Obeying God: What Does It Mean to Keep His Commandments?

Jayni Jackson
Jul 12
15 min read

Updated: Aug 6

“If you love me, keep my commandments.” You’ve probably heard that verse like a million times, right? It’s quoted in sermons, attached to Instagram posts, and has been flung around in countless debates like a theological trump card. But here’s the problem—most people who quote that phrase haven’t actually stopped to ask: Which commandments? Whose commandments? Are we talking about the Ten Commandments? The Law of Moses? The teachings of Jesus? Or maybe it's some hybrid mix of the three? Or is He talking all 613?

And lo and behold, this is where the confusion begins—and unfortunately, it’s not small confusion. Rather it’s the kind that leads to legalism on one side and spiritual vagueness on the other. It’s the kind of confusion that has people arguing about whether Christians should keep the Sabbath, observe feast days, avoid pork, or live like modern-day Israelites. And underneath it all is a flawed assumption—that “God’s commandments” are just one big, eternal rulebook handed to Adam and passed down through the ages unchanged. Same law, same rules, same expectations… forever. But is that really what Scripture teaches? Is that really what Jesus means?

See, when the Bible talks about people “keeping God’s commandments,” it doesn’t always mean the same thing contrary to popular belief. For example, Abraham kept commandments, but he didn’t have the Torah. Israel was commanded to obey the law at Sinai, but not before. Jesus said “keep my commandments”—not Moses’ commandments, but His. And Paul tells us we’re no longer under the law at all. So what gives? What's going on here?

Well, this is what we're going to be covering today. This blog post isn’t about giving you a checklist. Instead, what I would like to offer to you is clarity. It’s about teaching you how to think biblically instead of reacting emotionally. We’re going to walk through Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, looking at real examples of obedience—from Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and the early church—and asking a simple but radical question: What kind of obedience did God actually require in each covenant—and why?

Because here’s the truth: God doesn’t change. Scripture is really clear on that. But it's also really clear that His covenants do. And so if you try to cram every command He’s ever given into one timeless system, unfortunately, you’re actually not honoring His Word—rather you’re flattening it. You’re not being faithful—you’re being confused. See, the Bible is a story—, not a spreadsheet, and certainly not just a checklist. So if we’re going to obey the God who speaks, we need to know what He’s actually said to us, not just what He said to someone else 3,000 years ago on a mountain in Sinai.

Now, I know some of you might already be ready to jump out of your seats—and I get it. For many of us, this idea challenges something we’ve been taught our whole lives: that all of God’s commandments are fully encapsulated in the Law of Moses. We’ve accepted that claim without ever stopping to examine its implications. But I urge you—don’t let emotion take the wheel as you read this. Instead, walk with me through why this belief isn’t just mistaken—it’s dangerous.

OBEDIENCE BEFORE SINAI – ABRAHAM AND THE COMMANDS OF GOD

“Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” – Genesis 26:5

Now, this is one of those verses that gets quoted a lot in these discussions, and it's usually by people trying to prove that “God’s law” has always been the same. “See?” they say. “Abraham kept God’s commandments! That proves the law existed before Moses!” But this is where I need us just to slow down and ask ourselves this central question: what commandments did Abraham keep, exactly? There was no tabernacle. No Levitical priesthood. No dietary restrictions from Leviticus. So, what law was Abraham obeying? Was it the Mosaic law? Or was it something else?

Here’s what: Abraham was not obeying a legal code—rather he was obeying the voice of God. When God said, “Go to the land I will show you,” Abraham went. When God said, “Circumcise every male in your household,” Abraham obeyed. When God tested him with Isaac, Abraham trusted and acted. Are you seeing how his obedience wasn’t about checking boxes? Rather it was about covenantal faithfulness. He wasn’t following a list; he was following the Lord.

Now, it is here where we need to confront a major error: it's often a very quiet, unspoken assumption that distorts everything else downstream. See, people read Genesis and see Cain and Abel offering sacrifices. They see Noah distinguishing between clean and unclean animals. They see Abraham building altars. And they conclude: “Well, that must mean they were already keeping the Mosaic law, right?” But, my friends, that’s not reading Scripture—that's just importing your hermeneutical system onto Scripture.

Think about how absurd this is. Cain offers produce and Abel offers livestock, and apparently, we’re supposed to read that and believe they were already operating under the Levitical sacrifice laws? Noah gathers clean and unclean animals, so now we assume he had a copy of Leviticus 11? Come on now. Do you see how that’s not biblical fidelity? If anything, that’s just theological laziness. See, what we’re seeing in those early chapters isn’t Mosaic law in disguise. But rather it’s God giving specific instructions to specific people in specific times. And, my friends, that’s what covenantal revelation is.

And so if we don’t make that distinction, we don’t just misread Genesis—we end up undermining Paul himself. For example, in Galatians 3:17, Paul says the law came 430 years after the promise to Abraham. If you get a chance to read Galatians 3 in its entirety, you will realize that His whole point is that the inheritance comes not by the law but by the promise. But if Abraham or Adam or Noah did have the Mosaic law given to them personally, then Paul’s argument collapses. Salvation would no longer be by faith through promise—it would be by law through works. Because the law wasn't given after the promise, it was given before it. And Paul calls that a false gospel.

So no—i'm sorry, but Abraham wasn’t obeying the Law of Moses. Rather he was obeying God’s revealed will for his covenant. He responded in faith to the God who called him out of Ur, promised him a son, and cut a covenant in blood. And, my friends, that’s the kind of obedience God delights in—not because it was Torah-shaped, but because it was trust-shaped. Abraham didn’t need stone tablets to obey God. He just needed a listening heart.

OBEDIENCE UNDER THE OLD COVENANT – ISRAEL AT SINAI

“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant…” – Exodus 19:5

“You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep His charge, His statutes, His rules, and His commandments always.” – Deuteronomy 11:1

Alright, now that we arrived at Sinai. This is the moment where “obedience” gets structured, codified, and attached to a full covenantal framework. This is the law that Paul says was given 430 years after the promise. This is where God speaks not just to one man—but to an entire nation. And no—this isn’t Abraham listening in faith; this is Israel agreeing to a covenant in blood with 613 stipulations, including moral laws, civil penalties, ceremonial rituals, feast days, dietary restrictions, and Sabbath observance. See, Sinai was not vague at all. Rather, it was exhaustively specific.

And so here’s things start to shift. Because obedience is no longer relational in the Abrahamic sense alone—it’s now legal, covenantal, and national. “If you obey, I will bless you; if you disobey, I will curse you.” That’s the structure. That’s the deal. You see it spelled out in terrifying clarity in Deuteronomy 28. This was not just about loving God in your heart—it was about keeping feasts on the right day, bringing the right sacrifice in the right way, and executing justice according to God’s theocratic terms.

But here’s the thing: even in the midst of all this structure, God wasn’t after robotic obedience. He was still after the heart. He tells them in Deuteronomy 10:16 to “circumcise the foreskin of your heart.” He says in Deuteronomy 30:6 that He will do it for them in the future. The law revealed what righteousness looked like—but, and this is incredibly important, it also exposed that Israel’s hearts were stubborn. It revealed their sin—but it couldn’t remove it. It diagnosed their disease—but it wasn’t the cure.

And so here’s where we need to be careful. Because some people try to romanticize the Mosaic law—as if obeying it was the ideal expression of love for God. But Paul says in Galatians 3:24 that the law was a guardian, a tutor that was meant to lead us to Christ. The key word there is was. That's past tense. That means that the law was temporary. It was good—but it wasn’t the goal. So, if you turn it into a timeless blueprint for obedience, you’re not elevating God’s Word. You’re denying God’s storyline.

See, what we have to recognize is that the law was for Israel—not Egypt, not Assyria, not Babylon, not Rome, and certainly not you. Now, that doesn’t mean it was bad as I will continue to say a million times over. Rather it just means it was covenant-bound. God didn’t give it to Abraham. He didn’t give it to Gentiles. He gave it to a redeemed nation coming out of slavery to teach them who He was and how they were to live under His rule. That was the obedience of the Mosaic covenant. It was beautiful. It was righteous. And it was temporary by design.

OBEDIENCE IN THE LIFE OF JESUS – THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE MESSIAH

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” – John 14:15

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” – John 15:12

Now, here it is—the moment where everything pivots. The moment where Jesus steps onto the scene, and He doesn’t say, “Keep Moses’ commandments.” He says, “Keep mine.” Now, to be honest, that should really make us pause. That should make us uncomfortable even—at least long enough to ask what He means.

But instead, people rush past that phrase as if Jesus is just recycling the Law of Moses in fresh packaging. They say, “Well, Jesus is God, and the law came from God, so really, His commandments are just the same ones given to Moses.” Now, I understand how that sounds like high reverence at first glance—but really it’s just theological confusion. It's really just a refusal to reckon with what Jesus actually did in redemptive history.

And so let’s be clear: Jesus didn’t show up to reinforce the Mosaic covenant. He came to fulfill it—to bring it to its appointed end, to make it full, to accomplish its purposes and surpass it (Matthew 5:17; Romans 10:4). And once it was fulfilled, He didn’t say, “Now go back to Moses.” He said, “A new commandment I give to you: that you love one another as I have loved you.” Do you see how that’s not Sinai? Rather that’s Calvary-shaped obedience. That’s cross-centered ethics. That’s the law of Christ.

Now someone might say, “Wait, aren't you separating Jesus from God? Aren’t His commandments still God’s commandments?” Absolutely. Jesus is God in the flesh. He is Yahweh incarnate. To be clear: we’re not separating Jesus from God—rather we’re distinguishing covenantal roles within God’s redemptive plan. See, the same God who gave the Law through Moses is now giving a new law through His Son. But here’s the key: the covenant has changed. That means the structure of obedience has changed too.

So as you can see, you can’t say, “God never changes, so neither do His commandments,” and then turn around and say, “Well, of course we don’t sacrifice animals anymore—Jesus changed that.” Exactly. You’re admitting change with your words, but you refuse to recognize it in your theology. Do you see how that’s not reverence? That’s contradiction.

See, Jesus commands obedience—but it’s not the kind you can boil down into 613 statutes. His law is not scribbled on stone; it’s etched on hearts. His law isn’t about national boundaries or dietary restrictions—it’s about laying down your life for your enemy. The bar didn’t get lower. If anything, it got infinitely higher. “As I have loved you”—that’s the command. That’s the new covenant.

So when Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commandments,” He isn’t handing you Moses in a just some new frabric. Rather He’s calling you to follow Him—to love like Him, walk like Him, trust like Him, and die to yourself like Him. The obedience He commands flows from the union He provides. Again, it’s not Sinai resurrected. It’s resurrection power embodied.

OBEDIENCE IN THE NEW COVENANT – THE LAW WRITTEN ON HEARTS

“And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another…” – 1 John 3:23

“The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him…” – 1 John 3:24

And so now let’s talk about us—New Covenant believers. By now, we should realize that we’re not in Abraham’s sandals, and we’re not camped at the foot of Sinai. Instead, we’re living after the cross, after the resurrection, after Pentecost. And that means something monumental has changed. The old covenant has been fulfilled, completed, and replaced by a better one—not because it was bad, but because it was never the endgame.

So when John, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, tells the church to keep God’s commandments, what is he talking about? Is he dragging us back to Leviticus? No. In fact, if you want to know what he is saying here, he actually answers it plainly in the very next sentence: “And this is His commandment—that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another.” That’s it. Faith in Christ. Love for others. Notice how that’s not just a summary of the law—rather that is the law in its fulfilled form. That’s what Jesus meant when He said all the law and the prophets hang on love for God and neighbor (Matt. 22:37–40).

See. the New Covenant isn’t about obeying the law to become righteous. It’s about being declared righteous through Christ—and then walking in obedience because you already are new. The obedience we now offer isn’t driven by fear of covenant curses—it’s the fruit of Spirit-empowered love. As Romans 13:10 says, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

And so allow me to drive this home with emphatic force: you are not under the Mosaic Law. You are not under the old covenant. Paul couldn’t have been clearer—“You are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). And again, “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Gal. 5:18). This doesn’t mean we live lawlessly. It means we live under a new law—what Paul calls the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2), which is fulfilled by the Spirit who writes God’s will on our hearts (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10).

So when someone asks, “Well, what commandments am I supposed to obey today?” the answer is not, “Flip back to Exodus.” The answer is: walk by the Spirit, trust in Christ, and love as you have been loved. That’s the obedience that flows from the gospel. That’s the kind of obedience that glorifies God—not because it mimics the old law, but because it fulfills everything the law was pointing to.

IF GOD GAVE BOTH LAWS, AREN’T THEY THE SAME?

Now, as we are coming to an end, I want to take a moment to address a common objection that I hear often. Because this is where the logic breaks down for so many well-meaning believers. They say, “Well, God gave the Law of Moses, and God gave the Law of Christ. God doesn’t change, so how could His laws be different?” And again, that sounds pious. It sounds reverent. But the problem is that it’s dead wrong. Because it confuses God’s unchanging character with His covenantal administration. Is it the same God before both covenants? Absolutely. Is it a reflection of the same righteousness? Without a doubt. But is it the same law? No—not even close.

See, God told Adam not to eat from a tree. He told Noah to build an ark. He told Abraham to circumcise his household. He told Israel not to wear mixed fabrics, to slaughter bulls and goats, to bring offerings to a tabernacle, and to stone adulterers and rebellious children. Then He sent Jesus, who declared all foods clean, who touched lepers without washing, who forgave sinners instead of executing them, and who fulfilled the entire Mosaic system in His own body.

So here’s the question: If all of God’s laws are the same, then what do you do with that?

And so let’s put it plainly: If God’s laws never change, then how was Abraham supposed to obey temple laws when there was no temple?

How are we today supposed to obey the sacrificial laws if Jesus is the once-for-all sacrifice?

To drive this point home even further—why aren’t you offering burnt offerings on an altar? Why aren’t you keeping all three pilgrimage feasts in Jerusalem?

Do you even realize that the Ten Commandments, Sabbaths, feasts, festivals, and dietary laws only make up roughly 11% of the Mosaic Law? So what about the other 89%? Where did that go? Are we ignoring it because we’re just picking and choosing? What happened to the slave laws? What happened to the levirate marriage commands? What happened to the law that says you must stone your child if they’re persistently disobedient? What happened to it?

Well, let me tell you what happened: the covenant changed. The law changed. Not because God changed—but because the storyline moved forward. And so you can’t claim that “God’s commandments never change” and then simultaneously say, “Well, we don’t sacrifice animals anymore because Jesus fulfilled that.” That’s a contradiction. That’s theological doublespeak. I'm sorry, but at that point, you're talking out of two sides of your mouth. You're admitting a change while refusing to acknowledge it.

And this is where I actually respect full-blown Torah Observant folks more than I do the selective-torah observant crowd. At least they’re being logically consistent. If you believe the Mosaic Law is eternal and unchanging, then you should try to keep all 613 commandments. But if you’re only pulling out a few select laws—like Sabbath or food restrictions—while discarding the rest as “fulfilled,” then you’re not being faithful. You’re being a theological hypocrite.

You’re not being consistent. You’re not being covenantally sound. You’re not upholding God’s unchanging nature. You’re just clinging to a broken system and slapping Jesus’ name on it. And worst of all, you want to act like the covenant didn’t change while living as if it did. And, my friends, that’s not faithfulness—that's self-deception.

So please—let’s stop pretending. Let’s stop conflating God’s perfect righteousness with every law He’s ever given. And let’s stop confusing God’s holiness with a list that was never meant to last forever. Look, if you really want to obey God’s commandments today, then stop running back to Sinai—and start walking by the Spirit.

OBEDIENCE IN THE AGE TO COME – A PEOPLE MADE PERFECT

“His servants will worship Him…” – Revelation 22:3

“Blessed are those who wash their robes…” – Revelation 22:14

Now let’s fast forward to the end—to the new heavens and the new earth. Let’s talk about what obedience looks like when sin is gone, when the curse is broken, and when the people of God are finally glorified. Because here’s the beauty of it all: even then, even in perfection, we will still obey. But it won’t be drudgery. It won’t be duty. It will be delight.

In the new creation, there won’t be a scroll of laws hanging over our heads. There won’t be feast days to observe or dietary distinctions to follow. There won’t be civil penalties or ceremonial requirements. No animal sacrifices. No altars. No priests. You won’t need a calendar of rituals to honor God. Rather you will be the kind of person who honors Him with every breath you take.

Why? Because the obedience of the age to come will flow from transformation, not legislation. We will no longer ask, “Am I doing enough?” or “Did I forget to keep that command?” The law won’t be carved on stone or memorized from a book—it will be perfectly written on our resurrected hearts. And we will walk in perfect communion with the One who wrote it there.

My friends, think about what that means for a second. God’s ultimate goal was never to have a people who merely follow rules. His goal was always to have a people who reflect His character, who share His love, who dwell in His presence. That’s why the Mosaic covenant was temporary. That’s why Jesus came to fulfill it. And that’s why the obedience of the New Covenant prepares us not just for today—but for eternity.

So yes, obedience will exist in heaven—but it won’t be measured in how many laws we have kept. Instead, it will be measured in love perfected. It will be the spontaneous overflow of redeemed hearts that have been fully conformed to the image of Christ. We won’t need reminders to love God or love our neighbor. We will become the very people we were always meant to be. Not slaves afraid of punishment. But sons and daughters who delight in their Father’s will.

That’s where this whole story is headed. That’s the endgame. Obedience that isn’t a burden—but a joy. Not a standard to live up to—but a life we’ve been raised into.

REDEFINING OBEDIENCE IN LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL

And so let’s step back and ask: What have we seen?

Well, Abraham obeyed God—but not by following the Law of Moses. He obeyed the voice of God in his own covenant context, through faith. Israel obeyed at Sinai—but that obedience was rooted in a national covenant, tied to a land, a priesthood, and a sacrificial system. Jesus called His followers to a new obedience—one shaped not by feast days or food laws, but by sacrificial love, cross-bearing discipleship, and union with Him. And how about the early Church? Well, they didn’t return to Moses. Rather they walked in the Spirit. They kept the law of Christ. They fulfilled the heart of God’s will—not by Torah reenactment, but by gospel transformation. And one day, we will obey perfectly—not because we’re following a code, but because we’ll finally be the kind of people who love God flawlessly.

So no—obedience hasn’t always looked the same. Because the covenant hasn’t always been the same. But through it all, God has been telling a single, glorious story: not how to make slaves behave, but how to make sinners new.

And so if you forget everything else, I am begging you to at least remember this: God doesn’t flatten His commands across history—He reveals them progressively, covenantally, and purposefully. So stop trying to stitch Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Paul into a single legal framework. Again, by doing so, you’re actually not being faithful. You’re being confused. See, the Bible is not a list of do’s and don’ts—it’s a redemptive drama. It’s a movement from promise to law to Christ to glory.

Do you want to obey God today? Good. Then don’t ask, “Which of the 613 commandments still apply to me?” Ask, “Am I walking in step with the Spirit? Am I rooted in Christ? Am I loving others as I have been loved?” That’s what obedience looks like in the New Covenant. That’s what it means to “keep His commandments” today—not to look backward, but to walk forward in the power of the cross.

Because the goal of obedience has never been to get God on your side. It’s to walk with the One who already is.