God only commands us to things that are good for us
and good for the world. Therefore, He instructs us to do things that would be
good even if He hadn’t instructed them. It’s like how a good parent tells their
child to eat their vegetables, brush their teeth, and be very careful on busy
roads. The child would benefit from doing these things after being taught by
their parents, but would still benefit from those things even if they had
worked it our from their own experiences and hadn’t been told to do so.
If God commands us, it’s because the thing being commanded is already good for us. That’s why, when Jesus says, “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God” – the corollary is that in doing what is good for us in God’s eyes, we come to see more clearly who He is, and that His commands are rooted in truth.
