In finding material for a wedding I'm doing this Sunday, I came across a paradigm-shifting concept. When you come across the word "keep" in the Bible, it is not synonymous with "obey." The Greek word for "keep" means "to esteem, to hold in highest regard."

This is significant because I have phrases like "If you love Me (Jesus) keep My commandments" and "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" deep in my consciousness. I always thought that it meant to strictly "obey."

If to "keep" means to value or to esteem highly--yes we can "keep" the commandments this side of Jordan. Of course we do it not to be saved but because our natures have been changed by accepting Christ and our values are different.

I haven't had a concept get me thinking so much since I learned that the Bible words "sinless" and "perfect" aren't even closely related in English or in Greek.

When I studied this, I found it to have two dominant meanings, (1) to obey, and (2) to esteem in the highest personal regard.
LK

This is interesting. I pulled a few verses from the New Testament which talk about keeping Jesus' words and commandments.

After each group of texts, I will show what Strong's Concordance has for the Greek word KEEP in those texts.

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Matt. 19:17, the last phrase "KEEP the commandments"
John 8:51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man KEEP my saying, he shall never see death.
John 14:15 If ye love me, KEEP my commandments.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will KEEP my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
John 15:10 If ye KEEP my commandments,
James 2:10 For whosoever shall KEEP the whole law,
1 John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we KEEP his commandments.
1 John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we KEEP his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
1 John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and KEEP his commandments.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we KEEP his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which KEEP the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that KEEP the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Revelation 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which KEEP the sayings of this book: worship God.

Strong's
5083 threw tereo tay-reh’-o
from teros (a watch, perhaps akin to 2334); TDNT-8:140,1174; v
AV-keep 57, reserve 8, observe 4, watch 2, preserve 2, keeper 1, hold fast 1; 75
1) to attend to carefully, take care of
1a) to guard
1b) metaph. to keep, one in the state in which he is
1c) to observe
1d) to reserve: to undergo something

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Luke 11:28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and KEEP it.

Strong's
5442 fulassw phulasso foo-las’-so
probably from 5443 through the idea of isolation; TDNT-9:236,1280; v
AV-keep 23, observe 2, beware 2, keep (one’s) self 1, save 1, be ... ware 1; 30
1) to guard
1a) to watch, keep watch
1b) to guard or watch, have an eye upon: lest he escape
1c) to guard a person (or thing) that he may remain safe
1c1) lest he suffer violence, be despoiled, etc. to protect
1c2) to protect one from a person or thing
1c3) to keep from being snatched away, preserve safe and unimpaired
1c4) to guard from being lost or perishing
1c5) to guard one’s self from a thing
1d) to guard i.e. care for, take care not to violate
1d1) to observe
2) to observe for one’s self something to escape
2a) to avoid, shun flee from
2b) to guard for one’s self (i.e. for one’s safety’s sake) so as not to violate, i.e. to keep, observe (the precepts of the Mosaic law)

This is interesting. I recall an article "The Sabbath in a new light" from the AToday site. I'm not sure who the author is.

He wrote about the Sabbath not being a legalistic Levitical "burden" for us but rather a pointer to Jesus' soon return. This pretty much ties in with this topic.

I would say that many of SDA's keep the Sabbath according to the "esteem highly" principle rather than strictly in a legalistic sense of a whole bunch of dont's.

That is not to say that one may do just as one wishes on the Sabbath. Another author wrote an article "A park in time" which illustrated very clearly that the Sabbath should be a joyous celebration of our faith in Jesus' soon return, our joy in being redeemed by His blood at the cross and the sharing of His love with family and friends.

Another issue is highlighted here. The importance of qualified theologians and Bible scholars to lead and guide the flock. There are certain denominations where lay persons are also the ministers. I'm not saying that it is wrong for a lay person to preach or that a lay person may not be equally competent as a Bible scholar given time.

The avargae lay person (of which I am one) does not have the understanding of the Greek and Hewbrew terminologies. I am grateful that the SDA church has so many fine academic institutions and so many learned Bible scholars.

I have begun this study (pulling up all Scripture verses - (keep 344 verses) - (keep my) - observe - obey & so on. Then the SOP word search too - "keep my" = 544 hits.

I am finding that keep means to obey in the highest sense, not just to do but to love the doing and the reasons for doing to the point that those things that keep refers to become the most endeared parts of life.

The thoughts & motives & actions become progressivly transformed into God's style of "keeping" instead of grudging carnal unconverted human keeping.

Drudgery no longer obedience ceases to be a heavy burden & now becomes light because of the joy of Agape love within it. See John 17: 26.

I thought it better to give a short synopsis here first before the "dumptruck" is backed up to pour it all on. You know how I love to do that.

Marcel,

Great news - here is the URL to download the online Bible freeware, even in various languages.

Now you can have the tools "academicians" use.

http://www.onlinebible.org/

Now here is the URL to access the published SOP (Spirit of Prophecy), the tools of SDA overcomers. Notice I did not automatically include all SDA academicians in that label. Lots of folks seek theological depth, but few seek to find the truths explained by the COMBINING of Scripture & SOP in exhaustive crossreferencing study. Using the KJV worded declarations of Deuteronomy 29:29, Amos 3:7, Isaiah 8:19-20, John 17:17

I am not bad mouthing anyone, I am just saying that in the these last days contest between light & darkness - God saw fit to flood the SDA Church with the written testimony of Jesus, the One whom Satan could never beat in Bible debates. Through SOP, Jesus via Scripturally mandated & authorized prophetic delegation, re-explains Scriptures after 1260 years of traditions have garbled human understanding.

http://www.ellenwhite.com/

SOP search - "keep my"= 544 hits. There "keep”& “keep my” is unequivocally called obedience.

Scripture word & definition & context cross referenced search .

Comparing keep & obey in Scriptural languages & definitions & contexts.

Scripture Texts with Strong’s word numbers.

KEEP - 354 verses with word translated keep. The focus is upon the action of keep compared with obey.

Main list - 354 verses “KEEP”

“KEEP MY” - 42 verses

Happy study tools.

[ November 29, 2002, 06:48 AM: Message edited by: Edward F Sutton ]

Ed:

You said:

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"Through SOP, Jesus via Scripturally mandated & authorized prophetic delegation, re-explains Scriptures after 1260 years of traditions have garbled human understanding."
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This almost sounds like you are saying that the Bible can only be correctly understood through the intrepretation of Ellen G. White.

If this were true, the people that lived prior to her birth (at least during the last 1260 years) would have a limited chance of salvation, would they not? This would imply that God's plan of salvation was not comprehensive to give everyone an equal chance!

I looked up Strongs etc. too.

Obey, as in Eph. 6:1 basically means "Be under subjection to" or, as The Rock would say, "Know your role."

Both Hebrew and Greek use a different word than "obey" for our relation to God's statutes and commandments. This allowed the writer of 1 Kings to say (to Jeraboam) without crossing his fingers in 1 Kings 11:38 "...keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did..." and also in 1 Kings 14:8, "And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes.

Following the literary concept of parallelism, where the next verse explains the first (useful in studying the Sabbath) keeping the commandments is defined/explained by "followed me with all his heart to do that only which was right in mine eyes."

We know from the record of David's life that he did some nasty things even well before his affair with Bathsheba. Yet the Word of God states that he "kept my commandments."

The very same definition is given in Strongs for the word used for the way David kept the commandments as what Jesus said "If you love me..." and "Here are they that keep the commandments..."

I am not trying to lessen the effect of God's law, just pointing out that like in a marriage, our standing is based on a relationship--what's in your heart.

Can't type more, my spouse is calling me away from the computer...

Looks like maybe multiple issues have been brought up here.

To keep the Sabbath holy suggests that we ought to safeguard its holiness. We can't obey it holy. We keep it holy like we keep our clothes clean.

To keep the commandments does suggest obeying them as well as safeguarding them.

quote:

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Matthew 23:3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe <5083>, that observe <5083> and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

Acts 21:25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe <5083> no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.

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<5083> is the Greek word for "keep." And "do" in Mat. 23:3 is the same as "do" in Rev. 22:14. Also:

quote:

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Matthew 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do <4160> and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

1 John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do <4160> those things that are pleasing in his sight.

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So I really don't see a case for the possibility that we can keep the commandments while forever daily knowingly breaking them, and still cross Jordan.

Very interesting topic.

I'm pretty sure the original post did not mean to infer that holding the 10 Commandments in "high regard" doesn't give carte blanche to break them. In my opinion, holding them in high regard and esteeming them is equivalent to observing them.

They are a reflection of God's character and I believe that if we make every effort to cooperate with God in helping us obey them, we will be on the right path.

Sandra