03/04/2026
Keeping God's Commandments vs. Following After Religion and Religious People
THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN
Before we go any further, let us start at the foundation. The word of God does not leave us guessing about what our purpose and responsibility is as believers. It tells us plainly.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 - King James Version
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
This is the conclusion of the whole matter - not a suggestion, not one option among many. Fear God and keep His commandments. That is the whole duty of man. Every Christian, every follower and believer in Christ should be operating from this foundation, period. Not the traditions of men. Not the doctrines of denominations. Not the approval of religious institutions. The whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
And this verse makes it clear that accountability is absolute. God will bring every work into judgment - not just the things done in public, not just the things witnessed by others, but every secret thing as well. Whether it is good or evil, it will be judged. You cannot live one way in front of people and another way in private and think it goes unnoticed by God. Everything will be brought to light.
That is where we begin. Now let the word of God walk us through what keeping His commandments actually means, and why it is the only true way to follow Him.
SECTION I - KNOWING HIM MEANS KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS
1 John 2:1-6 - King James Version
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
Here, the Apostle John - writing to the children of Israel - gives the first and foremost instruction: do not sin at all. However, he also provides assurance that if we do fall into sin, we have an advocate before the Father - and that advocate is Jesus Christ, the righteous one. There is a way back to the Father, and it is through Him.
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Jesus paid the full price for sin - first for Israel, but also for the sins of the entire world. No one is excluded from the reach of His sacrifice. His blood covers all who will come to Him.
Pay close attention now - because this is where God defines what it means to truly know Jesus.
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
This is the test. This is the standard. The way you know that you know Jesus - the evidence that your relationship with Him is real - is that you keep His commandments. It is not a feeling. It is not church attendance. It is not tradition. It is obedience to His commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
This is not a gentle suggestion. God's word declares plainly: if you claim to know Jesus but do not keep His commandments, you are a liar - and the truth is not in you. That declaration comes not from a man, but from the word of God itself. You may say all the right words, attend all the right services, and carry all the right titles - but if you are not keeping His commandments, the truth is not in you.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
On the other hand, the one who keeps His commandments demonstrates the love of God in its fullness and perfection. And by doing so, you can know - with certainty - that you are in Christ Jesus. Keeping the commandments is not legalism. It is love perfected.
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
If you claim that you abide in Christ - that you live in Him - then your walk must reflect His walk. Jesus walked in perfect obedience to the commandments of the Father. He was righteous in all that He did. If you are truly in Him, your life should show it in the same way.
SECTION II - LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE: THE LAW HAS NOT PASSED AWAY
Matthew 5:14-20 - King James Version
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Jesus calls His followers the light of the world. You are the ones who will show a world that is living in the darkness of sin that there is another way - the truth of God. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither can genuine obedience to God's commandments.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Your obedience to God's commandments should never be a hidden or private thing. It is meant to be placed where all can see it - as a candlestick gives light to everyone in the house. Your life, lived according to His commandments, is meant to illuminate the path for others.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Jesus is directly encouraging you to openly display your obedience to God before all of mankind. When people see your good works - your keeping of His commandments - it does not bring glory to you. It glorifies God the Father in heaven. Your righteousness points to Him.
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Jesus speaks directly and plainly here: He did not come to do away with the law or the prophets. He came to fulfill them. By keeping His commandments, your sins are forgiven through His blood - that is exactly what His prophets had foretold. He came to fulfill both the law and the prophecy concerning Him. The commandments were not nailed to the cross. They were confirmed by it.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Jesus makes this emphatic: not even the smallest character in the smallest word of the law will pass away until everything has been fulfilled. The law stands. And take note - even when we enter His Kingdom, the fulfillment is not yet complete. The commandments remain.
Now pay very close attention to the next two verses. What Jesus says here is both powerful and sobering.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
There are two paths presented here, and both have eternal consequences. The one who breaks even the least of God's commandments AND teaches others to do the same - that person will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. Who is called the least in the Kingdom? Satan himself. You would share not only his title, but his fate.
But the one who keeps the commandments AND teaches others to do the same will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. And who is called great in the Kingdom? Jesus is. To be called great is to be identified with Christ Himself.
READ THIS CAREFULLY
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
This verse demands your full attention. Jesus does not speak favorably of the scribes and Pharisees. In fact, He calls them out repeatedly in Matthew 23, labeling them hypocrites:
Matthew 23:13 - "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in."
Matthew 23:28 - "Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."
Matthew 23:33-34 - "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city."
These are the same people who conspired and carried out the plot to put Jesus on the cross. These are who Jesus is using as His reference point in Matthew 5:20.
Jesus is telling you this: if your righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of the unrighteous - those hypocrites who appeared godly on the outside but were corrupt within - you will in no case enter the Kingdom of Heaven. "In no case" is an absolute. There is no exception. If you are not entering the Kingdom, there is only one other destination. Do not take this lightly.
God does not leave us to wonder what "righteousness" means. He defines it plainly.
Psalm 119:172 - King James Version
172 My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.
There it is. Righteousness, as defined by God Himself, is His commandments. When Jesus says your righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, He is saying your keeping of God's commandments must be genuine - not an outward performance, but a true, heartfelt obedience that surpasses their hollow religious show.
SECTION III - A WARNING: THE WORLD WILL HATE YOU BECAUSE IT HATED HIM FIRST
John 15:18-23 - King James Version
Now that we understand the call to keep God's commandments and to let our light shine before the world, there is something you must be prepared for. Jesus gave us a clear and direct warning that must not be overlooked: if you truly follow Him - if you keep His commandments and live by His word - the world will hate you. And those who hate you do so because they already hated Him first.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Jesus does not say the world might hate you, or that it could happen occasionally. He says "if the world hate you" as a settled matter - and He traces that hatred directly back to Himself. The world hated Jesus before it ever knew you. When you become identified with Him through your obedience and righteousness, you inherit the same hatred.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
The world loves what belongs to it. If you were still of the world - living by its standards, following its ways, doing what religion and religious people do - the world would embrace you. But Jesus has called you out of the world. He has chosen you to be separate from it. That separation - that choice to follow His commandments over worldly approval - is precisely why the world hates you. You are no longer one of them.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
The servant is not above his master. They persecuted Jesus - the Son of God - for teaching the truth and living righteously. They will do the same to you. And on the other side: the ones who received and kept His word will receive yours as well. Expect both.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
The persecution you face for keeping God's commandments is not personal - it is because of whose name you carry. They will come against you for the name of Jesus, and the root of it is this: they do not know the Father who sent Him. If they truly knew the Father, they would not hate the Son. And if they knew the Son, they would not hate you for following Him.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
Before Jesus came and spoke the truth plainly, there was a degree to which ignorance could serve as a cover. But now that He has come - now that His word has gone out - that cover is removed. Those who reject His commandments do so without excuse. They cannot claim they did not know. The light has shined, and they have chosen darkness.
23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
This is the final and absolute truth: you cannot separate the Son from the Father. If they hate Jesus - if they hate the truth of His commandments - they hate God the Father as well. Their religious appearance means nothing if they reject His word. And when they hate you for following Jesus, understand what that means: they are not just rejecting you. They are rejecting the Father.
Do not be surprised when people who claim to be religious come against you for keeping God's commandments. Jesus told you this would happen. Their hatred is not a sign that you are wrong - it is evidence that you are following the One they rejected. Stay the course. Keep His commandments. Let your light shine.
CLOSING WORD
The message of God's word is consistent from beginning to end: keeping His commandments is not optional, it is not outdated, and it is not replaced by religious tradition or the approval of men. It is the whole duty of man. It is the very definition of righteousness. It is the proof that you know Jesus. It is the light that glorifies the Father. And it is the standard by which you will either enter the Kingdom - or not enter at all.
The religious institutions of this world - like the scribes and Pharisees before them - will often stand in opposition to this truth. They will appear righteous on the outside while teaching men to set aside the commandments. Do not follow them. Follow the commandments. Walk as Jesus walked. Let your righteousness be real, not performed.
And when the world hates you for it, remember the words of Jesus: they hated Him first. You are in good company. Keep going.
"For all thy commandments are righteousness." - Psalm 119:172
