I Have Performed
The above statement sounds really good until you consider its context, 1 Samuel 15:13. It came from King Saul after he fought against the Amalekites. God said to Saul, “Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them…” (1 Samuel 15:3). God gave this command to “punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way” (1 Samuel 15:2). So, Saul went out and “destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword” (1 Samuel 15:8), but kept the king and the best of the livestock alive. When Samuel came to meet Saul after the battle, Saul uttered these words, “I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” The problem wasn’t that Saul didn’t do some of what God told him to do, but he didn’t do all of what God told him to do. For this reason, Samuel said, “Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23).
Many people today make the same claim. They say, “I have performed the commandment of the Lord” when they have really only done some but not all that God has commanded. Jesus told his apostles that they should teach disciples “to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). Jesus wants us to obey Him in all things, not some. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). If we neglect one “word” from God, then we have not performed his commandment, regardless of what some may claim. Our behavior in Christ ought to conform to all that Christ has said, not just part.