What Did Jesus and the Apostles Command?
Whose commands bind you, how much you must keep — and how obedience relates to salvation.
Christ gave commands, and He sent apostles to deliver His commands in His name. Two questions follow, and Christians answer them very differently. First: whose commands actually bind you — only Jesus’ own words, His and His apostles’ together, or only the ones a church or an age still finds agreeable? Second, and sharper: do you have to obey to be saved?
That second question hides two opposite errors. One turns obedience into the price of salvation — a wage earned, extra rules bound, a flawless record demanded. The other treats obedience as optional — a good idea that a real faith can do without. This assessment tests whether you can hold the apostolic middle: obeying the gospel receives God’s gift and a living faith goes on obeying, yet that obedience is the response of faith, never its purchase price.
“And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”— Hebrews 5:9 (NKJV)
A quick diagnostic. About five minutes, across four areas: whose commands bind you, whether obeying is necessary to be saved, which commands you must keep, and whether salvation is one decision or a continuing walk. Answer honestly, not aspirationally.
1 Strongly disagree · 2 Disagree · 3 Unsure / mixed / never considered · 4 Agree · 5 Strongly agreeWhat Did They Actually Command?
The New Testament is not only ideas to admire; it is full of specific, obeyable commands. The apostles gave theirs in Christ’s name — “the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37). Expand each panel to see representative examples before you answer.
Commands of Jesus — entering life
Repent and believe the gospel. Mark 1:15
Be born of water and the Spirit. John 3:5
The Great Commission: make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to observe all He commanded. Matthew 28:19-20
Confess Him before men. Matthew 10:32
Enter by the narrow gate. Matthew 7:13-14
Commands of Jesus — worship and discipleship
“Do this in remembrance of Me” — the Lord’s Supper. Luke 22:19
Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me. Luke 9:23
Love God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37-39
Love one another as I have loved you. John 13:34
Forgive those who sin against you. Matthew 6:14-15; Luke 17:3-4
Pray — and how to pray. Matthew 6:9; Luke 18:1
The Sermon on the Mount: a dense block of commands on anger, lust, oaths, retaliation, loving enemies, giving, and worry. Matthew 5-7
Beware false prophets. Matthew 7:15
Commands of the apostles — the gospel response
Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. Acts 2:38
“Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins.” Acts 22:16
Confess with the mouth and believe in the heart. Romans 10:9-10
Present your body a living sacrifice. Romans 12:1
Commands of the apostles — the gathered church
Continue steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers. Acts 2:42
Do not forsake assembling together. Hebrews 10:24-25
Give as you have prospered, on the first day of the week. 1 Corinthians 16:2
Let all things be done decently and in order. 1 Corinthians 14:40
Keep the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner. 1 Corinthians 11:23-29
Commands of the apostles — personal holiness
Flee sexual immorality and flee idolatry. 1 Corinthians 6:18; 10:14
Walk in the Spirit; be filled with the Spirit. Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 5:18
Pray without ceasing; give thanks in everything; test all things. 1 Thessalonians 5:17-21
Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. James 1:22
Be holy in all your conduct. 1 Peter 1:15-16
Do not love the world; contend for the faith once delivered. 1 John 2:15; Jude 3
Commands of the apostles — relationships and society
Bear one another’s burdens. Galatians 6:2
Submit to the governing authorities. Romans 13:1
The household commands to wives, husbands, children, parents, and servants. Ephesians 5-6; Colossians 3
If anyone will not work, neither let him eat. 2 Thessalonians 3:10
Owe no one anything but to love one another. Romans 13:8
This is a representative sample, not an exhaustive list. As you take the assessment, the question is not whether these commands exist, but how you relate to them: whose commands bind you, how much you keep, and how obeying relates to being saved.
This is a diagnostic tool, not a spiritual verdict — a starting point for testing how you receive the apostolic word.
Recommended Truthscape Reading Path
Begin with one question or tension the assessment exposed. Do not try to resolve everything at once.
How this outcome was determined
This is a guide, not a verdict. Your outcome reflects the patterns in your answers — a starting point for testing, not a label.
Optional next step: the checkbox above the assessment shares your pattern anonymously for research. The form below is separate and only needed if you want a personal reply; if you submit it, your name, email, and results are sent to Truthscape.
Three Answers to “Must I Obey?” — Only One Is Apostolic
The question is not whether obedience matters, but how it relates to salvation. Three answers compete:
- Obedience earns. Here obeying is the wage that buys acceptance, and often extra rules are bound and a flawless record demanded. But “to him who works, the wages are counted as debt” — this makes grace into payment, and leaves the conscience either proud or terrified.
- Obedience is optional. Here faith is bare belief, and obeying His commands — especially the ones that cost something — becomes a good idea one can decline. But Jesus asks why we call Him Lord and do not do what He says, and John writes that whoever claims to know Him yet keeps not His commandments is a liar.
- The obedience of faith. Here obeying the gospel receives God’s gift, and a living faith goes on keeping His commands — not to earn what is already given, but because it belongs to Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Obedience is the shape of love, not its price.
The first collapses grace into merit. The second collapses faith into words. The apostolic gospel holds them together: salvation freely given, received by obedient faith, and lived out in faithful obedience.
- When the apostles command something in Christ’s name, do I receive it as His word or as mere men’s advice?
- Do I obey to secure God’s acceptance, or from rest in what Christ has already secured?
- Are there commands I quietly reclassify as optional because they are costly or unpopular?
- Does my assurance rest on a past moment, or on a continuing walk with Christ?
- Can I tell the difference between the obedience that earns and the obedience of faith?
The commands of Jesus and His apostles are not a ladder to climb or a burden to shed, but the shape of a life that belongs to Him. The aim of this assessment is not to reopen the old argument between grace and works, but to help you hold what the apostles held together: obey because you are His, not in order to become His.
“Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”— Matthew 28:20 (NKJV)