Positive Commandments versus Negative Commandments

The bible is full of commandments such as "thou shall" or "thou shall not." A positive command is an injunction to do something (thou shall) whereas a negative command is a prohibition from doing something (thou shall not).

Among Christians, there is no disagreement that the negative commandments are to be obeyed. Thou shall not murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, etc. are not disputed. In fact, these are easier to keep as one simply refrains from a particular act.  The more difficult commandments that are less glaring but more difficult to keep are the positive commandments.  I contend that the disobedience to the positive commandments are less obvious than the disobedience to the negative commandments is the visibility to either ourselves or to those around us. How many times have we seen Christians fall because of disobedience to a negative commandment such as adultery? In this instance, we have a disobedience to a commandment for the world to see.

Yet, there are commandments that God requires us to perform and disobedience to those commandments are not so glaring. Just recently I was having a conversation with someone on forgiveness. It is a positive commandment. It requires an overt action versus simply refraining from doing something. Scripture states that we must forgive each other as He has forgiven us (Colossians 3:13). Scripture also states that we must do it seventy times seven if necessary (Matthew 18:22). Scripture also commands that if a person has something against us, instead of leaving our gift at the alter, we must seek reconciliation first. (Matthew 5:23). Disobedience to these positive commandments are easily ignored and are not seen by the general public and in fact, are easily excused . The frame of mind of people is that since no overt act was committed such as theft or a lie, obedience to God’s word remains intact. This is a sin of omission for it is a disobedience by omitting performance of a commandment.

If we fail to obey the positive commandments, we are guilty of sin much like we are guilty of sin when we disobey the negative commandments. A positive commandment is an action that God asks us to perform. It requires an overt action on our part. Seek reconciliation, pray for one another, love your neighbor as yourself, honor your mother and father are more difficult to perform when hurt feelings or anger are involved and are more difficult for it involves an action on our part. Again, this is in contrast to simply abstaining from an action that we know to be wrong. Which is more difficult, seeking out someone that we hurt or refraining from an action?

Christians are quick to jump on the bandwagon when they see blatant sin. Unfortunately, the sins of omission sit on the back burner while Christians, collectively, are working hard to omit the sins that are violating God’s negative commandments. If Christians were to take stock of the sins of omission, the positive commandments that we fail to do, and quietly seek out reconciliation, whether we were at fault or not, seek to honor the elderly, cheerfully and quietly give, love our neighbor as ourselves, pray for our enemies and those that hurt us, the light of Christ would shine much more brightly than our refraining from doing what we know to be wrong.

Photo:  DrGBB 

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