Deuteronomy 8:1 “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers.”
If you want to possess the land of promise, if you want to go in and live and multiply there, then you have to be careful to do the whole commandment.
I’m talking about being a Christian, living in the kingdom of God now and for eternity. To multiply as a Christian doesn’t mean to have kids; it means to make disciples as Jesus commanded in the Great Commission.
If that’s the life now and forever that you want, then there is just one requirement given here, and that is to be careful to do the whole commandment.
I can tell you exactly what that is: love God, love others. That’s the sum of all God’s law. (Matthew 22:37-40) That’s the definition of a Christian: they love God; they love others.
Jesus said: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15 NKJV)
John puts it this way: “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” (1 John 2:3 NKJV)
If you don’t keep God’s commandments, you don’t love Him; you don’t even know Him. Which, of course, makes perfect sense.
Because if you knew God, you’d love Him. How can you not love the One who is perfect love, if you really understood that was who He is?
Jesus spoke more on love, saying: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35 NKJV)
The mark of being a Christian is obeying God’s commands. The natural outcome of that is love for others. That’s being a Christian.
There’s no list of “I believe this/not that” that you can check off and agree to that makes you a Christian. Agreeing with certain Biblical principles, historical facts, and lifestyle choices makes you a cultural Christian, but not necessarily a child of God.
Being a Christian means God’s love has been poured into your heart by the Holy Spirit because your heart has been surrendered to God, giving up your life to receive His.