God's Commandments Are Good For You!

God's Law - The Only Way to Happiness, Peace, and Joy

The Commandments, laws and statutes of God are spiritual, perfect, holy, just, and good. They provide a foundation for defining, understanding and living God's love. The law of God reveals the only way to true everlasting life, and the only possible way to achieve happiness, peace, and joy.

God created human beings to ultimately become members of His family, to inherit immortality and live in harmony with Him and with one another. To dwell with God in harmony we must also agree with, embrace and share His way of thinking. These values are revealed to us in His law… which have been carefully recorded in scripture. Those who God chooses also are given  understanding through the power of the holy spirit.

We are given understanding of the application of God’s law… but  also its meaning and purpose. Which is simply: that anyone who seeks this ultimate relationship with God must make every effort to heed the directives of God's law.

https://ucgraleigh.blogspot.com/2021/12/gods-commandments-are-good-for-you.html

Sin & God's Law

We know the laws and commandments of God go back 3,500 years to the establishment of His covenant with Israel at Sinai. But these laws really go back further than that… they can be traced back to Abraham… and before that to the very beginning of creation itself… and even before the beginning… because they are a revelation of the mind of God who created all things.

The essential substance of these laws has not, and does not, change. They are the ideal model for human behavior and the standard against which human behavior is judged. Breaking any one point of God's law is sin and brings upon a person the penalty of death.

All injustice, misery, anguish and woe have come from transgressing God's law.

Sin came into the world through the disobedience of the very first human beings. As a result, they were cut off from the tree of life, and only death remained for them. All human beings are under this penalty of separation from God and the source of everlasting life... and all human beings are subject to death.

The sin that separates us from God, and from everlasting life, is the product of both the deception of Satan and of the very makeup of the human heart and mind [which is geared toward fleshly goals not spiritual].

The good news is that forgiveness for sin and release from its penalty are available through Jesus Christ.

Today we will go though the scriptural backing for this summary of the United Church of God's understanding and teaching concerning sin and God's law. It will be organized into 6 points. We will primarily use NT verses since the teachers of lawlessness use these so much.

1. Sin is the Violation of God's Law

1 John 3:4 [the KJV/NKJV read “sin is the transgression of the law”... NIV reads “sin is breaking the law”] a literal translation of the verse is "whoever does sin does lawless, to sin is to be lawless". The word transgress or break is not in the original text but was added by translators [transgress = parabaino G3845 pass over, neglect, violate]. The popular translation [transgression or break] is not a wrong statement but it is incomplete.

To act in a sinful way is to act as someone who does not have the law, literally one who is lawless [anomia=no/law]. This way of putting it covers not only sin that comes from doing wrong but also sin that comes from not doing what is right.

James 4:17 sins of omission…  [avoiding breaking a commandment is not sufficient, we must also proactively do what is right]… but there is more.

Romans 14:23 there can be sins of conscience, caveat [be careful what you approve and disapprove].

Our conscience must be properly informed about what is, or what is not sin. This is a vital function of God’s law. It may lead to a guilty conscience… or it may lead to a clear conscience.

Romans 7:7 God's law provides us with a definition of what sin is: 1) that which we must not do 2) that which we are expected to do. Note: what we are expected to do comes out in a more pronounced way in God’s statues and judgments [for example, Exodus 21-23]

2. The Commandments and Law of God is Perfect, Holy, and Just

Romans 7:12 the commandments provide a definition of what is holy righteous and good.

Romans 7:14 the commandments of God are spiritual in nature… and  by comparing ourselves against the Godly spiritual standards of holiness, and righteousness we are able to better see our our limitations as flesh and blood creatures... which should inspire and motivate us to leave behind what is limited, temporary, corruptible [put off the old] and aim instead for the high calling we have in Christ [put on the new].

3. The Commandments and Law Define Godlike Love

Romans 13:8-10 here Godly love [agape] is directly connected to conforming our behavior to the standards of the commandments. To fulfill the law means to do what it says. Fulfill [pleroo] - [excerpts from Strong's] ... to fill up, to carry through to the end, to accomplish, to perform, execute, bring to pass. See also Galatians 5:14.

These verses and others address Godly love in terms of our behavior towards our fellow human beings. Note: the phrase “love you neighbor as your self is from a section of God’s statutes and judgments found in Leviticus 19].

But what about our behavior towards God himself?

Some might argue that our love of God is demonstrated  through our moral actions towards other people. A good example of that would be the teaching found in Matthew 25:31-46 where our actions towards our fellow human beings [both positive and negative] is equated with actions towards God [both positive and negative]… read verse verse 40, 44-45.

That way of defining Godly love is not wrong but it is not complete. When Jesus gave us what is commonly known as the royal law of love, He cited two categories 1) to love God with all our heart mind and soul 2) to love our neighbor as we love our self.

Our love of God is not completely defined by the moral commandments and our actions towards other people. Our love of God also includes the other commandments [commandments 1,2,3,4] which address how we interact directly with God, by:

1. Maintaining a proper understanding of who and what God is

2. Avoidance of idolatry, false Gods, and false worship

3. Communal, and private, worship towards God on the Sabbath

1 John 2:1-6 Jesus kept His Fathers commands... so should you… this is the love of God.

4. God's Law Does Not Change & Remains His Standard For Judgment

Matthew 5:17-19 ... Psalm 119:142,144,160 ... God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow ... James 1:16-17.

5. The law remains God’s standard for judgment

James 2:10-11 we believe [and scripture teaches] that breaking any one point of God's law brings upon a person the penalty of sin... which is everlasting death. This is the horrible predicament which we need to be saved from through Jesus Christ.

However, even though we find salvation and life through this faith in Christ the law of God still remains as the standard we look to in matters of behavior, and worship Romans 3:31.

6. God's Law is The Only Way to True Life, Happiness, Peace, and Joy

Matthew 19:16-17 God's commands are a path to how eternal beings live. Walking in God's commandments is a living lesson in what eternal life is all about. And they are a required subject of study and application for those who want it.

Romans 2:5-10 doing what is good is the path to glory, honor, and peace.

Romans 7:12-14 doing good/goodness is the doing of God's law. Note: we also read earlier: when asked what good thing should I do to enter eternal life... Jesus replied "keep the commandments".

Deuteronomy 5:29 God gives us His commands for our benefit [emotional, physical spiritual].

Proverbs 13:15 by contrast the way of the disobedient is hard.

Conclusion

Sin is part of our life in the flesh: it has entered into our world through the deceit of Satan, but also from the very nature of our flesh which is fundamentally selfish. As flesh and blood beings we prioritize our own survival, comfort, and reproduction... none of which are evil of themself but can, and often do,  put us in conflict with the higher spiritual goals of our Creator.

Psalm 51:4 all sin, including the effect it may have on others, should be understood as “against God”. And when you consider the effect of sin upon our quest for immortality… our sins are against our self.

Sin is an enslaving power from which we need redemption and release. On our own we are powerless to bring about this redemption and must look to the plan and pattern of salvation revealed to us by our Creator. Once we have sinned [and we all do] no amount of obedience can reverse it effect... even though obedience is expected. 

Hebrews 2:14-15 only the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ can provide this redemption and release from the penalty of death and open up the door to resurrection and  immortality.

Through God's gracious forgiveness of sin we can find freedom in obeying God's law James 1:21-25.

God's law gives us a working definition of sin... God's law leads us to repentance... God's law gives us a pattern of living that helps us put aside or old patterns of behavior... and replace them with patterns of behavior and thought that bring life, glory, honor, and peace.

Lasting peace... lasting honor... lasting glory... and everlasting life.