The Lord gave Moses and the Nation of Israel the Ten Commandments. The Commandments revealed the holiness of God and provided the people with guidelines for their relationships with Holy God and one another.
Jewish rabbis wrote 613 laws to help the people keep the Ten Commandments. These commandments, while intended for good, only enslaved the people to the Law and provided a basis for people to judge people.
The Bible tells us that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. During the course of His earthly ministry, Jesus gave more than 100 commands to His disciples.
George Patterson, veteran missionary and church planter coach, helps us understand the 100 commands of Christ by saying that seven summarize most of the others.
These seven are:
- Change your mind and believe in Me. (Mark 1:14,15; John 14:1-7)
- Baptize new believers. (Matthew 28:18-20)
- Love God, neighbor, one another, and your enemies. (Mark 12:30,31; John 15:9-14; Matthew 5:43-48)
- Pray to God using My name. (John14:10-14; 16:23,24)
- Celebrate My death. (Luke 22:17-20; I Corinthians 11:23-26)
- Give generously. (Matthew 5:38-42; Luke 6:37,38)
- Make others My disciples. (Matthew 28:16-20; Luke 24:36-47)
Listen to George Patterson discuss the Seven Basic Commands of Jesus in this video.
tangible thoughts ... 