I am taking time with this topic because I fear it is so misunderstood and perverted. There are those who simply want to convert you to their belief system, but that is not the way to find truth. We cannot be more beholden to our own personal views than we are to what the Scriptures say.
When faced with the many Scriptures indicating that the law has been abolished in Christ, many will simply refer to one of the texts about keeping the commandments.
Yet, God is not the author of confusion. He does NOT say one thing and then contradict it by saying another.
So then what does He mean by saying that the law has been done away with in Christ and at the same time telling us to keep the commandments? The answer is found in Scripture.
First, we need to know that any New Testament instruction from God is a labeled as a "commandment".
"If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." I Corinthians 14:37
Was Paul writing about the ten commandments here? No. Yet, the instructions he was writing to the churches are called "the commandments" of God.
"For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." I Thessalonians 4:2-7
Again, these commandments are not a reference to the Ten Commandments, but to ALL of the guidance the Apostles were giving the people. They were all the commandments of God.
"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ" I Timothy 6:12-14
What commandment are we ordered to keep? That we fight the good fight of faith in Jesus Christ and thereby lay hold on to eternal life.
Keep "this" commandment, he says; and again he is not referencing the Ten Commandments.
"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope." I Timothy 1:1
Which of the Ten Commandments requires us to become Apostles? None of them. Then was Paul lying when he says that it he is an apostle by the commandment of God? Of course not. Paul was not referring to the Ten Commandments because everything God commands of His people is a "commandment".
These are only a few examples, however search the New Testament Scriptures yourselves. Look up the word "commandment" and see whether such is a reference to the Ten Commandments or not. Only one who has never done so could claim that the exhortation to keep God's commandments is speaking specifically of the Ten Commandments.
So, if all of God's instructions in the New Testament are considered to be the "commandments" of God, then what is Jesus referring to when He says to "keep my commandments"?
Spirit of the Law Series
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