Choices are a part of life. Whether they deal with what to do for a living, who to marry, etc., choices must be made. Most of the time these choices are not restricted to one option but offer several different avenues to a conclusion. However, there are some situations in life where the conclusions are inescapable. God has always had the best interest of His people in mind when giving instruction. That is why Solomon wrote, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). But this Old Testament Commandment is also applicable to those of us blessed to live in New Testament times. Of course, all of God’s Directives to man must be “accurately handled” so they can be properly understood and followed.
The apostle Paul wrote much the same thing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15. But here, He also told how we are to “know” what God wants us to do as we strive to be pleasing and acceptable to Him. One cannot know if they will not study! If Timothy needed this admonition, it certainly applies to us as well.
“Why is keeping the Commandments of God” the whole duty of man?”
When Jesus came to earth, He did not come to judge man (John 12:47). His purpose was to bring Salvation (the means for Salvation) to man. But we must also understand the Hebrew writer says judgment will come. He says, “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Paul also writes “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
The judgment is an inescapable conclusion if one reads and studies the Bible. We do not know when this will occur, except to the degree the Bible tells us. We know the “end” is coming. 1 Corinthians 15:24-26 tells us this. So, we see that Christ will “rule” or “reign” until the end. The end of what? Peter answers that for us. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).
Inescapable conclusions
From these Bible facts, we can also conclude that while we are alive and have full access of our faculties is the time to make the needed changes in our lives. One way to make the changes needed within us is to prioritize. Jesus knew this and told those hearing Him preach the Sermon on the Mount that the “kingdom” (the church) which would soon come, and the righteousness of God would have to be first in their lives (Matthew 6:33). The “things” of which the Lord spoke were the other necessities of life such as food, raiment, and shelter.
How do we prioritize the many things within our lives to ensure that we seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first? Well, it must be through that which will judge us after life for all humanity is over. It is a choice all must make. We can receive His Word, or we can reject it. In John 12:48, Jesus said: “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.” It is an inescapable conclusion that only the Word of God, properly understood and lived leads to the eternal life we desire. If we walk the wrong path or walk the path of this life without the light of the gospel, we will reach a destination we do not wish to reach.