The Ten Commandments and Jesus

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

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