How many Commandments do Christians have?

Jesus gave one, “…I command you that ye love one another” (John 15:17). Love fulfills the law. We don’t covet, steal from, or seduce one we love. The apostle John gives the second, which is to believe, “And this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us commandment” (I John 3:27).

Christians are not lawless. We are committed to the commandment of love. It is a principle written by the Spirit of God in the heart of everyone born again by faith in Jesus Christ.

Of the three primary words translated by one word love in our Bibles, the one to which we are commanded is not a feeling or a friendly desire for fellowship. Rather it has to do with looking out for, caring, providing, and seeking the best for everyone and especially those who believe. So it is that we can recoil at the idea of friendly fellowship with an individual and yet fulfill the command to love that one. A practical application is found in First Peter, chapter four, verse eight, “Charity (love) covers the multitude of sins”. God covers the wrongdoing of all who will let Him with the death of His Son, who took the place and the penalty, our due, in His death on the cross.

During the years my wife Frances and I were members of a Sunday School class in First Baptist Church, Roswell Georgia, not once did we hear an accusation or criticism of another Christian; rather praise and help for those who were in need. How pleasant!

I love you.