“You shall have no other gods before me.”—–mandatory

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”—–mandatory

He said “shall,” not “should.”—–mandatory

“Choose you this day whom you will serve.”—–voluntary

“You must be born again.”—–mandatory

“Follow Me“—–mandatory

“If you confess Jesus is Lord, you will be saved.”—–voluntary

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, . . .”—–voluntary

“. . . but he who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven.”—–mandatory

“Husbands, love your wives.”—–mandatory

“Wives, submit to your husbands.”—–mandatory

“Children, obey your parents.”—–mandatory

“You shall eat the fruit of every tree in the garden . . . “—–mandatory

“. . . but you shall not eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden.”—–mandatory

 

From day one God gives lots of mandatory instructions (whether we like it or not), with one universal exception.  If you don’t like the way God set it up and explained it in the Bible, you do have a way out—very simply:

God does not override free will—voluntary

BUT,

He just has the last word, in everything.—–mandatory

 

And one more thing—suppose you want to be part of God’s people, but still want the option to do your own thing.  We can never sidestep or outsmart the “IF‘s” in the Bible, even if we are a part of His people.

“IF MY PEOPLE, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My Face, and turn from their wicked ways; THEN I WILL hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.”