Introduction

God’s character does not change, but our perception of it absolutely will as we draw nearer to him.¹ The commandments you presently know are not an end, but a gateway to greater understanding and assimilation of God’s character. Commandments are not issued as final truths that fully and accurately describe the depth and breadth of God’s character. Instead, they are progressive instructions that give us increasingly more accurate estimations of his character. They do not reveal all there is to know, but merely the very next increment of understanding. They are given as stepping stones toward the fullness of how he is. The purpose of stepping stones is not to yield the end, but to make it easier to take the next step toward the end. Those who reject the next provided stepping stone fail to reach the intended end.²

Different people have different commandments. Commandments are instructions that delineate the next step from wherever a person is to the next increment of God they are capable of perceiving, receiving, and valuing. As such, while God does not change, his commandments will vary between and among individuals due to limits in and changes to their capacity or situation. As you walk in the way of life, you should expect God to continue to bless you with new, greater, and updated commandments.³

The more like God you become, the more extensively God can show you more about himself, leading to better outcomes for you and those who know you here and hereafter. The ability of any person to perceive, receive, value, and live God’s commandments is limited by the differences between their character and God’s. Their intelligence, diligence, courage, strength, and direction of desire, and a host of other character qualities will all facilitate God’s ability to teach them to the degree they are similar to his, and impede his ability to teach them to the degree they are dissimilar to his.

Commandments are a means of drawing nearer to Christ by learning more about what he is like and living what we learn.⁴⁷⁰ The purpose of any commandment is to instruct you in the very next step from where you are towards how God is. God reveals new or expanded commandments at every stage of similarity to himself.⁴⁷¹ The relationship between commandments and similitude to God is like the foundation to the height of the building. A foundationless building is very limited in height. The stronger the foundation, the higher you can build the building. Whenever anyone attains a greater level of similitude to God, he gives them new or expanded commandments.