What are all the commands we must keep?
Question:
What are all the commands that we are called to obey under Christ? In 1st John, it states that the commandments are not burdensome, and it lists two commands throughout John's epistles. How many more commands do I need to follow? I want to make sure I'm not leaving anything out.
Answer:
God did not present His teachings as a checklist. He gave us a book that continues to teach us as we live. Some commands are clear and jump out at you: "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). Others require more thought. We know that Christians are to partake of the Lord's Supper. Matthew 26:26-29 tells us that Jesus commanded his disciples to partake of it. What was taught to the disciples was to be passed on to all disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). We see Paul telling the Corinthians to partake of the Lord's Supper (I Corinthians 11:23-26). How often were we to partake of it? That takes a bit of sleuthing. See "How Often Should Christians Observe the Lord's Supper?"
Christians are expected to grow by studying the Bible. "Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord" (I Peter 2:1-3). It takes time and practice to make strong habits of living righteously. You don't expect a toddler to do what a teenager can; yet there is still an expectation to obey to the best of their ability. Thus, as you study the Bible and you find yourself coming up short in a matter, make changes, put it into practice, and then continue to learn what else you can work on.
When you try to approach being a Christian as meeting a checklist of commands, you lose the spiritual aspects of the religion. This was one of the problems the Pharisees had. They saw the Law as a set of rules to be met, and then created detailed traditions to ensure compliance with those rules. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" (Matthew 23:23-24). The weightier matters are not precise actions but a way of life.
Instead of telling us what to do in every situation, God tells us how to make good decisions and illustrates it with many examples. "'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?' And He said to him, '"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.." On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets'" (Matthew 22:36-40). All of God's laws fall under these two broad laws.