hair on your head black or white, so how could you swear on that?'

So far He's made it clear that we shouldn't even make an oath, but if we must, don't swear by Heaven, or Earth, or by your own head.

Finally (and I think most importantly), He says that our word should be strong enough that all we need to tell someone is 'Yes' or 'No' and they will be confident that we will follow through with what we say.  There will be no need to say, "I promise".  If we have consistent character and always follow through with what we tell people, they'll never need to wonder whether we'll follow through with what we say.  No promise will be necessary.  Consistency of character will develop trust.

Up next: Jesus command #9 - Go the Extra Mile

Jesus' Command #7 - Do Not Lust

Jesus makes this one very clear in Matthew 5:27;  You have heard it said, 'You shall not commit adultery', but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully, has already committed adultery with her in his heart."  Jesus is drawing a line in the sand here.  He's saying that it is not only our physical actions that matter, but what's in our heart, and what we allow our mind to think, that are sin.

Men, when we see an attractive woman we are not to allow our minds to think a lustful thought about her.  We MUST turn our eyes and our thoughts elsewhere; quickly!

When we allow our minds to wander and think about things we ought not, it is the pathway to causing even more depraved thoughts with the risk of putting those thoughts into sinful action.  2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "Take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ."  When we find ourselves with unclean thoughts we are to take them captive; lock them up, and get rid of them, and turn our minds elsewhere.

Up next: Jesus' Command #8 - Keep Your Word

Jesus' Command #6 - Be Reconciled

Matthew 5:23-24 says, "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the alter and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the alter.  First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."

To be reconciled means to restore or change from one thing to another.  The Greek context indicates that one or both parties could be at fault.

Jesus is saying that even when we are doing something as important as offering Him a sacrifice, if you realize you have an unresolved issue with someone you must go and restore the relationship first and then come back to offer your sacrifice.

I've heard it said that God is in the restoration business.  It's clear throughout the bible that He wants relationships restored; our relationships with Him and our relationships with others.  In fact, I would say that is the common theme that is woven throughout the entire bible; God's plan to restore or reconcile us with Him all the way from Adam and Eve's first sin through His returning to take us into eternity with Him at the End Times in Revelation.  How beautiful is that!?

Next up: Jesus' Command #7 - Do Not Lust

Jesus' Command #5 - Honor God's Law

Matthew 5:17 says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them."  I'm having trouble processing this as a command of Christ.  It seems more informative.  He's telling us the the law that is recorded in the Old Testament is not being abolished by His coming to earth in the flesh, but is being fulfilled.  I suppose it could be seen as a command because He's letting us know that, though He came, the Old Testament is not erased and we must honor it.

This can be a very confusing statement for us in modern times whether you follow Christ or not.  My first instinct is to ask why we don't follow the Jewish calendar of celebrations, or the laws on being clean and unclean, or why we don't sacrifice animals anymore.  It's important here to understand that there are three types of laws in the Old Testament; ceremonial, civil and moral.  The ceremonial laws were put in place to guide the way Israel worshiped God.  The whole purpose was to point toward Jesus and what He would do.  For instance the sacrificing of the spotless lamb for the forgiveness of sins was fulfilled through Jesus being the final sacrifice of a sinless and blameless lamb.  He was even called the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  Therefore, upon his death and resurrection, these laws were no longer necessary.  Civil laws were put in place as a legal framework for the nation of Israel.  The nation of Israel needed a system of laws as any nation does.  Especially when the nation was not lead by a dictator king that would institute and enforce the laws he saw fit, like so many other nations of the day.  These laws were specific to that nation, although the principles in them are still valid.  Moral laws, however, are the direct command of God and are still very much in relevant today.  Jesus followed the moral law explicitly while coming under attack for violating ceremonial law.

In looking at these types of laws in the Old Testament, we see that He indeed fulfilled the ceremonial law and that the moral law is still important as God's direct commands to us today.

Up next: Jesus' Command #6 - Be Reconciled

Jesus' Command #4 - Let Your Light Shine

"Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."  Matthew 5:16.

The context to this one adds some much needed clarity to the nature of this command.  Before this sentence, the bible says, "You are the light of the world.  A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put in on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

I think the important thing to remember here is that when you do good things, it is important that those who see you understand that it is for God's glory and from the overflow of love in your heart that you acted.  That will show people God's love and point people towards Him.

Also, if all the good in the world were hidden and only the bad was seen by others, the world would be a dark place and our perception of the world could become even darker.

Get out there.  Love others and do good.  Don't hide your kindness and goodness.  If others see the light you are shining take the opportunity to give the honor and glory to God so that they may be drawn to Him too.

Next up: Jesus' Command #5 - Honor God's Law

Jesus' Command #3 - Rejoice

Rejoice!  That seems obvious.  Why wouldn't we want to be excited and celebrate!?  There's interesting context to Jesus' command for us to "rejoice" at the end of the beatitudes.  Matthew 5:11-12 says "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Basically we are to rejoice when we are being persecuted for following Jesus.  Again I go back to the comment that following Him requires action.  You won't be persecuted for holding a belief that you don't make known by word or deed.  However, if you are making the gospel known or standing up for something in the name of Jesus, you stand to be persecuted.  So much of the world doesn't like what God desires for us to be and do.  Jesus says that the world will hate us because they hated Him (John 15:18).  All that to say that God assumes we will be persecuted for following Him.  And when that happens, REJOICE that we face that trial because of our standing in the Kingdom!

Think of the apostle Paul and Silas singing hymns to God in prison at midnight (Acts 16:25).  Think of the apostles "rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name." after being flogged by order of the Sandhedrin (Acts 5:41).  That's what it's all about!  We can rejoice because we know who we suffer for and with whom we'll spend eternity!  Amen!!!

Up next: Jesus' Command #4 - Let Your Light Shine

Jesus' Command #2 - Follow Me

It seems like such a simple thing; "Follow me" (Matthew 4:19).  But what must we do to follow Him?  To follow clearly indicates leaving where you are and going somewhere else.  Verses 20-22 of that chapter (the next three verses) say that Peter and Andrew left their business and equipment to follow Him.  James and John left their job AND their father to follow Him.

Clearly there's a cost to follow Him.  Talk is cheap.  To follow someone requires action.  I heard a great quote recently that is very applicable here; "The difference between interest and passion is action."  Anyone can pay lip service to a belief, but you've got to put the rubber to the road and act on your words.  Get up and follow!

Also, it occurs to me that we follow when we ourselves don't know how to get somewhere.  When people started to abandon Jesus after a tough sermon, He asked the twelve if they were going to leave too.  Peter's reply in John 6:68 was, "Where else would we go?  You alone have the words of life."

Of course in 2014 we can't physically walk next to a bone and flesh person, Jesus.  So what does it look like for us today?  I guess it means we pray and spend time with him as well as reading the word to see where he leads, so we can follow.

I feel like there's more to say here, but I'm just not hearing it.  I suppose the books of Acts and James would be great places to go to see examples of how to follow and how others have followed.

Please feel free to chime in!

Next up is command number three: Rejoice!

Jesus' Command #1 - Repent

Matthew 4:17 - From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near."

It's interesting to me that this is the first command recorded of Jesus and it's the first thing we must do when we come to him; admit our wrong to Him and turn from it.

It also says, "from that time on...".  Does that mean that was the main focus of His preaching?

Before Jesus began his public ministry, John the Baptist was preaching the exact same thing.  Reference Matthew 3:1-3.  The bible says that he was "preparing the way" for Jesus.

When Peter preached in Acts 2, he said, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ or the forgiveness of sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."  This clearly tells us that repenting is the first step in turning to, and following Jesus.

In the original Greek repent means to turn around; used in the spiritual sense it is to change your mind.  Make an about face and turn away from your sin and turn toward Jesus.  To change your mind about Jesus; instead of walking away from Him; doing a 180 and walking toward Him.

I'm trying to be practical as I go through this list of commands, so how do we make this practical?  Have I repented?  Yes, I've changed my direction and turned toward Jesus and am following Him.  Have you?

Do We Really Follow the Great Commission

As God continues to sanctify us (make us more like Christ), removing the bad from our nature and replacing it with the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) we should find that we commit sins less often.  That's just basic to following Christ.  But following Christ is more than putting a stop to our bad behavior, it's doing the things he asks us to do.  After Jesus gave us the part of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) that everyone seems to recite; "Go into all the world and make disciples" there is a second part to that commission that says, "teaching them to obey my commandments".

I see three basic steps to following Jesus.  First we decide to follow Jesus and are continually sanctified throughout our lifetime as we spend time with Him in prayer and in the Word.  Then we begin to tell others about Jesus (the first step in making disciples).  Then we teach them to obey what He commands.  I think this third step is often missed in our own lives, let alone our discipleship of others.  We are very focused on making "converts" and helping them get over their sinfulness, without teaching them Jesus' commands (or even following them ourselves).

I've thought about this a lot the last several months (or more) and it occurs to me that I need to have a good understanding of what Jesus commands me to do.  I've decided to use the list of 49 commands of Jesus from "The Institute in Basic Life Principles" (http://iblp.org/questions/what-are-commands-christ) in my own study of what Jesus asks of us.  I intend to use this blog to post my thoughts and notes from my own study.  I don't know where this will go or if it will be worth while for anyone else to read, but I'm going to put it out there instead of leaving it in a notebook somewhere.

Stay tuned for command number one: Repent