How does law-keeping balance with the NT emphasis on Grace?
And aren't Jesus' commands "higher" than the Ten Commandments? Salvation is by Grace, but discipleship is a matter of obedience. The NT emphasizes discipleship, and sanctification and obedience--as well as salvation. Shall we not obey God, who loves us, and Christ, who died for us? It comes down to what Jesus said: "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15, and see v. 21). Chief among Jesus' commands were those two by which he summarized "all the Law and the Prophets" in terms of love for God and love for one's neighbor (Matt. 22:34-40). Love for one's neighbor "sums up" the last six commands of the Ten Commandments (Rom. 13:8-10), just as love for God sums up the first four. So if we love Jesus, we will obey the Ten Commandments in the spirit in which Jesus summarized them--including the 4th Commandment to, "remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy" (Ex. 20:8).
Jesus' commands are therefore not in opposition to the Ten Commandments. They summarize the Ten in terms of the deeper heart-motivation which the New Covenant enables believers to show in keeping them. A summary does not contradict what it summarizes, and neither does Jesus' command to love God contradict those first four Commandments by which love for God is to be shown. To set the Son's commands against the Father's is to reject the direct teaching of Jesus, who said, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching... These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me" (Jn. 14:23-24).
And aren't Jesus' commands "higher" than the Ten Commandments? Salvation is by Grace, but discipleship is a matter of obedience. The NT emphasizes discipleship, and sanctification and obedience--as well as salvation. Shall we not obey God, who loves us, and Christ, who died for us? It comes down to what Jesus said: "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15, and see v. 21). Chief among Jesus' commands were those two by which he summarized "all the Law and the Prophets" in terms of love for God and love for one's neighbor (Matt. 22:34-40). Love for one's neighbor "sums up" the last six commands of the Ten Commandments (Rom. 13:8-10), just as love for God sums up the first four. So if we love Jesus, we will obey the Ten Commandments in the spirit in which Jesus summarized them--including the 4th Commandment to, "remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy" (Ex. 20:8).
Jesus' commands are therefore not in opposition to the Ten Commandments. They summarize the Ten in terms of the deeper heart-motivation which the New Covenant enables believers to show in keeping them. A summary does not contradict what it summarizes, and neither does Jesus' command to love God contradict those first four Commandments by which love for God is to be shown. To set the Son's commands against the Father's is to reject the direct teaching of Jesus, who said, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching... These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me" (Jn. 14:23-24).