*Love of God
other gods before me.
any graven image.
Lord thy God in vain.
10. Thou shalt not covet
anything that belongs to someone else.
The above diagram consists of ten imperative
steps of personal development,
to establish a sincere and
devout love for almighty God.
Commandments 5 through
10 are orders to express our love for mankind, which
without, the preceding com-
mandments will never find
personal establishment. Commandments 5
through 10 are a
foundation for
initiating sincere love
for God, without these, the
first four
will not
ever be built into ones heart, and consequently, not one ounce of their
love will
reach the heart of God. The last six commandments are the foundation
of a well constructed
family, church and government, when these are diligently
sought out
and deeply bound into any of those, then the door of intimate comu-
nunion is
opened and God can then be
sincerely glorified and honored. What
did
Jesus say about
entering into life?
"...There is none good but one, that is,
God: but
if thou wilt
enter into life, keep the
commandments" (Mt. 19:17b).
Death is prevalent in the earthly life of those
who do not diligently keep a
heart groomed by
the ten commandments of God, contrariwise, spiritual
life and
liberty is
prevalent in the life of those who do diligently keep a heart groomed
by His commandments. Loving
and honoring others expresses a
sincere love for
God, without
the love for our fellow man we are far from exhalting
the name of
Jesus Christ and in all
actuality adapted into the master plan of Satan's destruc-
tion for
mankind, his corrupt
motive to destroy the man-God relationship.
Matthew 25:31-46
portrays the deciphering difference between true followers
of Christ and hypocritical "Christians".
After Jesus expounded upon those who
lived their
lives out by
sincere love for Him (vs. 35 & 36), He then explains
how they
were able to
show forth their love to Him, by
simply loving others.
"And the
King shall answer
and say unto them. Verily I say unto you. Inasmuch
as ye have done
it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it
unto me" (vs.
40). Then He further explains how one shows forth no
love for
Him, by
not loving and
caring for others (vs.
41-45). "Then shall he answer
them, saying,
Verily I say
unto you, inasmuch as ye did it
not to one of the
least of
these, ye did it not to roe. And these shall go away into everlasting
punishment:
but the righteous into life everlasting" (vs.45 & 46).
Fellow believer, loving man is the key initiative to loving God, and loving
God naturally springs forth through the love for
man. That does not exempt solit-
ary
quiet time with
God, through prayer and
meditation upon His Word, but the
act of sincerely
loving our fellow
man is essential to genuinely loving God.
Paul said , "without love I am
nothing" (I Corinthians 13). John said, "Beloved,
let us love
one another: for love is of God;
and every one that loveth is born
of God, and
knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God
is love"
(I John 4:71.8).
Not only is loving each other essential to loving God, yet
it is also
verification of our new birth in Christ, no love, no
re-birth unto
life everlasting.
Previously John noted, "We
know that we have passed from death
unto
life, because we love the
brethren. He that loveth not his
brother abideth
in death.
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murder-
er hath eternal life abiding in him" (I John 3:14 & 15). The ten commandments
are a ten in
one deal, one does not exist without the other. Jesus said, "Whoso-
ever therefore shall
break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men
ao, he shall
be called the
least in heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach
them,the
same shall be
called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Mt. 5:19).
And
those of you who wrongly believe
that Jesus "did away with* the commandments,
allow the
Word of God to clarify your misconception: Jesus said, "Think
not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy,
but to fulfill" (Mt. 5:17). Notice the
word "fulfill" which in its Greek text
is
spoken plerophoreo, which
means: to carry out fully, completely assure, and
entirely
accomplish. That clear
interpretation is undisputed and reveals completion
of the law
not destruction! Metaphorically, the
law of God spoken through His servant
Moses is as
a puzzle, with one acception, a missing piece, and Jesus was the missing
particle, which became placed into the puzzle
through the cross.
Hence the "big
picture" can new be clearly seen as to why we must follow
through with God's
commandments, and through the shed blood of Jesus we find the
aability to keep
the commandments accordingly
with the instilled Holy Spirit.
Are you beginning to understand the imperative need
to keep the commandments? I pray
it is so.
There is also tremendous blessing unto those who follow the law of
God accordingly. David sang, "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk
in the law of
the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,
and that
seek him with the whole
heart. ....Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?
by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole
heart have I sought
thee: 0 let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine
heart* that
I might not sin against thee......Great peace have
they which love
thy law:
and nothing shall
offend then. ...I have longed
for thy salvation* 0
Lord; and
thy law is
my delight" (Psalm 119:1, 2, 9-11. 165, & 174). David
sure knew
God's commandments were
the essential key to God's divine presence.
If you are still unsure of the undisputed need to honor
the commandments of
God, and you might be
asking, "what about when Jesus nailed the law to the cross?"
Again let
us allow God's Word to explain, and first of all God's Word never said
Jesus "nailed the law to the
cross". This well known verse is
found in Col. 2:14
where Paul writes concerning
the work of Christ,
"Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to
his cross". Notice the verse reads
"ordinances", not
commandments or
law. Ordinances were ceremonial
laws, which involved sacrificial
requirements to make
atonement for sin. Yet Jesus became the
ultimate sacrifice,
which resulted
in the termination of blood sacrifice.
"By which will we are
sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews
10:10). That should clear up the confusion. So now back to the main dispensation.
King Solomon discovered
the core of life's prosperity after a long fought
battle to
find true peace and personal satisfaction, "Let us hear the
conclusion
of the whole matter: Pear God, and keep his commandments:
for this is the whole
duty of man.
For God shall bring every work
into judgment, with every secret
thing,
whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13 & 14).
Now
to clarify the final step of keeping God's commandments. Yes without
refute
we are saved by the grace of God, for Paul wrote, "For
by grace ye are
saved
through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of
works, lest
any man should boast" (Ephesians
2: 8 & 9).. This is a famous pass-
age of God's
Word, and many declare it insufficiently. For there is a fine
balance to scripture. Now if you are
at all familiar with the Bible,
you may
be aware of
what James has to say about the matter, and in
misconception, you
may misinterpret what James wrote. For James
said, "Even so faith, if it hath
not
works, is dead, being
alone" (James 2:17). Hey! That is contradicting what
Paul
wrote, is it
not? No, it is not
contradicting, there is a balance. What
I am about to explain determines why scripture must
never be taken out of context.
Back in Ephesians
2, if we read the scripture
verse following 8 & 9, we will
see
what Paul and James had written goes tightly hand in
hand. "For we are his
workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that
we should walk
in them" (Eph. 2:10). Walk in what? Good works. So now
we can better comprehend what James was
implying, "Yea, a man say, Thou hast faith,
and I have works: show me thy faith without
thy works, and I will show thee my
faith by my works"(James 2:18).
You see, faith without works is dead, there is no life in faith without works,
for a person can believe in God, and remain not of God. Good works, keeping
the commandments of God, and walking in righteousness, are all works which
amplifies love for God and verifies or gives proof that one is saved by grace,
for if he is, he will walk according to the will of God. James states that
mere belief is inadequate, for "Thou believest that there is one God; thou
doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, 0 vain
man, that faith without works is dead" (James 2:19 & 20)? Even demons believe
in God, for they were once of God, then they decided to join Satan's alliance,
yet truly believe and do evil, and this is separation from God.
We as devoted followers of
Christ Jesus must believe
and
walk as Christ
walked, obeying God and faithful participation within His
will
and ways. "But whoso keepeth his word, in him
verily is the love of God
perfected:
hereby know we
that we are in him. He that saith
he abideth in him
(Jesus)
ought also so to walk, even as he walked. Brethren, I write no new com-
mandment
unto you, but an old commandment
which ye had from the beginning. The
old commandment is the Word which ye have
heard from the
beginning" (I John
2:5-7). And
here is the
ever living "old commandment", "Ye shall walk in all
the
ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that
ye may live, and that
it may be
well with you,
and that ye may prolong your days in the land which
ye
shall possess" (Deut.
5:33). Then the promised land
was Canaan, and
that
was just a shadow of the
promised Kingdom of God, which is now our promised
land. I cry
to you the same cry once cried
by God through His servant Moses,
"0
that there were such an heart in them, that they would
fear Me, and keep all
my commandments always, that it. Might be well with
them, and with their children
for ever"
(Deut. 5:29)1
"Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort
you by the
Lord Jesus, that as ye have
received of us how ye ought to walk and
to
please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments
we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God..." (I Thess. 4;l-3a).
The key
to victory is
by the keeping of the commandments of God, and
Jesus
is the door the key opens, which
has been passed through into His presence
by His blood and our sincere abounding love for Him!
For, "Whosoever believeth
that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat
loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children
of God, when we love God, and keep his
commandments. For this is the love of
God, that we keep his commandments: and his
commandments are not grievous. For
whatsoever
is born of
God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that
overcometh
the world, even our faith"
(I John 5:1-4). Praise be to God
forever!
Jeffrey Brackett Quante IV
December 16, 2000