Happy Sabbath brothers and sisters! The ten commandments show our frequent sin; it is a sin not to remember the Sabbath that was part of the “righteousness” acts of our predecessors in Israel. It is not easy to remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy for Seventh-day Adventists in a world that prefers to give you Sunday off instead of Saturday; imagine how much more difficult it will be to explain the true Sabbath to our employers; needing Friday and Saturday throughout the world to remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy. This is our greatest test of faith in a world that opposes your faith to keep the commandments of Jesus. The wish to end the ten commandments comes from us by distorting Paul’s writings with the error of the “lawless”, clearly stated by Peter below:
But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. (2 Peter 3:13-18 NIV)
This is what Jesus plainly said about all His acts of "righteousness" commandments, in addition to the ten already written by His own finger before the incarnation:
If ye love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15 KJV)
Looking at the future coming of Jesus, the Scriptures confirm that the faithful followers of Jesus obey all the acts of “righteousness” commandments of Jesus, mentioned above.
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. (Revelation 14:12 KJV)
Jesus was whom Moses saw writing with His own finger the ten commandments, summarized below by a teacher of the law as the accepted acts of love for God and man, that Jesus confirms is the correct view of the ten commandments.
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” (Luke 10:25-28 NIV)
That is why if you love as God demands, there is no law against your acts of “righteousness”, because the ten commandments are the accepted acts of love that our predecessors obeyed. In the new testament, Jesus added to these ten commandments to make our “righteousness” even greater than that of our predecessors by increasing our awareness of more accepted acts of love with added commandments that do not end the ten commandments that were the “righteousness” of our predecessors, but that adds to their acts of “righteousness” in those ten commandments so that our “righteousness” is even greater than theirs, as clearly shown below in two examples.
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matthew 5:21-22 NIV)
In these two examples, above and below, Jesus is demanding more and not less than the ten commandments previously demanded from our predecessors, making our “righteousness” even greater than that of our predecessors and not as desired “by the error of the lawless” contradict the words of Jesus by eliminating the “righteousness” of our predecessors.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:27-30 NIV)
Beginning with Paul’s more difficult words to understand, further pushed distortions of the below word "fulfill" contradict the message of the Scriptures. "fulfill" through the cross was our ability to return to obedience to the law by Jesus gaining forgiveness for our past sins, as with the sacrifices of animals that were a shadow of the coming of Jesus, so that we can again obey the law without our past interfering with our current obedience. Jesus come to end sin in us by obtaining forgiveness for our past sins and not to end the law that exposes sin, so that through Jesus' faster cycle of forgiveness compared to animal sacrifices, we can grow in obedience faster to greater “righteousness” than our predecessors.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20 NIV)
United in our hope of the soon return of Jesus, Jorge