Command 44: Keep My Commandments
Study Question
Q: The Old Testament Law is a burden because we do not have the power to keep it; however, Christ came to deliver us from the curse and burden of the Law. Are not His commands, which restate the Law, putting us back under a burden? (See Galatians 3:13 and 4:4–5.)
A: The same God that gave His Law to Moses gave His commands to Jesus. Each had a different purpose. The Law of Moses was “our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ” (Galatians 3:24). It brought bondage and conviction because of our inability to keep it; therefore, it was a sentence of death upon us.
But then Christ fulfilled the Law, redeemed us from its curse, and gave us faith and grace to keep His commands. “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God … . By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments” (I John 5:1–2).
In the new covenant with Christ, we have all the grace we need to live out the commands of Jesus. Although we are free in Christ, we are not to use our liberty to fulfill the desires of our flesh, but rather to serve one another in love. (See Galatians 3:23–27, 4:5, 5:13–16).
In reality, the commands of Christ are ways to love God and to love one another. John harmonizes the Law of Moses and the commands of Jesus Christ when he writes: “And now I beseech thee … not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments” (II John 5–6).
This study question and answer is adapted from the Commands of Christ, Series 7, book. For further study, this book may be purchased from our Online Store.