Keep the Commandments, Keep Life

“Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; he who despises his ways will die.”This brings us up against a tension that we have in the Christian life between law and gospel.How can keeping the commandments keep your life if you cannot keep the commandments? What is the author of Proverbs saying here? Is he literally saying, “Keep the commandments so that you may live”? If so, this would seem to break down the distinction between law and gospel. The law tells us what God commands and what we ought to do; the gospel announces what God has done to save sinners. In that sense, Scripture can be understood in terms of command and promise between law and gospel.The Hebrew word for “keep” is shamar: to keep, guard, or observe. It is the same word used in Genesis 2:15“The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Keeping was part of man’s vocation in the garden. It was not to earn his place in the garden. Man was to exercise dominion. Proverbs here is looking back to that Adamic vocation. If we read this keeping as meritorious earning we miss what the text is saying. I don’t think the grammar here is: keep the commandments in order to get life. It is: keep the commandments because you have life.The Old Testament often speaks in this evidentiary mode. Keeping the commandments is the evidence of life. It is not how you obtain life; it is what life looks like when you live by faith. This same way of presenting the Gospel is found in the book of James. The law does not save you. But if you despise God’s commandments, you are not living by faith. If you live by faith, you will keep his commandments. This keeping of the law is not meritorious. It is the evidence of life.So we can read the proverb this way: keep the commandments by faith, and keep your life. But if you despise his ways and you reject his commandments and refuse to walk by faith then you will die.The keeping of the law is not the merit of life.It is the evidence of life. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit proverbs2026.substack.com