The Importance of the Commands of Jesus

At One Eight Catalyst, as a product of our deep desire to help every Christian find Great Commission fulfillment, we often have a pattern to much of our content: Jesus wants you do obey His commands as a way to show Him you love Him, so let’s know what He is commanding us to do as His followers. We follow that up with: Three of His commands are super important to us in our ministry: Mark 16:15, Matthew 28:20 and Acts 1:8. These three commands help us define what is the Great Commission. More about this definition and how we developed it can be found on our video resource on the topic here.

We talk about this fact pattern a lot in our ministry for two reasons: First, the fact pattern is important to Jesus. Look at some of what Jesus Himself says about obeying His commands. In John 14:15, Jesus says ‘If you love me, you will keep my commands.’ In Luke 6 Jesus says, ‘Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?’ Clearly, knowing His commands and obeying them was important to Him. In fact, Jesus ties loving Him to obeying Him. What can we assume then on the flip side of this? If we don’t obey His commands, we don’t love Him, right? In the Luke 6 passage, we can hear His angst over this topic… ‘Why would you call me your Lord (and Savior) but not do what I command you to do?’ Super important to Him that we know His commands and obey them.

The second reason that we talk about this fact pattern a lot is that it also says a lot about what we think not only of Jesus, but also of the Bible itself. I’ve written a lot about this in my book on the 6 Marks of a Disciple, but all who call themselves a disciple of Jesus must have confidence in God’s Word as an authoritative text that God has inspired and ordained. If the disciple wants to know Jesus and hear from God, that communication happens primarily through the Bible. This disciple knows that God saves by the Bible, He sanctifies by the Bible, and He comforts, edifies and does all spiritual work by the Bible. The foundation of all Christian endeavor is the Word of God. And if you don’t know the commands of Jesus, you need to get in your Bible and learn them! As a guide, here are the 49 commands of Jesus I could find in my study. Of course, there may be more that I missed, but may I recommend that you take a month or so, go through this list to study and learn the commands. It is then that you can say back to Jesus, ‘I love you, I know your commands and I am working hard to obey them!’

1.)  Repent (Matthew 4:17)

2.)  Follow Me (Matthew 4:19

3.)  Rejoice (Matthew 5:11-12)

4.)  Let Your Light Shine (Matthew 5:16)

5.)  Honor God’s Law (Matthew 5:17)

6.)  Be Reconciled (Matthew 5:23-25)

7.)  Do Not Lust (Matthew 5:28-30)

8.)  Keep Your Word (Matthew 5:37)

9.)  Go the Second Mile (Matthew 5:38-42)

10.) Love Your Enemies (Matthew 5:44-46)

11.) Be Perfect (Matthew 5:46-48)

12.) Practice Secret Disciplines (Matthew 6:1-18)

13.) Lay Up Your Treasures (Matthew 6:19-21)

14.) Seek God’s Kingdom (Matthew 6:33)

15.) Judge Not (Matthew 7:1-3)

16.) Do Not Cast Pearls (Matthew 7:6)

17.) Ask, Seek, Knock (Matthew 7:7-8)

18.) Do Unto Others (Matthew 7:12)

19.) Choose the Narrow Way (Matthew 7:13-14)

20.) Beware of False Prophets (Matthew 7:15-16)

21.) Pray for Laborers (Matthew 9:37-38)

22.) Be Wise as Serpents and Harmless as a Dove (Matthew 10:16)

23.) Fear Not (Matthew 10:28)

24.) Hear God’s Voice (Matthew 11:15)

25.) Take My Yoke (Matthew 11:28-30)

26.) Honor Your Parents (Matthew 15:4)

27.) Beware of Leaven (Matthew 16:6)

28.) Deny Yourself (Matthew 9:23-25)

29.) Despise Not Little Ones (Matthew 18:10)

30.) Go to Offenders (Matthew 18:15-17)

31.) Beware of Covetousness (Luke 12:15)

32.) Forgive Offenders (Matthew 18:21-22)

33.) Honor Marriage (Matthew 19:4-6)

34.) Be a Servant (Matthew 20:26-28)

35.) Be a House of Prayer (Matthew 21:13)

36.) Ask in Faith (Matthew 21:21-22)

37.) Bring in the Poor (Luke 14:12-14)

38.) Render to Caesar (Matthew 22:19-21)

39.) Love the Lord (Matthew 22:27-38)

40.) Love Your Neighbor (Matthew 22:39-40)

41.) Await My Return (Matthew 24:42-44)

42.) Take, Eat, and Drink (Matthew 26:26-28)

43.) Be Born Again (John 3:5-7)

44.) Keep My Commandments (John 14:15)

45.) Watch and Pray (Matthew 26:41)

46.) Feed My Sheep (John 21:15-16)

47.) Baptize My Disciples (Matthew 28:19)

48.) Receive God’s Power (Luke 24:49)

49.) Go and Make Disciples (Matthew 28:19-20)