EVERYBODY KNOWS THE TWO GREATEST COMMANDMENTS EVER MADE, AT LEAST THEY SHOULD. Unfortunately, Even Those Who Claim They Are Christians Often Feel Justified In Not Adhering To The Greatest Commandments. Amazingly, many people who call themselves Christians deny they have freewill, yet they opt for not doing what the greatest commandments require.

When Jesus explained what the two greatest Commandments were, did He mean that we should not follow all the other Jewish commands?

Happy Riches answer requested by anonymous

The Talmud is the book of the Jews today. The Talmud states there are 248 positive commandments and 365 negative commandments. It would be impossible for anyone to observe all the commands that are applicable to the Jews, of which there are 613 according to Maimonides (Born: 1135, Córdoba, Spain Died: December 13, 1204, Fustat, Egypt. Buried: Tomb of Maimonides, Tiberias, Israel). For the 613 commandments to be kept, the Temple at Jerusalem would have to be built and a priesthood and the system of sacrificial offerings would have to be instituted.

The Bible (which consists of the Hebrew Tanahk, known as the Old Testament, and the New Testament) informs us that the apostles at Jerusalem determined that there were four negative commands that the Gentiles should observe:

• For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. (Acts 15:28–29)

These commands are negative because they belong to the “You shall not” variety of commandments.

1. You shall not eat food sacrificed to idols.
2. You shall not drink blood.
3. You shall not eat meat from strangled animals.
4. You shall not have sexual relations that are not sanctioned by God.

While is true that these may be included in the first of the two great commandments, most people have no idea what these two commandments entail. They claim they do; but have a look at all the people who claim they are adhering to these commandments. Where are they? For starters read what Jesus said:

• Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

These commandments are said to sum up the Law and the Prophets. Those who obey (not follow) these two commandments understand them. Few do. Most people (theologians and Bible scholars included) do not even understand these two commandments.

As for love, the book of 1 Corinthians 13 speaks of love in the negative and not the positive sense. Why is this?

As for following the commandments, the word “follow” means that the commandments would need to be in front of you. Maybe this is why the Israelites were commanded to wear the commandments on the their foreheads and on their hands.

The Jewish commandments cannot be followed or kept in their entirety today because the Temple at Jerusalem does not exist.

Jesus explained what was necessary to find favor in God’s sight—what is required of everyone. But people cannot obey what is required because they do not understand what the first commandment states, even though they read it. This is because too many people in their wisdom abbreviate the commandments and, in doing so, overlook what has really been stated. For these two commandments refer to the only words written by God. What they cover is much more than people realize.

Why The Only Words Written By God Need To Be Understood By Every Christian