People have gotten a wrong impression that the Ten
Commandments are some archaic set of laws no longer necessary in order for us
to live for Christ. Others believe that Jesus
already "abolished the law on the cross" not understanding that the
ordinances of men are not the commandments of God. Jesus made it clear, “Do
not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to
destroy but to fulfill." Matthew 5:17-20
Jesus did not come to abolish the laws of God for then he would have to
abolish love itself! He only simplified
our obedience by summing up the commandments of God into two laws:
1. Which was to love God
2. And to love others as ourselves.
Jesus summed up all Ten Commandments into commands of love. To obey the commandments of God is to walk in
love! Jesus wanted to make a distinction
to His people that there was a difference between the commandments of God and
the commandments of men. The commandments
of men and traditions are only an external form of obedience that tries to
appease God by works but does not address the inward attitudes and motives of
our hearts. Jesus taught that obedience to
His commands is a matter of loving him and abiding in His presence.
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he
who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I
will love him and manifest Myself to him.” John 14:21
“As the Father
loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I
have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. John 15:9-10
His commandments were written on the tablets of our hearts making
obedience possible through the work of the Holy Spirit.
You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read
by all men; 3 clearly you are an
epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of
the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of
the heart. 2 Corinthians 3:2-4
We can obey God's commands because the Holy Spirit lives in us and has poured
his love over our hearts.
Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:5
Let us review what Jesus said about the Ten Commandments.
I. You shall have no other Gods
before Me Exodus 20:1-3
And you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your
strength.’ This is the first commandment. Mark 12:30
2. You shall not make yourself an image
to worship, whether it be something in heaven or earth you shall not bow down to
it and serve it Exodus 20:4
(That includes something you made with your own hands (business, success),
yourself, your favorite band, movie stars, cult leaders, Christian leaders and
so on)
Again, the devil took Him up on an
exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and
their glory. 9 And he said to
Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Matthew 4:8-10
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the
other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and mammon. Matt 6:24, Luke 16:13
3. You shall not take God's name in
vain (falsehood) Exodus 20:7
(vain is shawv in Hebrew which means falsely or deceptively, useless)
21 “Not
everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but
he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in
that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in
Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare
to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Matthew 7:21-23
Jesus quoting Isaiah:
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they
worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ "
Matthew 15:8-9
4. Remember
to keep the Sabbath and make it a time of sacred worship. Take time to rest just as I did. Exodus
20:8-11
And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And
they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might
accuse Him.11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into
a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is
lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Matthew 12:12
23 Now it happened that He went through the
grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the
heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees
said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
25 But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry,
he and those with him: 26 how he went into the
house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the
showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave
some to those who were with him?”27 And
He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not
man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man
is also Lord of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:23-27
Now
it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught.
And a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 So
the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the
Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him. 8 But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man
who had the withered hand, “Arise
and stand here.” And he arose and
stood. 9 Then Jesus said to them,
“I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful
on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?”
Luke 6:6-9
5. Honor your
mother and father and I will lengthen your days
Exodus 20:12
"For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and
your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says
to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is
a gift to God”— 6 then he need not honor his father or mother.’
Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your
tradition." Matthew 15:4-7
6. You shall
not murder Exodus 20:13 (That includes
yourself and unborn babies)
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You
shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that
whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the
judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the
council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire."
Matthew 5:21-26
7. You shall
not commit adultery Exodus 20:14 (That includes social networking affairs or
pornography)
“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever
divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that
whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to
commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits
adultery." Matthew 5:31-32
They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a
certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to
divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever
divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits
adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” Matthew
19:3-9
8. You shall
not steal Exodus 20:15 (That includes
stealing from the government or God)
Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not
commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your
mother,’and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” Matthew 19:18-19
And He said to them, “Render therefore
to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Matthew 22:21
9. You shall
not bear false witness against someone else Exodus 20:16
“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his
fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear,
take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses
every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if
he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax
collector." Matthew 15:18-17
10. You shall
not covet the things that belong to someone else Exodus 20:17
And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Luke 12:15
