16...My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. (John 7)
“Thou shalt” and “thou shalt not” are interesting phrases. You can read them one of two ways. You can read them as directives (and plentiful examples of this use can be found, particularly, in the Old Testament where the Lord enumerates commandments to Moses, Aaron, Aaron’s sons, and the children of Israel) or you can read them as prophecy—a foretelling of things that will happen (for example, “...go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.” (Matthew 17:27)
I used to read most of the “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots” as directives that insinuated the slightest threat of punishment. I no longer see them that way.
More and more, when I read “thou shalt” and “thou shalt not,” I see prophecy based on one’s adherence to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is especially true in my own personal walk with God and the commands that he gives directly to me. What, at first glance, looks like a directive turns out to be prophecy when I act in faith, trusting in the fact that the Lord will help me bring it pass.
When I obtain the most joy in this regard is when my nature changes and I can sense that I am a better person than I was previously. For example, the Lord says, “Thou shalt not kill.” Seems an easy enough commandment to obey. Most of us don’t go around killing each other. But in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord equates anger and killing. He tells us that if you are angry with your brother, the consequence is the same. So, the issue isn’t your actions. The issue is your nature. And he can change your nature. And, when he does, a change in your actions is the natural result. If you allow him to change your nature, “thou shalt not kill.” See how that becomes prophecy? Read it again. It is no longer a directive. Your conformity to his command becomes a simple thing, though, I will say that arriving at the point where his directives to you become prophecy in every aspect of your life is often a tortuous process. But as you do arrive at that point, it’s almost as if God can say about the changes in you, “See? I told you that if you followed my gospel that you would become this kind of a person.” You get to the point where you don’t give gifts grudgingly—you don’t have to convince or motivate yourself to obey God’s word. This happens in more and more areas of your character. Your developing trust in Him and in the portion of his word that he has given you leads you to believe that he will continue to improve you until you trust in him completely.
We can know that Christ’s teachings are from the Father because they will change us. That change will be so obvious and so dramatic that there will be no way to doubt that an adherence to his teachings affected that change. Truly, if any man will do the Father’s will, he will know of the doctrine.