As Jesus is the cornerstone upon which the Church is built, so are his teachings the unifying cornerstone of Christian doctrine.

Which Commandments

When Jesus instructed a rich young man to keep the commandments if he was to enter into life, he asked which. To us that might seem strange, because we assume in our culture that "the commandments" means the Ten Commandments. Yet, in Jewish culture it is and was popular to understand that phrase as all 600 plus commandments contained in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament. Many count that as 613 commandments, a whole lot more than ten.

Indeed, in Matthew 19:17-19 Jesus then quoted several of the Ten Commandments, but added one not specifically contained within the decalogue. He said to love your neighbor as yourself which comes from Leviticus 19:18 and is not quoted in the Ten Commandments. The commandments that Jesus quoted summarize how we are to do good towards our neighbor.

Saturday Sabbatarian churches love to quote these verses when claiming that we must keep the 7th day Sabbath, even though neither Jesus nor the apostles made any such command for the church.

A great number of the 613 commands from the Old Testament are flatly ignored by all Christians, at least in the flesh. Why? Christians do not operate by the letter of the law but by the spirit. Our sacrifice is in Christ, our circumcision is of the heart, and our rest is in Jesus for eternity.

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