Benefits of keeping God’s Commandments

        I have to be open and honest with you, O reader, about this blog; for the idea came about from my own weakness. One day, I was doing my work at my factory job, and was thinking about my brother who died from cancer at a young age. I was praying with a bit of anger and annoyance with God complaining about my problems and not having a full life as He promised while my brother died a young man with a family and a full life. I cried out to God about wanting to know the benefits of keeping His commandments that He tells us to do. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 12:13: “Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” But, I never knew the benefits of keeping them. Does God want us to keep them because He says so? If that’s true, could He just do away with them as some Christians said He did by nailing them to the cross? Or, do the commandments have a purpose: benefits for keeping them and consequences for not keeping them? I am just being real with you, O reader, and want you to understand what God put in my heart to say.

        I do believe that there are benefits to keeping the commandments of God, and there are many benefits to keeping them. I can’t list all of them in this blog, but I want to give just a few to spark your curiosity. Before I elaborate on them, I want to say that God didn’t do away with the law of God; for Jesus said in Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” To some Christians the word “fulfill” meant that He fulfilled the law by nailing it to the cross and by keeping it Himself. Because He kept it, we didn’t have too—that’s some mainstream Christians believes. But is that what He actually said? In the Greek, the word ‘fulfill’ means to fill to the full or to give the full meaning, so Jesus was giving the full meaning of the law in His ministry—which is why he gave the spiritual intent of law like committing adultery in His sermon on the mount. He didn’t want the law to be done away with, but to be kept. He told the rich man that if he wanted to enter into life, keep the commandments (Matthew 19:17): having eternal life is a benefit of keeping God’s commandments.

        Now I know that some will say that eternal life is a gift from God and it’s by faith and not by works, and commandment keeping is works. That’s true, but James said to show your faith by your works (James 3:17). Keeping the commandments of God is showing your faith by your works, and if you sin, Jesus Christ will help you to overcome it and forgive you by His blood. Jesus is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25), and will give eternal life to His elect whom the Father has called out of this world who overcomes the world. These elect keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ as it says in revelation. We know that eternal life is one benefit of keeping the commandments of God, but what are the others.

        Here are a few that I have discovered in this study. One of them is that you’ll have long life; for the 4^th commandment says in Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” Paul said about this commandment in Ephesians 6:1-3 that it’s a commandment with promise—which was instruction for children to obey their parents. Good parents live long lives on the earth, and the apostle John lived the longest of all the apostles because he took care of Jesus’s mother (John 19:25-27). It is possible to honor your parents who were not honorable such as dads who ran away from their children or were abusive to their children. You don’t have to be like them in order to honor them. If they tell you to sin and turn away from God, it’s better to obey God then your parents because satan is trying to use this commandment to turn you away from God. God is and should be the most important relationship in the life of a Christian. You can honor your parents who don’t believe by loving them unconditionally and praying for them—even if they hurt you. God will honor you for it.

        Another benefit is that you’ll be a content person. The commandment to not covet helps to understand this benefit. A person who covets something that’s not theirs like another man’s wife or animals or things isn’t usually content. Paul said in Hebrews 13:5 and 6 to be content and not covet and God will not leave you nor forsake you. He also said in Philippians 4:11-13 that he knows how to abase and to abound, and that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him. Jesus said in Matthew 7:25-33 to not be anxious about your needs because God will provide if you seek His kingdom and His righteousness. God will provide for you, and being content with God’s goodness will satisfy every longing in your life.

        Another benefit to keeping the law is that you’ll have liberty. James calls the law the perfect law of liberty and anyone that does it is blessed
(James 1:25). In Psalm 119:45, it says: “And I will walk in liberty / For I seek Your precepts.” What did the psalmist mean by that? Well who ever breaks the law dies for the wages of sin is death as Paul says in Romans 6:23, so if you keep it you’ll walk in the land of the living. When Adam was Eve were planted in the Garden of Eden, God gave them liberty to eat of the fruits of the garden except the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil—this was God’s law. There was liberty within law. You can have liberty without law, but that leads to death; for Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, and they eventually died along with all of mankind after them. They had liberty without law, and it killed them, but if you obey the law you’ll have liberty within it and eat the good of the land.

        Another benefit of keeping the law is you’ll be happy and joyful. This only works if you don’t feel burdensome by keeping it as John said in 1 John 5:3. David said in psalm 19:9: “The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart”. Solomon also said in proverbs 29:18: “Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; but he who keeps the law, happy is he.” What makes a person happy by keeping the law? When people keep the law, they don’t have to worry about the consequences of their actions because right actions give you joy and happiness.

        The next benefit to keeping the law is that you are above reproach from your enemies. The psalmist in Psalm 119: 22 said: “take away reproach and contempt from me; for I have kept your testimonies.” Testimonies are referring to the ten commandments written in stone by God—which He gave to Moses. Those who keep the law don’t have anything to worry about in regards to being reproached by people who don’t keep the commandments; for there’s no condemnation toward God’s children as Paul says in Romans 8:1. Any enemy that reproaches a law-abiding citizen would be cursed by God as God turned Balak’s curse into a blessing for the children of Israel, and Balaam ended up dying in a war with Israel over what happened with Median who seduced Israel to go to Baal of Peor. Also, God told Abram that He would curse those who curse him and bless those who bless him, and he was a commandment keeping man; for God said that he was when he blessed Isaac after his death.

        Another benefit to keeping the law is that you’ll be wiser than your enemies. In Psalm 119: 98-100, it says: “Thy commandments make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me / I have more understanding than all my teachers; for thy testimonies are my meditation / I understand more than my elders, because I have kept thy precepts.” How could keeping the law make you wiser than your enemies? Simple because the law is your wisdom for life as Moses said to Israel in Deuteronomy 4:6, and it teaches you the fear of the LORD and understanding as it is written in Psalm 111:10. Also, the commandments of God make wise the simple as it was explained in Psalm 19:7. A person who doesn’t keep the law doesn’t have an understanding of what’s right and wrong and are not aware of what’s right and just as it is written in Daniel 12:10.

        Another benefit and the last one that I’ll mention in this blog is that a law-abiding person is blessed. In Deuteronomy 28, there are a list of blessings that will happen when you keep the commandments of God: you’ll have lots of children, animals, and good weather for your crops. You’ll have abundance of food as well as victories in battle. There are a lot of things that Moses lists as blessings for obedience to the commandments. Two of those blessings are a faithful wife and children. Solomon said in proverbs 18:22: “Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the LORD.” Solomon also said in psalm 127:3: “children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring are a reward from Him.” These are two blessings from God for keeping the law of God which is part of His covenant. A good and just man that keeps the law are blessed by God beyond measure and are a special treasure in His sight as Moses said in Deuteronomy 7:6.

        These are eight benefits to keeping the law of God, and I’m sure there are many more to think about, and I hope you’ll research them all, O reader, in the scriptures. I hope you are all encouraged by this study, and that you’ll get the most out of these words of truth. These benefits of keeping the law will help you continue to be a sinless man or woman in Christ, and live a long and happy life in the LORD who will give eternity to a good and just man or woman.