There’s really only one commandment. Not ten, not six hundred and thirteen — one. And it is not written on stone or paper. It is spoken. It is alive. It is ongoing.
“If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
Notice what He does not say. He does not say, “keep the Law of Moses.” He does not say, “keep the rules I wrote down for you three years ago.” He says my commandments — present, personal, His. And in the very next breath He tells you how you’ll receive them:
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:16-17)
The command and the Comforter are in the same conversation. That is not an accident.
The Word Was Always a Voice
From the beginning, God’s word was not a document. It was a voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). Adam’s fall was not failing to read something. It was failing to listen.
Elijah learned this on the mountain. Not the wind. Not the earthquake. Not the fire. “And after the fire a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:12) God had things to say to him, and He said them quietly, after the spectacle was over.
“To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Hebrews 3:15)
Today. Not “remember what He said.” Hear. Present tense. Ongoing.
What Christ Actually Called a Commandment
Watch how loosely — how personally — Jesus uses the word:
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you.” (John 13:34)
New? After Leviticus 19:18 already said love your neighbor? It is new because He is saying it. The newness is in the speaking, not the content.
“And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” (1 John 3:23)
One commandment — believe and love — and John immediately explains how you’ll know you’re in it: “hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” (1 John 3:24)
“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)
He keeps saying this is my commandment about different things. Because the commandment isn’t a static text. It’s whatever He is saying to you.
“He Shall Teach You All Things”
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26)
“He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John 16:13)
Read that carefully. The Spirit speaks. He speaks what He hears from Christ. So when the Spirit speaks to you, that is Christ speaking to you. And when Christ speaks to you, that is a commandment.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)
Hear, then follow. That’s the whole order of operations. You cannot follow what you have not heard.
The Spirit Gave Specific, Situational Commands
This is not theory. The book of Acts is a record of people being told what to do in real time:
“Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.” (Acts 8:29)
That command is not in Deuteronomy. It was for Philip, that day, on that road.
“As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” (Acts 13:2)
“Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia.” (Acts 16:6)
Forbidden to preach. Think about that. By any written standard, preaching in Asia was righteous. But the Spirit said no — and the Spirit’s no outranked the general principle. Because obedience is to a Person, not a policy.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)
Led. Present, continuous, ongoing. Not “as many as memorized the Spirit of God.”
Why the Written Law Could Never Be Enough
“Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6)
“But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” (Romans 7:6)
God said this was coming: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” (Jeremiah 31:33)
Internal. Not external. A voice inside, not a stone outside.
“But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth.” (1 John 2:27)
Obedience Was Always the Point
“Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 15:22)
Not obeying the law of the LORD. Obeying the voice.
“But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.” (Jeremiah 7:23)
Even Christ Himself: “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8) In Gethsemane He did not consult a text. He listened, and He said, “not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42)
How You Know If You Love Him
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.” (John 14:21)
“If a man love me, he will keep my words: and he that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings.” (John 14:23-24)
My words. My sayings. Not my legislation.
“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:4)
“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” (1 John 3:22)
So Here It Is
The commandment is not behind you in a book. It is in front of you in a voice.
He is speaking right now. He is telling you to forgive someone. To go make it right. To stop the thing you keep doing. To give that money away. To open your mouth. To be quiet. To wait.
You already know what He said. That is the commandment. And obeying it — today, in this hour — is the only proof of love He ever asked for.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
Then be still, and listen. He is still talking.
The Personal Website of Edgar "Mark" Sotomayor also known as BALTHASAR BASILEIA 