Why did God say, thou shall not and why did Jesus say, thou shall? In the Old Covenant, God had to deal with the old carnal man, who walks after the flesh and whose spirit is death. Since the old man belongs to the generation of fallen man, God knew there was no good present in the flesh (body and soul), but evil. Therefore the old man with his sinful nature isn’t able to do good. In the Old Covenant, there were only a few people, who yielded to God and obeyed His commandments and His Word. Because of the fact, that the nature of the flesh was evil, God said, Thou shall not. Because the flesh always contradicts the spirit and always wants to do those things that go against the will of God.
God versus the devil
The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be (Romans 8:7)
The devil will always rebel against the Word of God and His will. When God commands you to not do something, the devil shall always say the opposite and shall encourage you to do it. The devil shall always rebel against God’s will and do those things which are an abomination to God.
It’s all about who you want to obey. The devil and your flesh? Or God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and the Spirit? (Read also: ‘Whose slave are you?‘)
Thou shall not vs Thou shall
When your flesh with its sinful nature is crucified and when your spirit is raised from the dead and the Holy Spirit abides in you, you have received God’s nature. You have become a son of God and belong to Him and you shall do everything you can to please Him.
Since your nature has changed, you shall no longer walk after the flesh and serve the devil, but you shall walk after the Spirit and serve Jesus Christ and the Father. Because of that, you shall no longer live after the law of sin and death, but you shall live after the law of the Spirit.
When you are born again in Jesus Christ and have become a new creation, God won’t have to say to you: “Thou shall not”, because His Holy Spirit; His nature dwells in you. Therefore you will automatically do His will. You shall walk after the Spirit, Who says: “Thou shall”.
When you walk after the Spirit, you shall walk in the commandments of Jesus. Jesus said: “Thou shall…”, because He knew that the new man is born of God and has God’s nature and is able to fulfill the law of God, which is the will of God.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
