God’s Commands Are Invitations

Ask most Christians if we should desire God, and you'll get a resounding yes. But ask if we should desire God’s commands, and the answers often come slower hesitant, qualified, cautious. Why? Because many believers have been burned by legalism, or fear it like a plague. And while it’s true that our standing before God is based not on our rule-keeping but on Christ’s righteousness, that gospel truth has sometimes left us wary of commands altogether.

But what if obedience is not the enemy of grace? What if God’s commands are not burdens to bear, but bridges to deeper communion?

More Than Obligation

Let’s reframe the whole discussion. What if God’s commands are best understood as invitations wrapped in obligations? What if the “do this” of Scripture is not a cold requirement, but a warm summons into God’s joy?

At first glance, commands feel heavy especially to unregenerate hearts. As Romans 8:7–8 reminds us, the flesh resists God’s law with hostility. But for the born-again believer, God’s commandments strike a different chord. The heart softened by grace begins to see that obedience isn’t about earning acceptance it’s about enjoying fellowship.

Union and Communion

This is where the classic categories of union and communion with God become invaluable. Our union with God is unchanging. It is secured by Christ’s finished work. Nothing we do or don’t do can improve or diminish it.

Our communion with God, however, can fluctuate. When we obey, we sense His pleasure. When we sin, we feel distant. Not because He’s turned from us, but because sin dulls our joy in Him. As John Owen explained, obedience doesn’t secure union, but it nourishes communion.

Commands are invitations to draw near. They’re not conditions for acceptance, but catalysts for intimacy.

Obedience That Pleases

Scripture is clear that our obedience can bring delight to the heart of God. “We make it our aim to please Him,” Paul writes (2 Corinthians 5:9). We please Him through generosity (Philippians 4:18), godly living (Colossians 1:10), and even how we treat our family (1 Peter 3:7). Not to earn His love, but because we have it.

This is obedience powered by faith the kind that flows from trust and love, not fear or pride.

Command and Communion

Jesus ties His commands directly to communion. “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (John 15:10). Obedience isn’t just about morality it’s about abiding. Obeying Jesus draws us into His love and joy (John 15:11).

Even specific commands, like love one another or endure suffering, aren’t just rules. They’re paths into deeper experiences of Christ. Loving others as He loved us (John 13:34) helps us know that love. Suffering with Him (Philippians 3:10) helps us share His heart.

And when we give generously? Paul ties that act to the richness of Christ’s own sacrifice (2 Corinthians 8:9). We don’t just mimic Christ in these commands we meet Him there.

The New Covenant Heart

How does all this become possible? Only through the new covenant. In Ezekiel 36 and Jeremiah 31, God promises to write His law on our hearts. Not just demand obedience cause it. He gives new hearts that want what He wants.

Philippians 2:12–13 echoes this: “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” We obey because He enables us to obey. His work in us creates the desire and the ability.

This means the must of obedience is no longer cold or crushing. It’s filled with affection. As one writer put it, God says, “You must, but not that kind of must.” Not the kind that strives for acceptance, but the kind that rests in it.

A Command to Rejoice

Psalm 112:1 celebrates the one who “delights in His commandments.” Not merely submits to them. Delights in them. That’s the fruit of a new heart.

So let’s recover the beauty of God’s commands. Let’s not treat them like obstacles to grace or relics of an old religion. Let’s see them for what they truly are God’s invitations to commune more deeply with Him.

They’re not chains they’re channels of joy. Not ladders to climb, but lights for the path of relationship.

In Christ, you’re already His. Now walk with Him. And discover how obedience, far from being the enemy of joy, becomes its clearest expression.

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