Sometimes it is asked…

Why didn’t God just tell us exactly what to do? Why spread it out across numerous letters and such? Why not just give it to us straight, like in a list?

He did. It’s called the Old Law.

And men still disobeyed it!

I’m thankful God’s New Covenant is not just a New Law but is also a new kind of Law, one that is not about a check-list of do’s and don’t so much as it is an entirely new lifestyle. We give ourselves completely over to Christ. Naturally that means there are certain do’s and dont’s that go with that (we do love our enemies, we don’t seek vengeance, etc), but Christianity is not about the list…it’s about the life.

The New Testament is written the way it is because it’s written to Christians dealing with struggling living the life. If you think just having all the musts and must-nots listed out 1-2-3 four you would make you more likely to obey, I’m sorry to say that’s not true. The fact is, people obey God, not because the commandments are plainly-stated, but because they love God. Period.

There are plenty of obvious commands listed in the Bible. Why won’t people obey the command to be baptized? It’s plainly-stated (Mark 16:16)! People don’t obey because they don’t love (John 14:15), simple as that.