While many Christians will tell you that Biblical law is a burden or too difficult or impossible to keep, they are already following much of it! This post examines how much of the law believers are already abiding by, and takes a look at the commandments that most believers skip over.
Is it possible to keep the Biblical commandments that YHWH has given us? I think many people say no to that without knowing what those commandments actually are. The Bible is a big book, after all. Many believers have seen or heard about a totally overwhelming number of Jewish laws and often assume those are in the Bible.
It is traditionally believed that there are 613 commandments for believers in the Torah. You can debate if it's that exact number for a couple of reasons - should loving and serving YHWH be one commandment or two? are certain verses relative statements or absolute commands? - but for now, we'll stick with 613 rules as a ballpark figure. That sounds like a lot, right? If we took a test with over 600 questions, most of us wouldn't answer 100% correctly. Thankfully, it's a little easier than that.
While many of these commandments are absolutely for everyone, not all of them are applicable to you. I don't say that in brevity or believe that we should write off huge chunks of Scripture. But it's true. Because these instructions cover all sorts of things...marriage laws, Temple protocol, specific instructions for kings, Nazirite vows, agricultural practices, and so on. So if you haven't taken a Nazirite vow, those particular regulations don't need to be followed by you. If you're not married, you don't need to worry about those instructions at the moment. Paul talked about this in Romans 7.
"The married woman has been bound by the law to her living husband, but if her husband dies, she is released from the the law concerning her husband." -Romans 7:2
We can see here that we are only expected to keep the commandments for our own self and circumstances. Of course, it is hugely important than we rightly divide Scripture to do our best to follow all of the commandments that pertain to us. Of those supposed 613 commandments, more than 200 have to do with the Temple. That means that right off the bat, we have less than 400 that might pertain to us. (We should note here that the Bible makes a distinction between 'Levitical' laws, which relate to the Levitical priesthood, and what I call 'Biblical law' which are the instructions for living, more on that below.) For the most part, believers do pretty well following these. Roth estimates that most Christians are keeping between 69-87% of the laws applicable to them! For a group that typically views Biblical law as a burden, that's a pretty decent start. That's like answering, seven, eight, or even nine questions correctly on a ten-question quiz that you never in a million years thought you could pass. Maybe this is a little more doable than you thought. In fact, Deuteronomy 30:11 says that the law is not too hard for us!
Is it possible to keep the Biblical commandments that YHWH has given us? I think many people say no to that without knowing what those commandments actually are. The Bible is a big book, after all. Many believers have seen or heard about a totally overwhelming number of Jewish laws and often assume those are in the Bible.
It is traditionally believed that there are 613 commandments for believers in the Torah. You can debate if it's that exact number for a couple of reasons - should loving and serving YHWH be one commandment or two? are certain verses relative statements or absolute commands? - but for now, we'll stick with 613 rules as a ballpark figure. That sounds like a lot, right? If we took a test with over 600 questions, most of us wouldn't answer 100% correctly. Thankfully, it's a little easier than that.
While many of these commandments are absolutely for everyone, not all of them are applicable to you. I don't say that in brevity or believe that we should write off huge chunks of Scripture. But it's true. Because these instructions cover all sorts of things...marriage laws, Temple protocol, specific instructions for kings, Nazirite vows, agricultural practices, and so on. So if you haven't taken a Nazirite vow, those particular regulations don't need to be followed by you. If you're not married, you don't need to worry about those instructions at the moment. Paul talked about this in Romans 7.
"The married woman has been bound by the law to her living husband, but if her husband dies, she is released from the the law concerning her husband." -Romans 7:2
We can see here that we are only expected to keep the commandments for our own self and circumstances. Of course, it is hugely important than we rightly divide Scripture to do our best to follow all of the commandments that pertain to us. Of those supposed 613 commandments, more than 200 have to do with the Temple. That means that right off the bat, we have less than 400 that might pertain to us. (We should note here that the Bible makes a distinction between 'Levitical' laws, which relate to the Levitical priesthood, and what I call 'Biblical law' which are the instructions for living, more on that below.) For the most part, believers do pretty well following these. Roth estimates that most Christians are keeping between 69-87% of the laws applicable to them! For a group that typically views Biblical law as a burden, that's a pretty decent start. That's like answering, seven, eight, or even nine questions correctly on a ten-question quiz that you never in a million years thought you could pass. Maybe this is a little more doable than you thought. In fact, Deuteronomy 30:11 says that the law is not too hard for us!
What commandments are believers already keeping?
-Loving the Creator. Serving and clinging to YHWH. Loving him with all your strength. Giving thanks to him. Fearing him. Respecting his word. Not testing him.
-Treatment of others. Loving your neighbor as yourself. Not verbally attacking a stranger. Not afflicting orphans and widows. The obligation of returning lost property to its owner. Helping someone collapsing under a burden or in danger. Treating litigants impartially. Honoring of parents.
-Honesty and integrity. Not lying or speaking a false witness. Not following a majority to do evil. Not bribing a judge.
-Financial matters. Not stealing or defrauding someone. Giving charity to the poor. Not deceiving someone in business.
-Marital relations. Not to have sexual relations outside of marriage. No relations between family or step-family.
What commandments are believers not keeping?
-Remembering the name of YHWH. Not forgetting it (replacing it with terms like God or Lord) but using it with reverence and respect. Calling on it for help.
-Sabbath. Sanctifying the seventh day. Resting. Not having servants or employees work on the Sabbath.
-Biblical holidays. Celebrating them and not working on certain days. Not having or eating leaven during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
-Dietary laws. Not consuming unclean animals. Not consuming blood.
This is generalization, obviously these won't line up exactly for everyone, but for most denominations would basically agree with the above. That's it. The commandments believers aren't keeping mostly fall into those categories. And you know what? Even in modern culture today, those things are pretty doable! Start using YHWH instead of generic, incorrect terms like God and Lord. Look forward to resting each week on the Sabbath. Eat in ways that honor the Creator. Add Biblical celebrations to your calendar. You really can do this!
And these things are wonderful to do! I firmly believe that keeping Biblical law is a step towards abundant life. Everyone I know who has delved into those things has benefited from doing so. They would tell you that their faith has grown exponentially. They've seen their health improve as they make changes to their diets. They understand Scripture better and have a deeper relationship with the Creator. You can have all of those joys as well by taking steps to be obedient to Scripture.
It's not because you have to.
It's not too hard.
"Those that say they live in him ought to walk as he did." -1 John 2:6
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