“…You shall keep My commandments, and perform them: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 22:31). God clearly revealed to us what we are to do and He gave us specific laws to keep. He points out that He is serious about His laws and why they are to be obeyed, and why we need to heed His Word. He made it very clear from the beginning that His rules were established and that there would be severe consequences if we broke them. Furthermore, in Matthew 5:17, Christ also assured us that He did not come to destroy the law but rather to fulfill it. He took it even a step further in verse 19, stating that we are not only to obey the law, but we are to teach it also.
God states many times that we are not only to remember His commandments and keep them in mind, but also to perform and do them (Leviticus 19:37; 22:31; Numbers 15:40).
In this lifetime and the society we are faced with, rules by man have changed and are changing more and more, and abominations in God’s eyes are now acceptable in man’s eyes. Severe penalties in Old Testament times were carried out for breaking His laws such as adultery, homosexuality and even cursing one’s parents in Leviticus 20:8-10, 13. The penalty for violating the Sabbath, which God commands for us to keep holy and observe still to this day, was death (Numbers 15:32-36). Imagine if these penalties were carried out today.
If Christ didn’t come to destroy the law but to fulfill it, then what we read about in the New Testament would apply for us today and in the future. The same abominations are mentioned in Galatians 5:17-21 and Revelation 21:7-8. The penalty for committing such acts is (spiritual) death.
For those of us who are converted and baptized Church members, we have a much bigger responsibility to fulfill. We have given our lives into God’s hands, and we are to commit ourselves to Him in everything we do. We will continue to sin, as we are not perfect, but we will repent and continue to do as God commands so that we will live, not just physically, but also spiritually. The things that we have put to death at our conversion are the very things that the world still revels in today (compare Colossians 3:5-9). We need to be aware and “…not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
The question we need to ask ourselves is the same question asked in Luke 10:25, “… what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Christ’s answer is to keep His commandments! The law is very much alive, and God expects us to keep it and do as He says. Even though we will continue to go through trials and will be tested on the very things that we struggle with the most, if we remain faithful and strong, recognize our weaknesses, learn from them and do our best to refrain from sinning, God will continue to be with us. If we do these things, we will not die, but rather, as it says in verse 28: “… do this and you will live!”
