What does it MEAN to BELIEVE in God? Must we OBEY the commandments of God to be SAVED? Which commandments MUST we keep?

Do Christians have to keep the week Sabbath DAY as a DAY of rest in order to PLEASE God?

B-6 Ch3 Which Commandments MUST We KEEP?

To TRULY Believe is to OBEY!

Chapter 3.

What are the TWO LEAST Commandments?

In chapter 1 we learned that the REASON that God created MAN and the Son of MAN was BECAUSE of God’s enemies, according to Psalm 8:1-6.

And in chapter 2 we learned that we all NEED to be saved, and why God chose to use a MAN as His Messiah or Savior.

And we also learned that God desires us to be saved and it is His WAY as being the ONLY way to be saved. And we learned that God has promised us the GLORY of eternal life in a NEW Heaven and a NEW earth as a REWARD or gift for being His faithful WITNESSES, according to Isaiah 58:8 and many other verses of Scripture.

And in this chapter, we will take a look at what God requires to receive eternal life in the world to come. Let us begin by reading the words of Jesus in John 14:14,23 so that you can see that if we say that we love God and His Son Jesus, then we will OBEY the commandments that God gave to Jesus to give to us.

John 14:15,23.

“If you LOVE me, keep my commandments…

…John 14:23. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man LOVES me, he will KEEP my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

Notice two things are being spoken of, keeping the commandments of Jesus and keeping the words of Jesus. The word translated as “keep” my words means to HOLD FAST to what Jesus and his disciples teach in the New Testament of the Bible. In other words, if we love God and His Son Jesus, then we will BELIEVE and protect the teachings of Jesus.

And one of the teachings of Jesus is that we are to obey the commandments of Jesus as he obeyed the commandments of God.

John 15:8-15.

“Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples.

John 15:9. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you: continue you in my love.

John 15:10. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.

John 15:11. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

John 15:12. This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you.

John 15:13. Greater love has no man than this, that a MAN lay down his life for his friends. (And Jesus clearly teaches us in John 3:11-21 that is was the Son of MAN who was lifted up on the cross to die for ALL of mankind, according to 1 John 2:2-6)

John 15:14. You are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you.

John 15:15. Henceforth, I call you not servants; for the servant knows not what his lord does: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have HEARD of my Father I have made known unto you.”

Then Jesus teaches us which two commandments that we MUST obey.

And if we obey these two LEAST commandments then we are keeping all of the law of God that the Father requires in order to be found worthy to receive eternal life in the world to come.

Matthew 22:36-40.

“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Matthew 22:37. Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

Matthew 22:38. This is the first and great commandment.

Matthew 22:39. And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Matthew 22:40. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Now, the Father prophesied ONE commandment that we MUST obey or we will be cut off from God on the final Day of Judgment. And that one commandment is to HEAR the words of His PROPHET, Jesus, that He would raise up from among the people.

Deuteronomy 18:18,19.

“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

Deuteronomy 18:19. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.”

Then is Acts 3:22,23, the Apostle Peter teaches us that the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 was FULFILLED in Jesus. And that is why I say that those who refuse to BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God shall be cut off from among the people.

Acts 3:22,33.

“For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

Acts 3:23. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will NOT hear that prophet, shall be DESTROYED from among the people.”

So then, what does Jesus being the “Christ, the SON of the living God” TRULY mean in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. For you see, there are many different interpretations of what we MUST believe concerning WHO Jesus is in order to be saved and receive eternal life in the world to come. We will cover those questions in the next chapter.

But for now, please know and understand that the commandments of the Father that He gave to the children of Israel through His prophet Moses were GRIEVOUS and hard to bear. However, the commandments of Jesus that are summed up in just two commandments are NOT grievous.

Please read the following two passages of Scripture.

#1. The Law of Moses that was NOT ABLE to be borne by neither the children of Israel nor by the Apostles of Jesus.

Acts 15:10,24.

“Now therefore, why tempt you God, to put a YOKE upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

Acts 15:11. But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they…

…24. Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, You must be circumcised, and keep the law: (Speaking of the Law of Moses under the Old Covenant) to whom we gave no such commandment:”

#2. The commandments that are NOT grievous.

The two commandments of Jesus are not hard to bear.

Love God who created us is the first commandment.

The second commandment is the BELIEVE in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God and walk in love toward one another. Most people have heard of the golden rule, do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.

Here are some verses that explain this commandment in different ways.

Romans 13:8-10.

“Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the law.

Romans 13:9. For this, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Romans 13:10. Love works no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Galatians 5:13,14.

“For, brethren, you have been called unto LIBERTY; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Galatians 5:14. For all the law is fulfilled in ONE word, even in this; You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

James 2:8-13.

“If you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well:

James 2:9. But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

James 2:10. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

James 2:11. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

James 2:12. So speak you, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. (In other words, it you want to receive eternal life in the world to come, then you must speak and do what GOOD and FAITHFUL Christians speak and do because we all shall be JUDGED by this law of liberty, which is to walk in love toward one another. And the FIRST step in becoming a good and faithful Christians or servant of God and His Son, Jesus, is you must BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I will explain what that means in the next chapter, but I have one more passage of Scripture that I want you to read in this chapter)

James 2:13. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy; (Jesus said in Matthew 6:1-15 that we must forgive those who sin against us so that our sin will be forgiven) and mercy rejoices against judgment.”

1 John 5:1-5.

“Whosoever BELIEVES that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loves him that begat LOVES him also that is begotten of him. (So then, the first commandment is to LOVE Almighty God the Father our creator. And by loving God that means we will BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ of Yahweh the Father which makes us BORN of God. And everyone who is born again will LOVE Jesus. And by loving Jesus, we LOVE those who are born of God)

1 John 5:2 By this we know that we LOVE the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

1 John 5:3. For this is the LOVE of God, that we keep his commandments: (To love His Son Jesus and to LOVE one another) and his commandments are NOT grievous.

1 John 5:4. For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.

1 John 5:5. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that BELIEVES that Jesus is the Son of God?”

So again, what does the phrase, “the Son of God” TRULY mean in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. And what does “Christ” mean.

To continue reading this Book 6 Why God Created us!, please click on the link B-6 Bh 4 Why is Jesus Called the Son of God?

And if you have not read the other chapters in Book 6 called Why God created us, then here are the links to all of the chapters in Book 6.