The Ten Commandments Books from the Bible

Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

Gods Covenant are the Commandments

Exodus 34:28
28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

Deuteronomy 5:2
2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

Deuteronomy 9:9
9 When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:

While the Bible itself is a fully inspired Book, there is only one document described therein that was uniquely inscribed by the Almighty Himself–the Ten Commandments. Each of those heavenly statements was written “with the finger of God” on “tables of stone” (Exodus 31:18). This places the ‘Big Ten’ above all other human laws, and also establishes their eternal validity. Have you heard the expression, “We can change this or that, for it isn’t written in stone”? This classic idea is based on the Ten Commandments. When God wrote His law on solid rock, He was essentially proclaiming to the entire human family, “My law is eternal. Don’t change it. Respect it.” To promote this law within our increasingly secular and godless society is to promote pure morality, true goodness, and honesty. I deeply appreciate this focus of the Ten Commandments Commission.

What confuses me is that for many years Christians throughout North America and around the world have taken the decisive position that when Jesus Christ died on the cross He abolished the Ten Commandments. Because the New Testament teaches that we are saved by grace, not by the works of the law (see Romans 3:28 and Ephesians 2:8), millions have interpreted this to mean that the Ten Commandments are now an outdated law, simply an Old Testament law, just a law that applied to ancient Jews. I have heard Christian leaders proclaim this on TV and radio, from the pulpit, and in print.

I have never bought into this lie. A careful study of the Bible reveals that the reason why Jesus Christ came to earth, lived, suffered and died is because human beings have broken the Ten Commandments. The New Testament itself clarifies that “sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4) and that “Christ died for our sins” (1 Cor. 15:3). Simply put those two verses together. Their message is that Jesus Christ died for our sins of breaking God’s Law, and it is only through our Savior’s death, burial, and resurrection that we can each be forgiven, receive a new heart, enjoy a clean record, and have heavenly power to overcome all sin (see Acts 13:38, 39; Romans 8:4; Revelation 14:12; 21:7; 22:14). In other words, through God’s grace we can obey His law. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

At the moment of Jesus' death on the cross, Matthew 27:51 states that the veil (separating the entrance to the holy of holies) of the Temple was ripped from top to bottom, symbolizing that with Jesus death there was no longer a need for the temple. Jesus Himself became the new temple. It was no longer necessary for the high priest to enter into the holy place, meet with God (at the mercy seat and ark of the covenant), and intercede to God for the sins of the people. Jesus fulfilled the purpose of the temple, and became the new door through which to come to God. People no longer had to come to the temple and offer sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. Now they would come to the new Temple – Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Shortly after Jesus' ascension into heaven He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all who would trust in Jesus Christ. In I Corinthians 6:19 we are told that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit – the place in which He dwells.

So then, what happened to the law (Ten Commandments)? Where did they go? Were they suddenly made obsolete? Were they not important any more?

They were part of the old covenant which was transformed into the new covenant in Jesus Christ. The Ten Commandments are laws of great moral value and significance. They provide guidance for right living toward God and toward one another. They provide and excellent foundation for moral civilization. And Jesus Himself never destroyed the law. In fact, the Apostle Paul said that the “law is good...” (I Tim. 1:8).

So what is the Ten Commandments place in an era of grace through the new covenant?

The Scriptures are very clear where the law went: “The day will come,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their family, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already know me,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:8-13)

The law that was once external, written on two stone tablets and placed in the ark of the covenant for the people of God (Israel) is now transferred into the hearts of all who know Jesus Christ and have become partakers in the new covenant.

The Ten Commandments moved from a position of external to internal. Ezekiel 36:25-27 also talks about the change of heart that would take place with the coming of the new covenant: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

This is what the law and the new covenant looks like: the law would be put into the minds and hearts of His people. With the new covenant also came the promise of the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit in the hearts of those who receive Jesus Christ. It is the Holy Spirit that guides us in following God's decrees and gives us the power to keep His laws.

Keep Christ in Christmas

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