613 Mitzvot

I will be starting over in my postings of the 613 mitzvot. This time I will be following the order that is in Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, which contains 14 primary "books" or sections. Therefore there will be some negative and positive mitzvot together. In addition, I could expand on previous studies because I just might notice new things!
The first section is "THE BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE." I will cover mitzvot that have to do with the fundamentals of the Torah.

Shemot/Exodus 20.2
Anochi YHVH Eloheycha asher hotzeticha me'eretz Mitzrayim mibeyt avadim.
I am YHVH your Elohey, who brought you out of Mitzrayim (Egypt), from the place of bondage. (Shemot 20.2)

With these words G-d enjoined the Jewish People to know with certainty that G-d exists; this knowledge involves accepting that:
G-d’s existence is timeless;
G-d created the Universe by His Own choice;
G-d is omnipotent;
G-d is aware of and acts upon His knowledge of all human affairs (Divine Providence);
We are obligated to serve Him.
(Nachmanides)

Hebrews 11:6
And without trusting, it is impossible to be well pleasing to God, because whoever approaches him must trust that he does exist and that he becomes a Rewarder to those who seek him out.

Ya’akov/James 2:19
You believe that "God is one"? Good for you? The demons believe it too—the thought makes them shudder with fear!

Notice that this mitzvah does say, "Believe in Me, because I created the world." Rather it says, "Believe in me, because I am the One who brought you out of Mitzrayim, from the place of bondage.

It was your exodus from Egypt that confirmed your knowledge of G-d. You are eyewitness to the miracles of the Ten Plagues and of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds (G-d split the sea for the Jews and then drowned the Egyptians in it) proved beyond any doubt the existence of: a Creator, Who created the world by His Own choice, and maintains complete control over the world (in a world which always existed without a Creator, no Power would have been able to alter natural law, as occurred during the Ten Plagues in Egypt); Divine Providence – for G-d intervened on your behalf to redeem you from Egyptian enslavement and to punish the Egyptians who wished to destroy you. (Nachmanides)

Nachmanides goes on to say, "the term ‘house of bondage’ expresses the absolute hopelessness of your situation in Egypt; how complete was your subjugation to Pharaoh, who had you imprisoned in his land – you had no opportunity whatsoever for escape through any natural means. G-d mentioned this fact when he began to speak with the Jewish people, so that they would understand that they owed their allegiance to G-d. The chances of salvation had been beyond the realm of worldly possibility, yet G-d redeemed them from there."

We believe in Him through a trusting relationship because He redeemed us! There is no way that this redemption is possible by natural means. There is no way we could escape completely from Mitzrayim (representing our evil inclination – yetzer hara’)

Romans 6:17-18
By God’s grace, you, who were once slaves to sin, obeyed from your heart the pattern of teaching to which you were exposed; and after you had been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.