THE
COMMANDS OF CHRIST
FOR
CHRISTIAN LIVING
An Exposition
Of
the Bible’s Second Set
Of
Commandments
ROBERT C. BROCK
CONTENTS:
1. Some Basis
Considerations
face 13
2. Commands on
dedication, Rightly Dividing the Word,
Separation, Giving
Tanks, Rejoicing, Spiritual Fighting ” 22
3. Commands Against
Lying, Stealing, Profanity ” 40
4. Commands Involving
the Apostle Paul and His Teaching ” 52
5. Commands on Prayer
and Our Walk ”
65
6. Commands on the Holy,
Spirit, the Peace of God ” 69
7. Commands on Rebuking,
Exhorting, Comforting ” 75
8. Commands on Money
” 81
9. Commands on Various
Warnings to Believers ” 86
10. Commands on Suffering,
Patience, Obeying Government ” 99
11. Commands on Eating and
Drinking ”
105
12. Commands for Family
Relationships “
111
13. Commands for Employers
and Employees ” 122
14. Commands for Church
Officers
” 125
15. Commands on Seeking
Heavenly Things, Knowledge,
SERVING THE Lord,
Greeting Believers “
127
16. Commands Related to
the Act Period ”
141
PREFACE:
The ministry of Lord Jesus Christ is usually limited
to His three and one-half years of preaching to Israel, recorded in
Matthew, Mark. Luke, and John. But about seven years after His
resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ began a new ministry from Heaven
by saving the worst of His enemies-Saul of Tarsus. This is recorded
for us in Act, chapter 9. This man, whose name was later changed to
Paul, became the great Apostle to the Gentiles.
The second phase of Christ’s ministry from Heaven
was the revealing of new truth to this man whom He had saved. This
new revelation from God is found in Paul’s letters written to the
churches and to three individuals-some thirteen letters in all. His
ministry of the risen, glorified Christ through Paul is all
important, because it embraces God’s program for this age in whish
we live. This includes God’s standard of living under His grace. I
will be dealing with one aspect of grace teaching, that COMMANDS
found in Paul’s writings to the Body of Christ.
In Galatians 6,2. Paul referred to a law he called
”the Law of Christ.” This is the only place where it is given
this name in the New Testament. I believe that this Law of Christ is
contained in these commands of grace that are given to the Body of
Christ. Christians are not to be lawless; nor are we to put ourselves
under the rules of Judaism contained in the Law of Moses. Christ has
revealed NEW rules to follow in living the Christian life. This
volume is an attempt to put these rules together, so we can learn
what our Christian responsibility is before the Lord and in relation
to others.
Two Greek texts were used in the preparation of this
book – Berry’s text and Nestles text. Berry’s the text the King
James Version was translated from, while Nestles text is the more
modern one. Commands have been taken from bots texts.
I do not call myself a scholar in the Greek language.
However, I am familiar with the basic facts of New Testament Greek,
having had courses in Greek when I was a student at an eastern Bible
College during the early 1950`s What I learned from school has been
used through the years in Bible study, there are many books available
in helping a student with New Testament Greek.
The Greek of
the New Testament contains four basic moods:
The INDICATIVE mood-used to express facts;
The IMPERATIVE mood-used to express commands;
The SUBJUNCTIVE mood-used to express a possible
condition or action:
The OPTATIVE mood-used to express a wish; is closely
related to the subjunctive mood.
Since the Law of Moses has been abolished, and Paul
wrote that he received commands from Christ, where do we find these
commands i his writings ? They are found in the IMPERATIVE MOOD.
We can’t rely on English of the King James Version
for these commands. We have to go to the original Greek. The
translators of King James translated infinitive, participles, the
indicative mood, the subjunctive mood, and even the future tense as
commands. Some examples are given of each of the five classes named:
Examples of the indicative mood:
1 Thessalonians 5,27, ”I charge you by the Lord . . ”
1 Timothy 6,13, ”I give thee charge in the sight of
God . . .”
2.
Examples of the subjunctive mood
2 Timothy 1,8, ”Be not thou therefore ashamed of . . .
” This is better translated: ”Therefore, you should not be
ashamed of . . . ”
1 Timothy 5,1, ”Rebuke not an elder . . . ” This is
better translated: ”You should rebuke an elder . . . ”
Examples of the future tense
1Corinthians 5,13.” . . . Therefore put from among
yourselves that wicked person.” This is better translated: ” . .
. And you shall put out the wicked person from among yourselves.”
Examples of infinitives
1.Corinthians 5,11, ”But now I have written unto you
not to keep company . . .”
Romans 12,15, ”Rejoice with them that do rejoice and
weep with them that weep.”
Examples of participles
Romans 12,16.” . . . Mind not high things . . . ”This
is better translated:” . . . Mind not high tings . . .”
Romans 12,17, ”Recompense to not man evil for evil.
Provide things honest . . . ”This is better translated:
Recompensing to no man evil for evil. Providing things honest. . .”
All these verses in the King James sound like
commands, but technically speaking, they are not commands.They are
just exhortations, instructions given to believers. They do not have
the force of a command, as far as the Greek is concerned. The
indicative mood and the infinitives seem to be closest to the
imperative mood.
The imperative mood of command was not searched for
in the writings of Peter, James, and John, or in the epistle to the
Hebrews. Hebrews was written to the Hebrews to show the Hebrews how
to stop being Hebrews, Peter, James, and John were members of the
Twelve Apostles of Israel, and they wrote according to their calling.
There is no indication in the New Testament that their calling and
standing before God ever changed. Their writings contain nothing
about the Revelation of the Mystery revealed to the Apostle Paul.
Their writings are not to be ignored though, for there is truth in
them just as there is truth the Old Testament (1.Corinthians
10,6,11.),but I believe in the principle of Bible study that says,
”All the Bible is FOR us but not all the Bible was written TO us”
The part of the Bible that is written TO us is the part we should
concentrate on-the epistles of Paul. He was the Apostle of and to the
Gentiles (Roman 11,13.) He is OUR Apostle.
Some verses contain more than one command. Each
command was usually treated separately, depending on the Greek words
and the subject matter, so some verses were repeated as often as
necessary. I tried to keep the same Greek words together as much as
possible.
I use the term ”Christian” to refer to one who
has been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. The word is used by the
world to refer to anyone who is religious, except for Jewish people
and those who belong to the cults. Usually religious Protestant and
Roman Catholics, whether saved or not, are called Christians. I use
the word only for saved people.
SOME
BASIC CONSIDERATIONS:
Commands are usually associated with the Law of
Moses. However, there is another section of the Bible that has a
strong emphasis on commands, too. This section starts with the
epistle to the Romans and ends with the letter to Philemon. There are
thirteen epistles and letters in this section, all written by one
man-the Apostle Paul.
This section possesses a different quality than the
rest of the Bible before it and after it. All that went before was
basically history; and from Abraham to the end of Act, Israel was
primarily in view.
The thing stands out in the epistles of Paul, is the
amount of teaching contained therein. There is very little history.
Most of what is written are facts, commands, doctrine, and church
organization.
Paul stated that commands were a part of his
revelation: ”If any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual,
let him acknowledge that THIS THINGS THAT I WRITE UNTO YOU ARE THE
COMMANDMENTS OG THE LORD”: 1.Cor.14,37. The Lord, here is the
second person of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is not the only place where commands are
mentioned in this part of the Bible. Notice the following verses:
”For ye know what COMMANDS we gave you by the Lord Jesus”:
1.Thess.4,2; And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own
business, and to work with your own hands, as we COMMANDED YOU”:
1.Thess.4,11; ”and vi have confidence in the Lord touching you,
that ye both do and will do the things which we COMMAND you”:
2.Thess.3,4; ”Now we COMMAND you, brethren, in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ”: 2.Thess.3,6; ”For even when we were with you, this
we COMMANDED you, that if any would not work (if any wishes not to
work-Greek), neither he eat”: 2.Thess.3,10; ”Now them that are
such we COMMAND and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with
quietness they work and eat their own bread”: 2.Thess.3,12.
These verses are taken from Paul’s earliest
epistles. The ”we” includes Silas and Timothy, but this in no way
negates Divine authority. Divine commands were given to the early
church. This early emphasis on commands was necessary because the
eleven Apostles (one had been killed in Act 12,2.) were also
preaching at this tine, and their emphasis was according to the
Kingdom program for Israel with its commands taken from the Law of
Moses.
So you see, then, that Christian people, members of
the Body of Christ, have been given commands in regard to their
everyday conduct. We need to search diligently the writings of Paul
in order to find out what has been revealed for us to obey.
THE
END OF THE LAW OF MOSES:
There is one subject in the Bible that occupies more
space than any other, and that subject is the Law of Moses. Around
than any other, and that subject is the Law of Moses. Around 70% of
the history of the Bible is recorded while Law was binding on Israel.
This great percentage of space has misled countless multitudes into
thinking that because most of the Bible is under this subject, it is
God’s will and purpose for today.
This idea is not a spiritual concept. It is a human
explanation that needs to be set aside in favor of the facts of
Scripture.
We need to understand that the Law was given to one
nation of people and to no other. That nation was Israel (Exodus
19:3-6; Romans 9,4.) This is an extremely important point. Israel is
not to be spiritualized to mean believers in all ages, but was a
literal, physical nation of people, saved and unsaved, that began
with Abraham. The terms ”Israel”, ”Jews” and ”Hebrew”
refer to the same people and not to some mixture of Gentiles. The
gentiles never had the Law of Moses.
The Law was given to Israel through their leader,
Moses. He was the go-between, the mediator between God and the
nation. This is why Moses’ name is associated with the Law.
The Law of Moses was always understood as being one
Law. Everytime the Law of Moses is referred to in the New Testament,
it is always in the singular-Law: (Hebr.8,10 and 10,16, speak of the
New covenant, which Covenant is not the Law of Moses). The Law
consisted of commandments. There were 613 of them-365 negative, and
248 positive. The Law covered every aspect of Jewish life. There were
blessings for obeying them and punishment for disobeying them.
The time period covered by the Law was about sixteen
hundred years. This includes the life of Christ on earth and the
history contained in the book of Act.
The Law of Moses has been abolished. This might be
hard to accept, but the Bible definitely teaches this fact Paul
received specific revelation from Christ on what God did with the
Law, and this revelation contains five important passages of
Scripture with three different verb tenses that complement each other
in a marvelous way. These verses tell the story as it should be known
by all believers.
The first passage is Ephesians 2,15:
Having ABOLISHED IN HIS FLESH the enmity, even the Law
of commandments contained
In ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new
man, so making peace.
”Abolished” is in the aorist tense, which tense
signifies action done once in the past. This refers to the death of
Christ on the cross. He died once for all. The word ”abolished”
means ”to render idle, put an end to, do away with, annul”. This
is what the cross did to the Law. ”Ordinances” means ”decrees,”
and has reference to all of them, not just to some of them.
The second passage is 2 Corinthians: 3,7-13. Here we
find a contrast between what was written in stones and the ministry
of the Holy Spirit. What was written and engraved in stones ? Nothing
less than the ten commandments. Please read what Paul wrote about
these laws:
But if the ministration of death,
written and engraved in stones was glorious, so that the children of
Israel could not stedfastly behold, the face of Moses for the glory
of his countenance; which was TO BE DONE AWAY (verse 7)
For if that which IS NONE AWAY was glorius, much
more that which remaineth is glorious (verse 11).
And not as Moses, which, put a vial over his face,
that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of
that which IS ABOLISHED (verse 13).
The two words ”was glorious” describe the ten
commandments, showing that the ten commandments werw done away rather
than any glory that Moses might possess,, which glory would
eventually pass away anyway. The three phrases in capital letters are
the Greek word, which word is a present passive participle. The
present passive participle is translated ”being done away” or
”being annulled,” this being done over a period of time covered
the book of Act, and ended Acts 28.
This
is in agreement with the third passage of Scripture, found in Hebrews
8,13.
In
that He sati a new covenant, He hath made the first old. Now that
which decoyed and waxen told IS
READY TO VANISH AWAY.
I
be live Paul wrote Hebrews but directed the book to the Jewish
believers mentioned in Act 21,20 rather than to the Body of Christ.
Hebrews was written near the end of Act, and Paul had many things to
say about their program (Judaism) and how the plans of God were
changing. The old covenant is the Mosaic Covenant under which the Law
operated. ”Vanish away” also means ”to disappear,” and this
is exactly what happened to the Law of Moses. It DISAPPEARED after
the book of Act was finished, when God temporarily set aside the
nation of Israel.
The present tense of 2 Corinthians 3,7-13, and Hebrews
8,13, show that the Law was in operation during the Acts period. The
following events in the book of Acts also testify to this fact.
The
day of Pentecost (Acts) was according to Leviticus 23,15-22. This
celebration was according to the Law. (If the Law was abolished at
the cross, as many teach, then Pentecost could not have come about.
It is also would have been abolished). Besides, there were Pentecost
during the book of Acts: 1.Cor.16,8.
The
miracles and signs of Acts.2,43. 3,7-8, were according to the
commission of Mark.16,15-18, which commission was under the Law.
The
deaths of Ananias and Sapphire: Acts.5, were one of the judgments of
Law: Exod. 20,15-16. Josh.7,11.
There
were many priests in Jerusalem who were obedient to the faith: Acts.
6,7. This faith contained the laws of Judaisme. The priests carried
out the duties that were required of them under the Law.
There
were many thousands of Jews who believed and they were zealous of the
Law: Acts.2120. God blessed the ministry of the Twelve Apostles after
the death of His Son.
The
fourth passage of Scriptures is 2.Cor.5,17:
Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (the) old tings are
passed away. Behold, (the) all things are become new.
The
common way of teaching this verse is that old things are the old
habits and the new things are the new habits we acquire when we
become saved. This is what is known as the application of this verse
to Christian living. But this verse also has an interpretation, and
the interpretation is foolishly avoided most of the time.
The interpretation is as follows verse contains positive
statements about God’s two different purposes as found in the book
of Acts. The two ”thes” in brackets are in the Greek text, so
that we have specific ”old things” and specific ”new things.”
The old things are what belonged to Israel-Judaism and the Law-and
the new tings refer to the new revelations given to the Apostle Paul.
And verse 18 continues by saying, ”And” (the) all things are of
God . . .” The new teaching revealed to Paul are of God. We must
believe this and emphasize this with all our might. The verb ”become”
og verse 17 is in the perfect tense, showing that the new ”all
things” continue into present time. The Greek word for ”passed
away” means ”to perish,” referring to Judaism.
The
fifth passage of Scripture is Colossians 2,14:
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us, and TOOK IT OUT OF THE WAY,
nailing it to His cross.
The word ”took” is in the perfect tense, which
signifies action done in the past with the result continuing on into
the present. This is wonderful, for it means that the Law of Moses
was not to be reinstated by God or by religious leaders, no matter
how spiritual they may be.
In summing up the truth revealed to us by the three
verb tenses, we see:
That
the Law was judged and doomed forever by the cross of Christ (Aorist
tense) This went into effect right after Acts 28.
That
the Law still continued on after the death of Christ because God was
still dealing with His chosen people Israel during the book of Acts,
until He set them aside at Acts 28 (present tense).
That
the Law was abolished by the cross and this abolishment continues
during the age of grace we are now living in (perfect tense).
The Law, then, was not set aside at the cross. It
continued on for about thirty more years. This is where traditional
theology has erred in its understanding of what God did with the Law
of Moses. (Satan was treated the same way. He was judged by the
cross, but he is still active today.)
The only way we can get a right understanding of this
vital truth is by accepting the distinctiveness of Pauline
revelation. Christ gave Paul the final truth about what He did with
Law. This is the true way of separating Law from Grace. Christ has
revealed NEW truth-the Revelation of the Mystery-to take the place of
the OLD truth which was nailed to the cross and abolished. God has
every right to abolish His old laws and institute new laws for His
new people, the Body of Christ. This He did, and the Mystery revealed
to Paul is the Law of God for today. It contains our commandments for
Christian living, and the believer who lives according to Pauline
truth and studies the epistles written by Paul will grow in grace and
be in the will of God. Now we can understand why the Holy Spirit does
not lead a beliver according to the Law of Moses (Galatians 5,18.)
PAULINE AUTHORITY
Paul was given great authority; in fact, more authority
than we give him credit for. And the one who gave him this authority
to carry out the purpose and plan of God for this Dispensation was
none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
But
I certify you, brethren ,that the gospel which was preached of me is
not after man. For i neither it of man, neither was I taught it but
by the REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST: Gal.1,11-12.
How that by REVELATION He made known unto me the
Mystery as I wrote before in few words: Ephesians 3,3.
Paul was TAUGHT the truth for this age in which we live
by the risen Lord Jesus Christ. It was a very personal instruction
that he received. He was the only pupil in his class. Christ made
known His heart and mind to the one who hated Him the most before he
was saved. This is grace at its greatest.
Shortly after Paul was saved in Acts 9, a devout Jew,
named Ananias, was sent to minister to him. Ananias told Paul, ”The
God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that shoulders know His will and
see that Just One and shoulders hear the voice of His mouth”: Acts
22,14. And the resurrected Christ did speak to Paul the most
wonderful truth in all the Bible, the Revelation of the Mystery:
Rom.16,25. It took a while for all this wonderful truth to be made
known to Paul. The Lord Jesus appeared to Paul more than once:
2.Corinthians 12,1-4.And Paul spent some three years Arabia:
Galatians 2,17,18. Acts: 9,23. But he could write in 1.Corinthians
9,1, that he had seen the Lord.
Paul’s relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ gave him
great authority in proclaiming the Gospel of the grace of God to the
world: Acts.20,24. Paul magnified his office as being the Apostle of
the Gentiles: Rom.11,13. And referred to himself over one thousand
times in his writings.
In one instance that we know of, the believers of
Galatia accepted him as if were Christ.
And
my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not nor rejected, but
RECEIVED ME AS AN ANGEL OF GOD, AS CHRIST JESUS: Gal.4,14.
Paul had an earlier experience something like this
during his first missionary journcy: Act.14,11-18. The people wanted
to associate him with a heathen god. Paul rightly rebuked them, for
who wants to be associate with a dead heathen god ? It is far better
to be associated with the living God, the Lord Jesus Christ, as we
just read in Galatians 4,14.
Please notice some other verses that set
forth the great authoity of the Apostle Paul:
To
whom ye forgave anything I forgive also. For if I forgave anything,
to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it IN THE PERSON OG
CHRIST: 2.Cor.2,10.
Since ye seek a proof OF CHRIST SPEAKING IN ME, which
to you-ward is not weak but is mighty in you:2.Cor.13,3
For CHRIST SENT ME not to baptize but to preach the
gospel. Not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be
made of none effect: 1.Cor.1,17.
For though I should boast somewhat more of our
authority WHICH THE LORD HATH GIVEN US, for edification and not for
your destruction, I should not be ashamed: 2.Cor.10,8.
I’m
sure Apostle Paul gave the believers many proofs that Christ was
speaking in and through him.
The
church of today desperately needs to accept this testimony of the
Apostle Paul. The visible church is close to being dead, and it needs
a transfusion of new blood to make it alive for God again. Getting
back to Pauline doctrine would accomplish this end. Believers
everywhere need to recognize Paul was God’s spokesman for this age,
and that he has the answers for what ails the church.
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