Influencers Weekly Devotional

What Are the Commandments of Jesus? by

Rocky Fleming

“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” (John14:21 NASB)

“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.” (1 John 2:3 ESV)

I had an interesting thing happen in a couple’s bible study I am leading. We are working our way through the letters of John, and came to the scripture in 1st John that I’ve listed above. I asked the group if they could recite the Ten Commandments, which we had no problem doing. I then asked if they could recite the commandments of Jesus. That is when I had some blank stares looking back at me, for rarely do we connect Jesus with commandments, and very few of His commandments are remembered. But, He gave us several so that we could know those things He takes delight in. Our thoughts about Him normally involve His teachings, His work on the cross, His resurrection, and His sacrifice. However, when we listen closely to what Jesus said and was recorded in scripture, we find He is all these things, but has also given us great guidance to live by. He is our Savior. But, He is also our Disciple-Maker, and by following His commandments, He will create a disciple with our life. Therefore, to follow Christ’s commandments, we need to know them. So, let’s take a look. These are commandments of Jesus that I found mentioned in scripture and compiled by several ministries. They pretty much all agreed on what they found. Love: Jesus’ first commandment relates to love. We are to love God, our Creator, more than anything else. Then, we are to love all other people the same as we love our self. This action in itself helps us fulfill many of the following commandments. The Ten Commandments: Jesus said He didn’t come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. The Ten Commandments are the foundation for the Law, in fact for all laws. Therefore, as Jesus’ disciple, He would have us follow these commandments, as He Himself followed them. Read them in Exodus 20:1-17. Jesus’ other stated commandments: If we’ve read the four gospels, we would have read these commandments by Jesus. But, it helps to pull them out and identify these specific commands so we can remember them. "TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED." "FORGIVE EVERYBODY OF ALL THEIR OFFENSES AGAINST YOU.” (Forgive, and be forgiven.) "MUST BE BORN AGAIN." "LET PEOPLE SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS.” (Do not hide your light under a basket.) "END DISPUTES QUICKLY. "WHATEVER CAUSES YOU TO SIN, GET RID OF IT." "DO NOT SWEAR OATHS AT ALL." "DO NOT RETURN OFFENSE FOR OFFENSE." (Turn the other cheek.) "GIVE WHAT PEOPLE ASK OF YOU, AND GIVE MORE THAN IS REQUIRED." (Do extra.) "LOVE YOUR ENEMIES AND THOSE WHO WORK AGAINST YOU." "GIVE TO THE POOR TO PLEASE GOD, NOT TO GAIN APPROVAL FROM OTHER PEOPLE." "PRAY PRIVATELY AND SIMPLY, NOT TO IMPRESS OTHER PEOPLE." "MAKE YOUR PRAYERS BE LIKE THE HEART OF THE LORD'S PRAYER." "WHEN YOU FAST, DO IT SECRETLY, NOT FOR SHOW." "STORE UP YOUR TREASURES IN HEAVEN, NOT ON EARTH." "DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR MATERIAL NEEDS." "DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THE FUTURE." "MAKE GOD YOUR HIGHEST PRIORITY, AND HE WILL TAKE CARE OF ALL YOUR NEEDS." "DO NOT JUDGE OTHER PEOPLE." (Judge not, lest ye be judged.) "DO NOT GIVE HOLY THINGS TO DOGS OR CAST YOUR PEARLS BEFORE SWINE." "ASK GOD FOR WHATEVER YOU WANT TO HAVE." (Seek, and ye shall find.) "FEED THE HUNGRY, CLOTHE THE NAKED, SHELTER THE HOMELESS, COMFORT THOSE IN DISTRESS." "FOLLOW THE NARROW PATH TO LIFE." (His way is not the popular way) "BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS." "EXERCISE POWER OVER UNCLEAN SPIRITS." "LOVE LITTLE CHILDREN, DO NOT DESPISE THEM." "DO NOT TAKE THE TITLES 'MASTER' OR 'FATHER' FOR YOURSELF." "RESOLVE DISPUTES IN AN ORDERLY WAY." "DO NOT OPPOSE OTHER BELIEVERS IN CHRIST WHO ARE NOT IN YOUR GROUP." "HAVE TOTAL FAITH IN GOD FOR EVERYTHING." "BE LIKE THE GOOD SAMARITAN." "LOVE OTHER PEOPLE AS I HAVE LOVED YOU" "EAT BREAD AND DRINK WINE IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME." "WASH ONE ANOTHER'S FEET." "BE MERCIFUL." "GO AND TEACH ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM." "KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS." “BE PREPARED FOR YOUR MASTER TO RETURN." "ABIDE IN ME, AND LET ME ABIDE IN YOU.” Just as loving God with all our heart and loving others as we love our self fulfills the heart and intentions of the Ten Commandments, so it is when we abide with Christ. When we abide in Christ, we also fulfill the heart and intentions of His other stated commandments. How can this be? It is because it is Christ in us who is able to do that which we find difficult or even impossible to do. It is His life having His way in us and through us that causes us to do the things above with joy and ungrudgingly. The Pharisees did their best legalistically to do the letter of the Law, but they failed miserably with living out the heart of the Law, and therefore they failed all together. Jesus connected the heart of the Law to His heart being connected with the heart of His disciple, and this helps us live out the heart of the Law. It is when this connection is made through abiding with Him that we joyfully fulfill the heart of the Law, and prove our love for Him. Once this connection is made, He begins to disclose more and more of Himself to us, and we gain His perspective on life. We grow in Christ-likeness, in Godly wisdom and character, and we influence our world around us toward Him. For this reason, I see the most important commandment Christ has given to me other than loving God with all my heart, is to abide in Him. Jesus has made this possible. Will you accept this gift He has made available for you? This intimate connection with Him makes all things possible. That is why it is so important. Download file