Our passage today is from John 14:21:
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
There is a popular song, with the lyrics, “Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus.”
Verse 21 gives us a great promise which results in Jesus being manifested to us. But this verse isn’t mentioned much. It is frequently glossed over because of its conditions - having and keeping His commandments. Rather than appear legalistic in any form, many gloss over it, and move on.
Although this verse sounds like a works’ based formula, it is more of an alignment formula. If we are not keeping God’s commands, or aiming to please God, then why would we expect to see Jesus. If we are living to please ourselves, don’t expect Jesus to appear with a smile. Jesus said, “seek and you shall find”. If we seek to serve Him and please Him out of love, He will manifest himself to us.
The first condition in this verse is having His commandments. This sounds simple, but since this subject is rarely taught, there are many opinions. When asked, some will say the phrase, “My commandments” refers to the Ten Commandments. Modern Judaizers say it refers to the entire law of Moses. Some say it only refers to the non-ceremonial portion of the law of Moses. Others say it refers to the Greatest Commandment given in Matthew 22; to love God with all your being, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. None of these responses are accurate.
Before we can keep His commandments, we have to have them. Before we can define what Jesus’s commandments are, we need to know what they are not. This sermon is a three week series. This week’s sermon will focus on what Jesus’s commandments are not. I’ll begin by teaching on the opinions mentioned.
The Ten Commandments and the Law
The Ten Commandments can’t be separated from the law of Moses. They are the foundation for the law. Romans chapters 6 and 7 teach that we are not under law. Here are three of the verses:
“Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?“ Rom 6:15
“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through
the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was
raised from the dead, . . “ Rom 7:4
“But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what
we were held by, . .” Rom 7:6
I’ve heard some say that Romans 6 and 7 refer to the Pharisaical laws, not the law of Moses. They lie, and we know that because Romans 7 gives us an example of what law is being is being referred to. It says;
"I wouldn’t have known sin, except through the law. For I wouldn’t have
known coveting, unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” Romans 7:7
“You shall not covet” is the tenth of the Ten Commandments. Romans 7 places the Ten Commandments within in the law of Moses, and says we have been set free of it. The Ten Commandments are the foundation of the law. They can’t be separated.
The Law
I’ve had legalists go so far as to tell me Paul was wrong, thereby nullifying much of the New Testament. They also reject the rest of the apostles who agreed with Paul. In Acts 15, the apostles wrestled with the question of whether or not Gentile Christians needed to keep the law. They concluded the following in Acts 15:
“The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.
“Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law” - to whom we gave no such commandment - it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain . .
• from things offered to idols,
• from blood,
• from things strangled, and
• from sexual immorality.
“If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” Acts 15:23-29
In response to the Pharisees saying all Christians must obey the law, the apostles came to the decision that these four things must be abstained from. And we shouldn’t miss that “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit. Those who claim Paul and apostles were wrong are also saying the Holy Spirit was wrong.
The abstinence from the four items are the only points of the law brought forward to Christians. Your first response to hearing this should be to ask the following, “Does that mean we can now murder and steal, since we aren’t under the Ten Commandments? The answer is, “No”. The command of Jesus is to love one another. Love forbids us from stealing and murder.
The apostle’s letter also means we have shifted from the authority of the law of Moses, to the new authority under Christ’s commands. For example, if I move from England to the U.S, I am no longer subject to English law. But I have now become subject to American laws. Likewise, we are no longer under the law of Moses, but under the law of Christ, a law of love. We have moved from one authority to another.
When discussing freedom from the law of Moses, legalists immediately refer to Matthew 5, where Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.” Unfortunately, they ignore the rest of that passage. Matthew 5 says;
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Matt 5:17-18
Jesus said the law wouldn’t pass away until all of it was fulfilled. Consider the following questions and answers:
1. What did Jesus come to do?
Answer: Jesus said He came to fulfill the law. He didn’t fail in that mission.
2. Will any part of the law fall away by itself?
Answer: Jesus said NO part of the law would fall away until ALL of the law is fulfilled.
3. When will the law as a whole pass away?
Answer: When it is fulfilled.
4. What did Jesus come to do?
Answer: In verse 17, He said He came to fulfill any unfulfilled parts of the law. When He died on the cross, He
5. Did Jesus fail in what He came to do?
Answer: No. He fulfilled the entire law. Jesus is not coming again to fulfill any unfulfilled portion of the law. In John 17:4, He said, “I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”
6. What did Jesus say would happen when the law was fulfilled?
Answer: It would pass away.
7. What happened when Jesus fulfilled the entire law.
Answer: The law passed away. Jesus didn’t come to destroy the law, but He came to set us free from the law; both from its penalties and its burdens.
This doctrine of the law passing away is established in other passages. One of the best examples is found in 2 Corinthians 3;
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
“But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. " 2 Cor 3:1-9
The Ten Commandments were engraved on stones. This passage calls them the “ministry of death”, and connects them to the “ministry of condemnation.” The Law and Ten Commandments put men under condemnation by putting them under holy criteria they couldn’t keep. In contrast to the law, we have a ministry of righteousness. 1 John 5:3 says of Jesus’s commands; “His commandments are not burdensome.”
It surprises me that some seem to be unable to give New Testament commands the same weight of authority as the commands given by Moses. Why don’t we give New Testament commandments the same weight as the Ten Commandments? Because we want to justify ourselves. Jesus said in Matthew 12 that He was greater than the temple. In Matthew 12, He said said He was greater than Jonah, and greater than Solomon. In John, Jesus was clearly understood to be teaching that He was greater than Jacob and Abraham. On the Mount of Configuration, Moses and Elijah disappeared, and the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”
John 1 says;
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
John 1:16
But some will say, Jesus preached the law in the gospels. Yes, He did. Why, because until His crucifixion, the Jews were still under the Law. Jesus repeated parts of the law and Ten Commandments to the people, and especially those who challenged Him. He quoted the law to convict them of sin, and bring them to repentance. This is explained to us in Galatians.
Galatians:
The following verse tells us God’s purpose for the Law of Moses:
"Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified
by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." Gal 3:24-25
The law convicts sinners of sin, and the gospel leads convicted sinners to Christ. And once we come to Christ, we are no longer under the tutor. This means we are no longer under the Law of Moses. This agrees with Romans 3:20;
“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin.” Rom 3:20
He used the law to convict Israel of its sinfulness to bring them to Himself as their messiah. Galatians goes on to say that if we put ourselves under any part of the law, then we are slaves to the whole law. Modern legalists argue that only the ceremonial parts of the law were done away with. Scripture disagrees.
“And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor
to keep the whole law.” Gal 5:3
This verse destroys the false teaching that the ceremonial laws disappeared, but the rest of the law still applies. Galatians 5 says it is all or nothing. The law cannot be broken into pieces where people pick and choose what parts they want to obey. It’s all or nothing.
In Ephesians, we read:
"For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity." Eph 2:14-16
It says Jesus put to death the enmity. What was the enmity? It was the Law as stated in Ephesians. The law of commandments is a clear reference to the Law of Moses. Jesus abolished it on the cross.
In Colossians, we read the same thing:
"And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Col 2:13-14
The handwriting of requirements against us was the Law of Moses. Jesus nailed it to the cross.
In 1 Timothy, we read:
"But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust." 1 Tim 1:5-11
This confirms what we read in Galatians about the purpose of the law, which was to give people a knowledge of sin. That is the lawful use of the Law.
In Hebrews we read:
"For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law." Heb 7:12
This verse speaks about the change in priesthood, from the Levitical priesthood to the priesthood of Christ. And with that change in priesthood, came a change of the law. We see the word, ‘change’ twice in this verse. In the Greek, second ‘change’ has the following meaning:
(metathesis)
Strong's 3331: (a) change, transformation, (b) removal.
If the Torah law was to be our guidepost for all time, then no change would have been required. But there was a change. We have moved from the Law of Moses to the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, as it’s called in Romans 8. This is confirmed in verse 18;
“For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.” Heb 7:18-19
This says the former commandment, the Law of Moses, was annulled. Hebrews 7 then moves to speak about another covenant, by saying,
"….Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant." Heb 7:22
We are in Christ’s new covenant. Hebrews 8 says,
In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Heb 8:13
This clearly says the first covenant is obsolete. That first covenant includes the Ten Commandments which are described in chapter 9, as the “Tablets of the Covenant.”
". . the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; . " Heb 9:4-5
The Ten Commandments were called the “Tablets of the Covenant” in Deut 9. The Tablets of the Covenant were of the Mosaic Covenant, and that covenant is now called obsolete. Jesus gave us a new covenant in His blood. This new covenant came with a New Commandment of love, along with great and precious promises, and eternal life. If you are seeking eternal life, come to Jesus for forgiveness and eternal life.
Next week, we will cover New Testament commandments.
