IF YOU LOVE JESUS, YOU WILL NOT KEEP THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

One argument that sticks in the minds of our Seventh-day Adventist friends to identify those who truly love Jesus is what He said in John 15:14:

John 14:15 (NLT) ¹⁵ “If you love me, obey my commandments.

We've explained the meaning of this in our past podcasts on the Former Adventist Fellowship Philippines Facebook and YouTube pages several times. If we continue reading the verses that follow, it's clear that Jesus isn't referring to the 10 commandments here. Here are the verses in context that refute the idea that the "commandments" Jesus mentioned here are the 10 commandments:

John 15:10-14, 17 (NLT) 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

It wasn't difficult for Jesus to directly say that He meant specifically the ten commandments when He said "commandments" here. He just didn't intend to teach the ten commandments in this scene because it wasn't really what He wanted to teach His disciples as preparation for entering the New Covenant. The commandments that Jesus expects those who love Him to obey, according to Jesus Himself, are nothing but "Love each other in the same way I have loved you" and "This is my command: Love each other." These commandments were not even written among the ten commandments, so how can Seventh-day Adventists say that the "commandments" in John 15:14 is about the 10 commandments?

Jesus also called these "commandments" as "new commandments" in John 10:34-35:

John 13:34-35 (NLT) 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

So, the commandments that Jesus refers to in John 15:14 are the same "new commandment" mentioned in John 13:34-35: "Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." These are not the Ten Commandments because the Ten Commandments are "old commandments," not "new commandment."

But Seventh-day Adventists might ask us: Where can we read that Jesus said, "If you love me, you will not keep the Ten Commandments"?

Obviously, Jesus didn't always teach verbatim, so He often used parables in His preaching. In the science of biblical hermeneutics or Bible interpretation, the majority of Bible scholars accept the principle that the interpretation of the Old Testament is done by the New Testament, and the interpretation of the four gospels, particularly the important teachings of Jesus Christ, is none other than the writings of the apostles in the New Testament.

Before Jesus died, He told His disciples that He would send them the Holy Spirit to help them remember everything He had taught them.

John 14:26 (NLT) 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

Because of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit on the authors of the New Testament, we can trust and be sure, based on Jesus Christ's promise to them, that they will not make mistakes in understanding Jesus' teachings, especially concerning the Law in general and the Ten Commandments in particular. This simply means that whatever the disciples' view is on the Law and the Ten Commandments, it is surely the same as the will of Christ that He wants all Christian believers under the New Covenant to believe and accept.

What is the biggest sin of someone if they continue to insist on following and teaching others to follow the Ten Commandments, which are part of the Old Covenant that has passed away? This sin is called "spiritual adultery." Spiritual adultery is a concept found in the Bible that refers to unfaithfulness to God. It symbolizes turning away from a relationship with God and pursuing other things or authority.

How is it possible that if you obey the Ten Commandments, which forbid adultery, you still end up committing spiritual adultery?

When Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome, he used the example of a married couple. As long as they are alive, they are bound by the power of the law of marriage. If one of them dies, they are released from the law of marriage, so the other can marry again. But if one of them has a relationship with someone else while they are still alive under the law of marriage, they will commit adultery.

Romans 7:1-4 (TLB) ​1 Don’t you understand yet, dear Jewish brothers in Christ, that when a person dies the law no longer holds him in its power? 2 Let me illustrate: when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, she is no longer bound to him; the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. 3 Then she can marry someone else if she wants to. That would be wrong while he was alive, but it is perfectly all right after he dies. 4 Your “husband,” your master, used to be the Jewish law; but you “died,” as it were, with Christ on the cross; and since you are “dead,” you are no longer “married to the law,” and it has no more control over you. Then you came back to life again when Christ did and are a new person. And now you are “married,” so to speak, to the one who rose from the dead, so that you can produce good fruit, that is, good deeds for God.

It is clear from this passage that the apostle Paul related the example of a married couple to something spiritual, which is connected to the Law in the Old Testament for the Israelites. Before Christ came, they were still under the power of the Law in the Old Testament, including the 10 commandments. But when Christ came, they needed to die to their relationship with the Old Testament Law. For them to have a new relationship with Christ. A true Christian who loves Christ genuinely is not unfaithful. It would be a forbidden kind of love for a Christian if they insist on being tied to and having a relationship with the Old Covenant with the ten commandments while also having a new relationship through the new covenant with Christ at the same time. That's called spiritual adultery. 

That's why Paul clarified to the Christians who are already "married to Christ" that they have died or are freed from the law. Because of that, those who are truly faithful and love Christ should serve in a new way of the Spirit and not depend on the old way of the written laws in the Old Testament that have passed away.

Romans 7:6 (TLB) 6 But now you need no longer worry about the Jewish laws and customs because you “died” while in their captivity, and now you can really serve God; not in the old way, mechanically obeying a set of rules, but in the new way, with all of your hearts and minds.

This is also the essence of the statement made by Apostle Paul to the Christians in Corinth.

2 Corinthians 3:6 (TLB) 6 He is the one who has helped us tell others about his new agreement to save them. We do not tell them that they must obey every law of God or die; but we tell them there is life for them from the Holy Spirit. The old way, trying to be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments, ends in death; in the new way, the Holy Spirit gives them life.

It's sad to think that many Seventh-day Adventists are still being brainwashed by their pastors, believing that if the 10 commandments are said to be gone, there will be no more of God's commandments left in the world and the only choice left is to become a bad person. I pray that by God's grace, Adventists worldwide will break free from this kind of wrong reasoning. I hope they understand Paul's clear statement in the last part of 2 Corinthians 3:6, where it says that Christians serve the Lord "in the new way, the Holy Spirit gives them life" not anymore with "The old way, trying to be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments, ends in death." 

True Christians who love and follow Christ serve Him through the Holy Spirit, who gives life and is more glorious than the 10 commandments that end in death.

2 Corinthians 3:7-11 (TLB) 7 Yet that old system of law that led to death began with such glory that people could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For as he gave them God’s law to obey, his face shone out with the very glory of God—though the brightness was already fading away. 8 Shall we not expect far greater glory in these days when the Holy Spirit is giving life? 9 If the plan that leads to doom was glorious, much more glorious is the plan that makes men right with God. 10 In fact, that first glory as it shone from Moses’ face is worth nothing at all in comparison with the overwhelming glory of the new agreement. 11 So if the old system that faded into nothing was full of heavenly glory, the glory of God’s new plan for our salvation is certainly far greater, for it is eternal.

The 10 Commandments are part of the old agreement between God and Israel. They are rules for worship. The two stone tablets with the 10 Commandments are kept inside the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies of the Sanctuary (the place of worship). When the service of the priests and the Sanctuary of the Old Testament passed away, the 10 Commandments inside it also passed away. This is what Hebrews 8:13-9:4 tells us.

Hebrews 8:13 - 9:4 (TLB) 13 God speaks of these new promises, of this new agreement, as taking the place of the old one; for the old one is out of date now and has been put aside forever. 1-2 Now in that first agreement between God and his people there were rules for worship and there was a sacred tent down here on earth. Inside this place of worship there were two rooms. The first one contained the golden candlestick and a table with special loaves of holy bread upon it; this part was called the Holy Place. 3 Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was a room called the Holy of Holies. 4 In that room there were a golden incense-altar and the golden chest, called the ark of the covenant, completely covered on all sides with pure gold. Inside the ark were the tablets of stone with the Ten Commandments written on them, and a golden jar with some manna in it, and Aaron’s wooden cane that budded.

Therefore, it's clear that us Christians who live under the New Covenant with Christ are "dead" to the relationship with the Old Covenant Law, including the 10 commandments. If someone insists on following and applying the 10 commandments as part of the law of the Old Testament, they are indeed unfaithful because they have two relationships: the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. As long as one does not separate from their relationship with the Old Covenant, they are not truly loving and faithful to Christ. So, if you really love Jesus, you will not keep the ten commandments!