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Analysis of a Command
We are taught in scripture that only those who do the
will of the Father in heaven will enter the kingdom of Heaven (Matthew
7:21). Obedience to the will of God is therefore a life and death
matter for the Christian who would live his or her life in pleasing manner
before God. Jesus said in John 5:28-29, "Marvel not at this: for
the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his
voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection
of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
We must be obedient to God if we want to live in Heaven with Him forever.
So it is important that we understand what the will of
God in heaven is so that we can obey Him. Before Jesus ascended back
to heaven after His resurrection He gave the disciples this command in
Matthew 28:19, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
This command was given to the disciples. We know it
applied to us because of something Jesus said in this command: "teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded". we are to
observe all things whatsoever Jesus commanded and the command to Go ye
therefore and teach all nations and baptize them is one of them.
There are a number of different kinds of commands found
within this verse which we today call the great commission. There is a
general command, specific commands and implied commands found within this
single sentence.
General
Commands
The general command is to "Go ye". We are
told to "Go". We are not told how to "Go", we are just told to "Go".
The method for going is left to the discretion of the Christian. We
may choose to walk like many first century Christians did, or we may choose
to drive our car, or fly on an airline, or use the internet to accomplish
this. These various methods of transportation are authorized under the
general command to "Go". We are specifically told how to "Go", so we
are at liberty to choose our own mode of transportation.
If Jesus had of said "Walk ye therefore and teach all
nations", then we would not be at liberty to use any mode of transportation
other than our feet. Which brings us to a specific command.
Specific
Commands
There are
commands in scripture which are specific. In the great commission the
specific command was to baptize "them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" We
must do this exactly as it has been specified.
When something is specified all other options are ruled
out. For instance, when you go to a restaurant and order a steak
cooked well done with a baked potato and iced tea, you specified what you
wanted from a list of possible choices. If the waiter brings you
anything other than that, then your order was not fulfilled as you wished.
An example of a
specific command in scripture is "sing" We see this command in Romans
15:9, 1 Corinthians 14:15, Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16, Hebrews 2:12 and
James 5:13. In relation to music in the church, nowhere in the NT does
it ever say anything other than sing or singing.
Implied
Commands
Many people say,
"God did not forbid playing with a musical instrument so it must be ok".
Suppose the
waiter in our earlier illustration brought you exactly what you asked for
and threw in a hot roll on the side? Is that ok? Most everybody
likes hot rolls, and the waiter just figured you would too so he elected to
bring you one even though you did not ask for it. That's a fair enough
question. So let's suppose at the conclusion of your order, you told
the waiter that you did not want anything else added to the original order?
I think we could conclude that if the waiter then brought you the hot roll,
he disobeyed your directive to not add anything to the original order.
You did have to tell the waiter not to bring the hot roll, because you told
him not to add anything to the order. That is an implied command.
It was true that
you did not tell the waiter not to bring you a hot roll with your order.
But you told him not to change your order in any way, the command not to
bring you the hot roll was understood by implication. Has God
commanded us not to change things that He specified?
1 Corinthians 4:6
Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and
Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not (to go) beyond the
things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one
against the other. (ASV)
2 John 9
Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ,
does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the
Father and the Son. (NASU)
Revelation 22:18-19
I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this
book, if any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues
which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the
words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the
tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.
(ASV)
So, in light of God saying not to go beyond what is
written, not to trespass and go too far, and not to add or take anything
away from the His word, and we decide to add musical instruments to our
praise then we have disobeyed God's order not to change what He has
specified. we are to obey all of God's will, not just the things which
please us. The New Testament never tells us to use a manmade musical
instrument. Never does it specifically tell us not to use them but the
command not to use manmade musical instruments is implied with the command
not to go beyond what is written.
In addition to this, we also have the words
of Jesus in Matthew 15:9, "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for
doctrines the commandments of men." We are told not to go beyond
what is written. So whatever we may add to what God has specified, we
must understand that it came from men and not God. In other
words, if it is not authorized by God's word, then it had to have come from
man and Jesus said such things make our worship vain. If our worship
is vain, it is empty and of no value either for us, or to God. We are
wasting our time worshipping God if we add the teachings, wishes, desires
and commandments of man to it.
We are commanded to sing. We are commanded
not to go beyond what is written. NT scripture never tells us to use
manmade instruments of music. If the command to use them did not come
from the word of God, then it had to come from man. Paul wrote that
whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23. Following the
commandments of men is not of the faith of Christ and makes our worship of no value.
Another form of an implied command is found
in Galatians 5:19-21, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the
which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they
which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." We
want to look at the words "and such like". The inspired writer
listed a lot of sins of the flesh, but did he list every possible sin of the
flesh that could ever be committed? No he did not. Paul did not
list pornography. So how do we know pornography is wrong? From
the words "and such like". Things which are associated with or
can be "such like" the sins Paul listed are forbidden by implication.
When Paul used the words "and such like" he included all things which were "such
like" the things he did specify.
We must never disobey one command so that we can
obey another one. we see this is common in the world today among many
people who claim Jesus Christ as their savior. We cannot disobey the
command to not go beyond what is written in order to obey the command to
make a melody in our hearts to the Lord with manmade musical instruments.
The implied command in the great commission is "teach
all nations". By implication, all nations means teach all the
people on the earth without regard to race, sex or culture. In the
first century this meant teach the gentiles as well as the Jews and the
Jewish Christians had a real hard time with that one. Things have not
changed today. Many people today still have trouble with that one.
There is no room in the heart of a Christian for prejudice and that is an
implied command in the great commission.
Another implied command in the great commission is
that while it was directed to Jesus' disciples, we are expected to do what
they did as well. We are commanded to go ye therefore and teach all
nations... in the same way they were.
Commands
from examples
We are also given
commands from the approved examples of the inspired writers. we are
told to follow the example of God in Ephesians 5:1 "Be ye therefore
imitators of God, as beloved children". We are told to
follow the approved examples of the
apostles in Philippians 3:17, "Brethren, be ye imitators together of me,
and mark them that so walk even as ye have us for an ensample." We
are told to follow the examples of the apostles and Jesus
in 1 Thessalonians 1:6, "And ye became imitators of us, and of the Lord,
having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit".
And we are told to follow the approved examples of the church in
Thessalonians 2:14, "For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches
of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus".
We are to follow
the approved examples. Examples that are not approved is the one of
Peter's prejudiced behavior against the gentiles
in Galatians 2:11-13,
"But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him
to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came
from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he
withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also
was carried away with their dissimulation."
Ananias and Sapphira lied to God in Acts 5:4 and paid for
it with their lives. We cannot use their poor example as authority to
lie to God today. So we must be careful to follow the approved
examples and not examples which were obviously not approved.
Non Relevant Commands:
There are commands which do not apply to us.
Speaking from a gender specific perspective, men
cannot obey the commandment for wives to be in subjection to their husbands.
Likewise, wives cannot obey the command for husbands to love their wives.
Commandments which pertain specifically to men cannot be obeyed by women and
vice versa.
There are commands and examples which do not pertain to
Christians today. In Mark 16:16, we are given a very familiar command
that is very relevant to us today, "he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved..." But then in verse 17 Jesus goes on to say, "And
these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out
devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and
if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands
on the sick, and they shall recover."
Nobody today is casting out devils or really speaking in
languages they do not know that other people can understand. Nobody is picking up
poisonous vipers that bite them and drinking poison and not being hurt. Nobody today can walk
in and lay their hands on someone crippled from birth and heal them
perfectly. There are a lot of people who think they can and pretend to
do these things but we know that the age of miracles has passed from a study
of 1 Corinthians 13.
We are told in the great commission to teach those who
were baptized to "observe all things whatsoever I [Jesus] have
commanded you". We are to observe everything Jesus commanded and
rightly discern whether or not it applies to us and obey it, no matter what.
It is commanded and it is our responsibility to rightly divide the word of
truth (2 Timothy 2:15). God's word thoroughly furnishes us unto
all good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17) so we know that everything we need to
obey is there for us. All things pertaining to life and godliness have
been given to us (2 Peter 1:3).
We can be assured that God's word is complete and that it
contains everything we need to know to live and pleasing life before God and
to inherit eternal life in heaven. Everything we need to obey is
there. Everything we need to believe is there. Everything we
need to do is there. All we have to do is read it, learn it and
rightly apply it to our lives. We must do all things, leaving nothing
out and adding nothing to what He has commanded. By doing that, we are
assured that we are walking the right path to heaven. That we are
walking the path that must be right and that cannot be wrong and that those
who we teach and bring along with us, are on the right path too. We
can't come back and try again. When we are gone, the chance for doing
it right is over and our destinies are sealed. Let's make sure we walk
the sure path that cannot fail. Let's make sure we are leading our
loved ones down that sure path and not the path some man thinks is right.
We can be absolutely assured of our righteousness and absolutely confident
of our walk with God. John, the inspired writer told us how.
1 John 2:5
But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected:
hereby know we that we are in him.
1 John 3:24
And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And
hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
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