RICHARD FOSTER
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
As Adventists we were taught that any time we saw the word “commandments” in Scripture it always meant the Ten Commandments, in particular the Sabbath, of course! Perhaps nothing else is so ingrained in the Adventist mind as the assumption that the word “commandments” is always, automatically, a reference to the Decalogue. Thus, Adventists wear a set of interpretive glasses concerning this word, and these glasses cause them to automatically think Ten Commandments, regardless of the context in which the word is used.
The Adventist, therefore, reads John 14:15 in this way: “If you love Me, you will keep the Ten Commandments.” Indeed, I have tried to explain to Adventist friends that Jesus was not talking about the Decalogue here specifically, but the things which He had personally commanded to His disciples. Sad to say, to get Adventists to see this is often less successful than pulling hen’s teeth.
They need this and other texts which mention commandments to be referring to the Ten in order to substantiate the claim that we are required under the new covenant to observe their Saturday Sabbath.
Unfortunately, the Adventist interpretation of this text, and other New Testament texts which use the word “commandments”, is not a minor or harmless error. The saying that “bad theology hurts people” most certainly applies here, and for multiple reasons. In the first place they really want this to be a reference to the Ten Commandments in order to prove their case that Christians are required to keep the Sabbath. They need this and other texts which mention commandments to be referring to the Ten in order to substantiate the claim that we are required under the new covenant to observe their Saturday Sabbath. This situation is so because, if the New Testament usage of the word “commandments” is referring to the New Testament commandments of Jesus and the Apostles, then sabbatarianism is going to be hard to substantiate since neither Jesus or any of the Apostles ever made a point to command Sabbath observance. Moreover, the Apostle Paul weakens the case for New Testament Sabbath observance in texts like Colossians 2:16, and Galatians 4:10.
Even worse, their misinterpretation of John 14:15 is harmful for a much worse reason than trying to impose sabbatarianism upon Christians. Here’s the crucial issue: our Lord Jesus said if we love Him, we will keep His commandments, and Jesus made very important and specific commandments which can be found throughout the gospels. In fact, most of the commandments we find our Lord speaking in the gospels are not in the Ten Commandments.
For example, He commands us to repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15). We don’t find this commandment specifically in the Decalogue. Some other things that Jesus commands are that we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, that we love our neighbor as ourselves, and that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us (Matthew 22:37-39, 7:12). Again, we do not find these commandments in the Decalogue specifically.
Adventist Interpretation Obscures Jesus
The problem is that the Adventist interpretation of John 14:15 as being a command to keep the Ten Commandments obscures the things that Jesus commanded in the Gospels. Even more, it obscures the things His apostles commanded in the epistles by His authority. I ask, what is more important: to abstain from coveting, or to repent and believe the gospel? We may conscientiously spend our whole life avoiding covetousness, theft, and adultery, but unless we repent and believe the gospel, we shall be lost nonetheless. Likewise, we may make an effort all our lives to conscientiously rest from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday as well as to avoid ever using God’s name in swearing, but we may still fail to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, all while keeping the strict letter of the first four commandments.
This Adventist misinterpretation of Scripture illustrates why it is so important to heed each word of the verbally inspired Scriptures as well as the context.
This Adventist misinterpretation of Scripture illustrates why it is so important to heed each word of the verbally inspired Scriptures as well as the context. When Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments”, He meant specifically the things that He commanded, and we can only do harm to ourselves and others to disregard the plain meaning of His phrasing by substituting something else. The reality is that while an Adventist will try to straw-man anyone who doesn’t make the Ten Commandments absolutely central as somehow saying it’s alright with God if we steal, kill, and commit adultery, the Adventist is in effect saying it’s okay to ignore the New Testament commandments of Christ—or at least to treat them as less important than the old covenant Decalogue.
What Are Christ’s Commands?
So, having established that the Adventist interpretation of John 14:15 is not only faulty but even harmful and potentially dangerous, let us now consider the actual commandments of Christ. There are over fifty commandments, or imperatives, given by Christ in the Gospels. Because of the limitations of this article, we won’t be able to mention here every specific thing Christ commands. A whole book could be written on that subject, and indeed, John Piper has actually written such a book. In fact, his book, What Jesus Demands From the World, is available free on desiringgod.org.
Of course there is no better way to become familiar with what Jesus commands us to do than to read the four Gospels over and over again. Every Christian would do well to be intimately acquainted with the teachings of Jesus through repeated readings of the Gospels.
There are two things that stick out in what Jesus commands. These two things we might say are a summary of Christian duty. The apostle John confirms this:
“This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (1 John 3:23-24).
Notice the two commandments mentioned.
1. We are to believe on the name of Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus as our Savior and Lord is first and foremost.
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’” (John 11:25-26).
2. We are to love one another.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
So, first and foremost, we are to believe on our Lord Jesus Christ, and then we are also to love one another. The Christian life really is a simple thing when thought of in this way. God’s simple plan for our lives is first of all that we would believe on Him and His Son Jesus Christ. Second of all, He wants us to have love, both for Him and for our neighbor. In following these two principles we have everything we need. Through faith we have salvation, justification, adoption, sanctification, eternal life, and glorification. By faith in Christ our salvation is secure and complete. We are eternally united to God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior—and as born again Christians, we have the love of Christ in us enabling us to love one another.
Now, by loving as Christ commanded us, we shall grow into His likeness, just as God has ordained for us to do as His adopted children.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).
In fact that New Testament emphasizes faith and love to such an extent that it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that they are the two main principles given to us by our Lord Jesus. The apostle Paul confirms this emphasis and adds hope as well:
“But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
All of this beautiful simplicity of Christianity notwithstanding, there is an unfortunate reality that there are those who always seek to complicate God’s simple plan. Christ has given us principles to live by, and if we are living by those things, we have liberty in Him concerning the details. The spirit of the new covenant is not one of micromanagement on God’s part! If we are living according to faith and love, as He commanded us, we are within the will of God, and He is happy to give us freedom in navigating the finer details of life. But the legalistic and controlling spirit doesn’t accept this kind of liberty that we have in Christ. Legalists—like all religions of control—want all the details spelled out in hundreds of rules, regulations, and stipulations. Sadly, we see such a spirit within Adventism contained within the voluminous writings of Ellen White. Literally thousands of rules are imposed by Ellen upon her followers, and there is absolutely no area of life into which she didn’t intrude with dozens—and even hundreds—of rules. And all of them are said to be essential for the perfection necessary to be saved!
In contrast to the bondage, slavery, and legalism of Adventism, though, is the simple, peace-giving, liberating religion of Jesus Christ.
In contrast to the bondage, slavery, and legalism of Adventism, though, is the simple, peace-giving, liberating religion of Jesus Christ. He says if we love Him we will keep His commandments. And His commandments, in a nutshell, are that we would believe on Him, love God, and love our neighbor.
Let us believe on Jesus Christ, personally trusting in Him for everything we need. In doing so we shall know the great love of God, which is beyond comprehension in having graciously provided salvation for us through the finished work of our Lord Jesus. And having experienced this great love of God in Jesus Christ, love will begin to flow naturally from our hearts made new by Him.
Let’s end this article with some wonderful texts of Scripture to reinforce these points in our minds.
Regarding faith:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God”( John 3:16-18).
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24).
“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1).
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:16-17).
“[A]nd after he brought them out, he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household’” (Acts 16:30-31).
“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” (1 John 4:15).
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him” (1 John 5:1).
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5).
Regarding love:
“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you” (John 15:12).
“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:8-10).
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6).
“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:13-14).
“If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well” (James 2:8).
“For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (1 John 3:11).
“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death” (1 John 3:14).
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).
“We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also” (1 John 4:19-21).
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). †
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