Church bulletin for August
Are we free to obey some of God’s commands and not others? Of course, if this freedom exists God would be making suggestions or offering advice rather than issuing commands. Moses however didn’t receive 10 suggestions but 10 commandments. Jesus said if you love Me you will obey My commands (John 14:15). Do some commands carry more weight than others? It would seem so. Are we therefore free to ignore the less weighty commands? It would seem not. Matt 23:23, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”
The first and most important command given by God is to believe the Gospel. The Gospel comes to us as a command not a suggestion. 1 John 3:23, “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment” Accompanying faith in Christ must be repentance. Repentance likewise is not a suggestion. Acts 17:30, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent”. If you have heard the Gospel and thus far ignored it you are living in flagrant disobedience to God.
Another command vitally connected to the Gospel is baptism. It is amazing how many Christians today regard baptism as an optional extra. Jesus and the apostles taught that converts must be baptised. If you believe you are a Christian and have not made enquiries about baptism you are living in disobedience – not a good way to live. The command not to murder may carry more weight than the command not to covet, but does this mean that covetousness is of no consequence? The command to be converted may carry more weight than the command to be baptised, but does this make baptism unimportant? If baptism isn’t important God would not require it. If you have trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and it is your desire to walk with Him in obedience, then you must ask the question “what hinders me from being baptised?” (Acts 8:36). A life of true evangelical obedience commences when we follow the example and command of our Lord in the waters of baptism.