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Question: 1. What is the connection of Ecclesiastes 12:13 and John 14:15 and what does it mean today knowing that man is justified by faith and salvation comes by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. 2. Does Ecclesiastes 12:13 means that man should keep the law even during grace period?

Profile: Male, Asia, Christian, 19–25

Answered by: Jon Clark, who has been a volunteer with us since February, 2018.

Answer:  Hello there and thank you so much for asking this question.  I truly hope that you are doing well during this challenging time.

If we start by looking at the verse you reference from Ecclesiastes 12, it reads “The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).  Considering the context of this verse, the author is writing from within Israel and to Israel, in a historical setting where the Israelites would have been following the Law.  So, the call to “keep His commandments” would have certainly included the Law but would not have been limited only to that.  Certainly, the notion of “keeping His commandments” extends to anything and everything that God commands of us.  For example, Adam and Eve were called to abstain from eating the fruit from the one tree (Genesis 2).  Abraham was called to leave Ur and go to a place that God would show him (Genesis 12).  Later, he was called to be willing to sacrifice his son Isaac (Genesis 22).  Disobedience on any of these points would have been sin and a failure to keep God’s commandments, which we know actually happened in the example of Adam and Eve eating the fruit.

So, the call to keep the commandments in the book of Ecclesiastes included the keeping of the Law.  Yet, we know that keeping the Law did not bring salvation to anyone.  As Paul explains in the New Testament, “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19-20).  Paul adds more in his epistle to the Galatians, writing “But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed.  Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:23-24).  In the Old Testament, people were saved only by grace through faith in the revelation of God.  In the present day, this is reflected through faith in Jesus Christ.  While the call of God upon Israel to keep the Law was a genuine call, keeping the Law and keeping the commandments of God was never the vehicle by which people were justified before God or granted salvation.

Moving to John chapter 14, verse 15 reads “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).  Some read this verse as a guarantee or perhaps a test to determine who is truly a disciple of Christ.  However, this is not really what Jesus is saying.  The context of this passage finds Jesus explaining to His disciples that He is going away and offering guidance as to how they should proceed in His absence.  Verse 15 is written in Greek in the third class, which means that from a textual standpoint, Jesus is not suggesting the disciples either will or won’t keep His commandments – He is simply stating from a neutral perspective something akin to “the way to show your love for Me is by keeping My commandments”.

Again though, the call to keep commandments is not limited to one single body such as the Old Testament Law but is a generic call to obey any and every call that Jesus places upon us.  As James reiterates in his epistle, “So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17).  To see this in a present-day context, if God calls to us to a specific ministry or type of service and we decide to reject that, this would be another example of failing to keep His requirements and thus committing sin.

This raises an important point because, in the case of a specific calling from God, He may be calling me to do something but not necessarily someone else.  The specific audience of a commandment from God is just as relevant as the command itself.  This matters for your questions because when we read about the Old Testament Law it is clear that God intended Israel alone to observe the Law.  Immediately prior to giving the Law to Moses, God states “Tell the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples” (Exodus 19:3-5).  When we read the narrative around Noah for example in Genesis chapter 6, we understand God’s command for him to build an ark.  However, we do not feel any obligation to build arks ourselves because we understand the command was given to Noah and not to us.  In the same way, the Law was given to Old Testament Israel and not to the present-day church.  However, it is important that we continue to read the Bible and to seek God through prayer, to understand His will for our lives, and to follow those commands as He reveals them to us.