Gods Ten Commandments
Christians who are saved by grace should especially, in response to God’s mercy earnestly endeavour to keep the Ten Commandments out of love for Jesus Christ. After all, if Jesus died for our sins of breaking the law (1 John 3:4; 1 Corinthians. 15:3), the most logical thing for forgiven sinners to do is to become obedient to God’s Commandments. Such love-motivated obedience can also only be accomplished by His Holy Spirit working in us (Romans 8:4).
Yet many resist the idea of Christians still being required to obey the Ten Commandments. They do this based on their belief that the New Testament not only teaches “grace apart from law”, but also teaches the abolition of the Ten Commandments themselves as a standard of righteousness. This belief is not only rooted in a misunderstanding of certain New Testament statements about “a new commandment,” Jesus Christ’s “fulfilling the law,” and Christians not being “under the law”, but also of other Scriptures that teach the actual “abolishing” of “Commandments” by Jesus Christ.
The purpose of this simple study is to prove that “the law” that is abolished in the New Testament is not the Big Ten, but rather “the law of sacrifices, offerings, and burnt offerings” which pointed forward to Jesus Christ. The law that required sinners to slit the throats of little lambs is over (because Jesus Christ is the Lamb), while the Ten Commandments endure forever.
The Law of Sacrifices has been Abolished
Hebrews 10:1, 8 - There was a “law” that was separate from the Ten Commandments. It was written by Moses and involved “sacrifices... and burnt offerings ... which were offered by the law,” and was called “a shadow of good things to come.” It was a “shadow” because its “sacrifices” pointed forward to the great Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ died, this “shadow” ceased.
Ephesians 2:15 - Jesus Christ “abolished ... the law of commandments contained in ordinances.” How do we know this is talking about “the law of sacrifices” and not the Ten Commandments? We know because in the very same book (Ephesians), Paul quoted the 5th Commandment, “Honor thy father and mother,” as being in full force for Christians (Ephesians 6:1-3). Paul said the 5th Commandment requiring children to obey their parents, “is” in effect, not “was.”
Colossians 2:14 - “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against is ... nailing it to his cross.” Many apply this to the Ten Commandments, but this is a mistake. We know this because the “ordinances” here mentioned as having been nailed to the cross were the “handwriting of ordinances.” The “handwriting” refers to the law that Moses wrote with his own hand in a book (Deuteronomy 31:24-26). This is different from the “fingerwriting” of God when He wrote the Big Ten with His own Finger on “two tables of stone.” Exodus 31:18.
The following verses show the clear distinction between “the law of sacrifices” written by Moses (which were abolished) and the Ten Commandments which endure forever:
| The Ten Commandments | The Law of Moses |
| Written by God. Exodus 24:12 The finger of God. Exodus 31:18 Written on stone. Exodus 31:18 Placed in the ark. Deuteronomy 10:1-5 Royal law of liberty. James 2:8 Moral precepts. Exodus 20 We should keep. James 2:12 Judges all men. James 2:12 Spiritual. Romans 7:12-14 Christ magnified. Isaiah 42:21 Established by faith. Romans 3:31 |
Written by Moses. Deuteronomy 31:9 The hand of Moses. Deuteronomy 31:24 Written in a book. Deuteronomy 31:24 In the side of the ark. Deuteronomy 31:26 Law in ordinances. Ephesians 2:15 Ritual matters. Numbers 19:24 We should not keep. Acts 15:24 Judges no man. Colossians 2:16 Carnal. Hebrews 7:16; 9:10 Christ abolished. Colossians 2:14; Ephesians 2:15 Blotted out by Christ. Colossians 2:14 |
When Jesus Christ died, He caused “the sacrifice … to cease.” Daniel 9:27
The Ten Commandments can never “cease.”
They were inscribed on “two tables of testimony, tables of stone,
written with the finger of God.” Exodus 31:18
America's Founding Fathers Testify
DID YOU KNOW?
As you walk up the steps to the building which houses the U.S. Supreme Court you can see near the top of the building a row of the world's law givers and each one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full frontal view - it is Moses and he is holding the Ten Commandments!
DID YOU KNOW?
As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door.
DID YOU KNOW?
As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall, right above where the Supreme Court judges sit, a display of the Ten Commandments!
DID YOU KNOW?
There are Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington, D.C.
DID YOU KNOW?
James Madison, the fourth president, known as “The Father of Our Constitution” made the following statement “We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” James Madison, 1778 to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia.
John Quincy Adams also wrote: “The Law given from Sinai [The Ten Commandments] was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code.” John Quincy Adams. Letters to his son. p. 61.
R.C. Sproul has rightly declared: “In declaring the top priorities for Godly living, our Lord said: 'Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well' (Matthew 6:33). When Jesus said, 'Seek first,' the word first does not describe an initial step in a numerical sequence. Rather, the force of the term is to emphasize priority of importance. Our top priority is to seek God's kingdom and God's righteousness. If we want to know what righteousness looks like, we direct our attention to the law of God, as given to us in the Ten Commandments. To be sure, our Saviour has redeemed us from the curse of the law. We are no longer pressed down, groaning under its burden. We are not saved by the law, but by grace. (A Free Gift). Yet we are not to throw the law of God into the trash bin as though it has no value to us. The law still serves as a perfect revelation of true righteousness.”
The Book of Revelation says the same thing:
“Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12.
Thus the last book of the Bible upholds God's law and points to a final group of “saints” who “keep” it while trusting the grace of Jesus Christ!
Are we one of these “saints”?
The “Big Ten” Remain Today
A great deal of confusion exists in the Christian world concerning Law and Grace. The New Testament clearly says we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8). The word “grace” means unmerited favour toward undeserving sinners. Because we have sinned against God, we deserve death (Romans 6:23). Nevertheless, God still loves us and longs to save us by His grace apart from “the works of the law” (Romans 3:28). Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and then rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). If we repent and believe in Him, He will freely forgive us (1 John 1:9; Acts 20:20). This is the “Good News” of the gospel.
So what about the law? Has it disappeared? In Part 1 of this series called, The Ten Commandments Revisited, we will begin to observe what the New Testament really teaches about Law and Grace.
Revelation Describes People Loyal to Jesus Christ AND God's Law
Revelation 11:19 - “The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.” Inside the heavenly ark are the original Ten Commandments (see Deuteronomy 10:1-5).
Revelation 12:17 - “The dragon was enraged 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 14:9-12 - Revelation describes a battle between “the beast” and “the saints ... that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
Revelation 21:8 - Among those who finally end up in “the lake of fire” are “murderers” (6th commandment), whoremongers (7th commandment), “idolaters” (2nd commandment), and “all liars” (9th commandment).
Revelation 22:14, 21 - “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city ... The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” (KJV)
Don't Be Fooled! The Big Ten Remain in the New Testament
Matthew 5:17-19, 21-22, 27-28 - Jesus Christ did not come to “destroy the law.” He showed the spiritual depth of the 6th and 7th commandments.
Luke 16:17-18 - Jesus said, “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” He then quoted the 7th commandment.
Romans 7:7, 12 - Paul quoted the 10th commandment, “Thou shalt not covet.” He then said this very law “is holy ... just and good.”
Ephesians 6:1-3 - Paul said children should keep the 5th commandment, “Honor thy father and mother.”
James 2:12 - James quotes the 6th and 7th commandments as applicable to Christians.
1 John 5:21 - John warned, “little children, keep yourselves from idols” (breaking the 2nd commandment).
Sin is Breaking the Ten Commandments
1 John 3:4 - “Sin is the transgression of the law.”
Romans 3:20 - “By the law is the knowledge of sin.”
Romans 7:7 - Paul said, “I would not have known sin but by the law…Thou shalt not covet.”
James 2:11 - Anyone who breaks the 6th or 7th commandment has become “a transgressor of the law.”
Jesus Died Because We have Broken the Law of God
1 John 3:4 - “Sin is the transgression of the law.”
1 Corinthians 15:3 - “Christ died for our sins.”
Isaiah 53:5 - “But He was wounded for our transgressions.”
The Law Reveal our Sins and Points us to Jesus Christ
Romans 7:7, 13, 24-25 - “1 would not have known sin but by the law ... that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful ... who shall deliver me ... I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Galatians 3:24 - “The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified [forgiven, “set right” with God] by faith.”
We are Saved by Grace, Not by the Works of the Law
Romans 3:24 - We are “justified [forgiven] freely by his grace.”
Romans 3:26 - God is “the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
Romans 3:28 - “A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 - “For by grace are you saved through faith ... not of works.”
Through the Holy Spirit, We can Keep the Law of God
Acts 2:38 - “Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
Romans 8:4 - “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Romans 3:31 - “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”
Romans 6:1, 6 - “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.”
1 John 5:3 - “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”
Revelation 12:17 - A final remnant will “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Revelation 14:12 - The final “saints” will “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
Antichrist is against Jesus Christ AND the Law of God
Daniel 7:25 - The little horn [Antichrist] will try to change the Law of God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3, 7 - Antichrist is called “that man of sin.” Sin is breaking “the law” (1 John 3:4). Antichrist is also called “the mystery of iniquity.” Many Bible versions translate this as “the mystery of lawlessness” because the Greek word for “iniquity” literally means “lawlessness.”
Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (This is a direct quote from Exodus 20:6)
So far in God’s Ten Commandments, it has been proven from the New Testament that Christians who are saved by grace should out of love for Jesus Christ earnestly endeavour to keep the Ten Commandments. We also discovered that when the New Testament speaks of a certain “law” being “abolished” by Jesus Christ, it is referring to “the law of sacrifices” written by Moses, not the Big Ten written on stone by the finger of God. We will now analyse a number of oft-quoted New Testament texts which are now being misinterpreted as meaning the Ten Commandments should no longer be strictly obeyed. The truth is, the Ten Commandments remain, not a jot or title has changed and should be honoured by all believers in the Crucified One.
What is the “New Commandment”?
Jesus said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you.” John 13:34. Christ’s command “to love” was not new. Moses said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Leviticus 19:18. What is new is the words, “as I have loved you.” How has Jesus loved us? By dying on the cross for our sins of breaking God’s law! 1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 John 3:4. Christ’s “new” commandment should not lead to breaking the Big Ten, for this Jesus never did. Paul wrote, “love is the fulfilling of the law.” Romans 13:10. Through grace, love will endeavour to fulfil each of the Ten Commandments. 1 John 5:3. Love does not seek the lowest requirement, but the highest.
What about the “Two Commandments”?
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first ... the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40. Jesus was quoting the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18. The “Two” are simply a summary of the “Ten.” To “love God” is to keep the first four. To “love man” is to keep the last six. Paul said the second table of the law is “briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Romans 13:9. If we keep the Two, we will keep the Ten.
What the New Covenant?
“This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matthew 26:28. “This is the covenant that I will make with them ... I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 10:16-17. Thus the New Covenant is: Forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ and the Ten Commandments written in the heart by the power of God.
“Not under the law, but under grace?” Romans 6:14.
To be “under” the law means to be “guilty before God” for breaking the law. Romans 3:19-20. It means the law is figuratively “on top” of us. When we repent of our sins and have faith in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven by his grace and are no longer “guilty before God.” Are we then free to break the law? Paul wrote, “What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” Romans 6:15.
Jesus Christ “FulfiIled the Law.” What does this mean?
Jesus said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” Matthew 5:17. “Fulfil” does not mean “destroy.” Jesus said don't even think that thought! It means rather to “fill full.” Our Lord said, “till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.” Christ said we should not “break one of these least commandments,” but rather we should “do” and “teach” them. Matthew 5:18-19. Which “Commandments” was He talking about? In vs. 27, Jesus referred to the 7th Commandment which says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” He then declared even the lustful look was committing adultery in the heart (vs. 28) and could lead a person to lose his soul in hell (vs. 29). Thus breaking God’s law is dangerous and potentially soul-damning. That’s what Jesus Christ taught. Therefore when professed Christians say Jesus Christ abolished the Ten Commandments, someone should ask, “Will the real Jesus please stand up?”
“Blessed are they that do his commandments,
that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through
the gates into the city. For without are ... murderers, and idolaters,
and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.”
Revelation 22:14-15 (KJV)
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