Lesson 7: Direct Commands

Po s it iv e a n d Ne gat iv e

Commands

The direct command is the simplest and most direct way of establishing authority. A command can be positive or negative; “thou shalt” and “thou shalt not” as in the Old King James Version of the Bible. Positive commands require us to do something in obedience to God. Negative commands require us to refrain from something that displeases God. Application of a Command Though the commands in the New Testament applied to believers in the first century, they are indirectly applied to us. For example, in Mark 16:15, the command to preach to the world was given specifically to the apostles. Yet the early believers understood that this applied to them, Acts 8:4. As people are taught, they have an obligation to teach the gospel to others, 2 Timothy 2:2. These generalized commands constitute the bulk of what we follow. However, we must recognize special circumstances where commands do not apply to us. In L uke 18:18-24, Je s us commanded a rich young ruler to sell all that he had and follow Him. We have no record of Jesus or the apostles telling believers to sell all that they have (see Acts 5:4 as an example). Yet this let material things stand between himself and God. He needed to get rid of those things to obey. As noted in lesson 4, the commandments of the Old Law were binding on the Jews only. The Old Law was part of a covenant, or agreement, between the Jews and God. Those commandments are not binding on us today. Jesus told the apostles that

“whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,” Matthew 18:18-20. No other individuals have the authority to bind or loose commands on others. General and Specific Authority God’s commands are either general or specific in their application. A specific command limits the fulfillment of the command to the specifications given. A specific command authorizes only what is commanded and excludes other ways to accomplish the general goal. For example, when God commanded Noah to build the ark out of gopher wood, it necessarily excluded any other type of wood that could be used. It also follows that if God has given us a specific command, we are not free to treat it as optional. Noah could have chosen not to build the ark, but he would have died in the flood with the rest of humanity. G e n e r a l authority is expressed in broad commands where the specifics of how to accomplish the command are not given. For example, when Jesus commanded His apostles to go into the world and preach the gospel, some things were specific and some general.

Specific

they did not have a choice on what to preach (the gospel was specified) General: they were free to choose whether they would walk, take a boat, ride an animal, ride a chariot they were free to choose who would go what nation they were free to determine when to visit what nations We err when we try to substitute something specified by God and replace it with something that is necessarily excluded. For example, singing is a specific command (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16) which necessarily excludes humming, playing, and not singing. The above passages also specify what is to be sung: psalms, hymns and spiritual songs; therefore, patriotic songs and other non-religious songs would be excluded. However, the Bible has not specified the specific psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs we must sing so we are free to choose songs that fit into these categories. We are also free to determine if we will use song books, project the song overhead, sing from memory, or other scriptural means to inform us of the words to sing. We will talk about this in more detail in lesson 9 when we discuss expediencies.