commandments – Jesus the Righteous Path

“But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting

upon them that fear him,

and his righteousness unto children’s children:

To such as keep his commandments to do them.

The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens

and his kingdom ruleth over all.”

Psalm 103: 17-19, KJV

The weight of his crimes dropped onto his shoulders. His knees buckled. At the crack of the soldier’s whip, he righted himself under his burden. He had seen many victims raised between heaven and earth on the Roman’s cross. Each heavy step echoed his wrongdoing and carried him closer to his judgment. His accomplice in lawlessness, with muscles bulging under the crossbeam, marched in front of him as erect as his strength would carry him.

It was the man leading the death train who caught the first thief’s notice. He stumbled and finally fell. Movement stopped. Weeping filled the air. Then a shout as a soldier grabbed a bystander to carry the fallen man’s crossbeam.

We will return to the three men, but first, let’s talk about mercy, the lovingkindness of our God available to all but received by few.

“Incline your ear, and come unto me:

hear, and your soul shall live;

and I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

even the sure mercies of David.”

Isaiah 55: 3, KJV

Many people, both believers and nonbelievers, fail to see the mercy of God in the Old Testament writings.

Meeting Jesus With Donna Sterns

When Mercy Ends

My journey through the scriptures led me to a place which has me questioning a remark Christ made during His sermon on the mount. During His teaching, He says;

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven,
but only he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me
on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your
name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them
plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me you workers of lawlessness!’

Matthew 7:21-23

What did Jesus mean by this? To me the clue lies in His statement, which is, “he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.” And look what else he says, “depart from Me you workers of lawlessness.”

What is God’s will and why does Jesus call them workers of lawlessness?

Lawlessness is going against God’s Law, which means, those who don’t keep His commandments along with His ordinances and statues are considered lawbreakers. So what exactly does this mean? To answer this I revisited the scriptures found in Ezekiel which states;

I will give you a new heart an put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put MY Spirit within you and cause you to walk in MY Statues, and you will keep MY Judgments and do them.

Ezekiel 36:26,27 (ISR)

From this scripture alone, we can see, God is VERY serious about walking in His Statues and His Judgments. He wants us to follow His commands and do what is right. In fact, He tells us that His Spirit will cause us to walk in His Laws and we will keep His Judgments and we will do them.

Which means, once we repent of our sins, and believe in Jesus as the Son of God, as the Christ, who came to set us free by becoming the sacrifice and paying the penalty of death, we’re given a new heart and a new Spirit, the Spirit of God. But something else I found during my study, the scriptures read;

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

1 John 5:1-5

You see, the Apostles never taught that the commandments weren’t to be followed, it was quite the opposite. What they taught was that our FAITH and belief in Christ Jesus, Yeshua, as the Son of God would give us a new heart and a new Spirit so we could keep God’s law. To illustrate this point, look at the very words of one of the three angels written in the Book of Revelation, which reads;

Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep
the commandments of God AND the faith of Jesus.

Revelation 14:12

Notice what one of the three Angels said, those who KEEP God’s commandments AND the FAITH of Jesus. Meaning, this isn’t optional, it’s non-negotiable! But to illustrate this even further, let’s examine the very words of Jesus which He provided at the end of Revelation, which reads;

Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

Revelation 22:14,15

So ask yourself, am I being guided by the Holy Spirit to follow God’s commands, OR, am I following a false doctrine which is twisted by man and emphasizes a belief that the Law was nailed to the cross? Because, Jesus states himself, nothing will pass from the Law until heaven and earth pass away.

Please understand, I’m NOT suggesting we follow the Law as the Jewish people did, no, what I’m trying to say is, it’s OUR FAITH in CHRIST which makes us SPIRTIUALLY keep GOD’s LAW.

But the BELIEF that the LAW was nailed to the cross is NOT biblical, per Jesus. And that’s my whole point.