How Many Of God's Commandments Must We Keep?
Many of you know the Bible emphasizes obedience to God’s commandments – as Jesus is only the source of “eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Heb 5:9). Quite frequently someone will respond to the many scriptures teaching such by asking just how many commandments of God do we have to obey? Usually they are not asking because they want to know, but because they think their question proves we don’t have to obey God.A good way to respond to this question is to ask how many commandments God expected the people to obey in Neh 1:9 – “But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.” How many commandments does Jesus expect us to keep based upon John 15:10? - “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love” Or according to Josh 22:5? – “But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”Notice the following other passages (just in the book of Deuteronomy) which teach we are required to keep God’s commandments – 4:2, 4:40, 5:10, 31, 6:1, 6:;2, 7:9, 11, 8:1, 2, 8:6, 8:11, 10:13, 11:1, 8, 22, 28, 13:4, 18, 15:5, 19:9, 26:1;3, 26:17, 26:18, 27:1, 28:1, 28:9, 28:13, 28:15, 45, 30:8, 30:10, 16, 31:5. How many must we keep? Who dares argue with God in such manner?Deut 5:29 puts it this way – “O 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!”