Give me the grace [O Lord] to do as You command, and command me to do what You will!… O holy God…when Your commands are obeyed, it is from You that we receive the power to obey them.
Confessions.
The word command carries the idea of authority. The most basic meaning of the word is “to direct with authority.” A command does not just give guidance that one may accept or reject; a command implies that the one giving it has the authority to require obedience and the intention of doing so. This is true of the commands of God. As the Sovereign God of the universe, He has the authority to require obedience and He does insist that we obey Him.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 90. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
The laws of God are not simply external statutes, published and passed by some congress in heaven; rather, the laws of God reflect His very character. They are an expression of God Himself. So to break any of God’s laws is to live against God. It is to live contrary to Him.
Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Crossway, 2000, p. 67. Get this book!
It sounds really spiritual to say God is interested in a relationship, not in rules. But it’s not biblical. From top to bottom the Bible is full of commands. They aren’t meant to stifle a relationship with God, but to protect it, seal it, and define it.
Piety’s Pattern by Kevin DeYoung taken from The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung, copyright 2012, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, p. 45.
God’s commands are given as a means of grace so that we might grow in godliness and show that we love Him.
Piety’s Pattern by Kevin DeYoung taken from The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung, copyright 2012, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, p. 45.
God’s law is an expression of His grace because it is also an expression of His character. Commands show us what God is like, what He prizes, what He detests, what it means to be holy as God is holy. To hate all rules is to hate God Himself who ordained His rules to reflect His nature. The law is God’s plan for His sanctified people to enjoy communion with Him.
The Impetus for Imperatives by Kevin DeYoung taken from The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung, copyright 2012, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, p. 54.
The difficulty of the commands is merely a reflection of the greatness of the Gospel. Jesus’ expectation is built on his anticipation of what God will do in the lives of His people! Jesus demands the humanly impossible precisely because His provisions are supernatural. The magnitude of Jesus’ commands must mean, therefore, that they are tied to the grandest promise of all, namely, the promise that God himself will work in every circumstance to conform us to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:28-29).
The God of Promise and the Life of Faith. Crossway Books, 2001, p. 203.
Our obedience to God’s commands is the expression of trusting Christ. It is not our words but our deeds that stand the test of Christ’s gaze. Love of Jesus is measured by obedience to what he commands (John 14:15 and 15:14). "He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me" (John 14:21). Not even miracles can substitute for doing what God commands (Matt. 7:22).
The God of Promise and the Life of Faith. Crossway Books, 2001, p. 191.
Those that disobey the commandments of God do so foolishly for themselves. Sin is folly, and sinners are the greatest fools.
Commentary, 1 Samuel 13:13.
The Lord’s commands to His people are not arbitrary appointments; but that, so far as they are conscientiously complied with, they have an evident tendency and suitableness to promote our own advantage. He requires us to acknowledge Him…for our own sakes; not because He has need of our poor services, but because we have need of His blessing, and without the influence of His grace (which is promised to all who seek it) are sure to be unhappy in ourselves and in all our connections.
John Newton’s Letters, Family Worship.
The Lord’s commands are rarely accompanied with reasons but they are always accompanied with promises, either expressed or understood.
Gleanings in Genesis, Moody Press, 1950, p. 142.
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Whenever God gives us a negative command, He always gives two positives to us; He is providing us with something better while also protecting us from something worse.
Taken from Counter Culture, Copyright © 2015 by David Platt. Used by permission. Website: Radical.net. Page 160.
The moral absolutes rest upon God’s character. The moral commands He has given to men are an expression of His character. Men as created in His image are to live by choice on the basis of what God is. The standards of morality are determined by what conforms to His character, while those things which do not conform are immoral.
Often indifference to our Creator’s wise guidelines reveals a heart that is simply disinterested in its own happiness!
Am I Wise or Foolish? Proverbs 1:1-7, August 27, 2017.
You see, the home is the greenhouse to protect and nurture our children. And when it is done right, children come to appreciate and trust their parent’s instruction. After time they come to understand that their rules are intended for good. They begin to see the parallel that the same applies for the rules God gives to us as well. They understand these rules come from a loving spiritual Father that desires our lives to be blessed. Consequences result when children disobey their parents. Consequences always result with people disobey God.
A Word to Children and Parents, Ephesians 6:1-4, June 18, 2017.
When we seek to pit God’s law against His love we show ourselves ignorant of both.
Every syllable of every statute, every clause of every commandment that ever proceeded from the mouth of God was divinely designed to bring those who would obey into the greatest imaginable happiness of heart. Don’t swallow God’s law like castor oil. For when you understand His intent, it will be like honey on your lips and sweetness to your soul.
Copied from: Pleasures Evermore: The Life-Changing Power of Knowing God by Sam Storms, © 2000, p. 75. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.org. All rights reserved. Get this book!
God takes pleasure in your obedience because everything He commands is for your good. All of God’s commands are like a doctor’s prescription or a physician’s therapy. They may not always be immediately pleasant, but they are intended and designed for your health and happiness. If occasionally there are painful side effects, it is because the disease is so bad that severe medication may be required. God, our spiritual physician, takes pleasure in our obedience to His commands because the doctor really does care whether or not we get well.
Integrity, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
[Are we] so much in love with Jesus, so utterly enthralled with the transcendent beauties of [our] Savior, so swallowed up in the adequacy of the Son of God in all things that nothing appear[s] so sweet to [us] as obedience to His commands?
Copied from Pleasures Evermore by Sam Storms © 2000, p. 160. Used by Permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
God’s commands are not arbitrary. They are grounded in His moral character, what He is like within Himself, and orientated towards His purposes for His creation.
Wisdom to Live By, Christian Focus Publications, 1998, p. 70. Used by Permission.
Scripture never expects us to hear God’s commands to us in isolation from the serious contemplation of God’s work for us in Christ.
Addictions – A Banquet in the Grave, P&R Publishing, 2001, p. 217, Used by Permission. Get this book!
