Ten Commandments

Introduction

When Kashka and I were married over a year ago, a process began. That process is far from completion. And that process might be affectionately known as house training. You might understand that that was not me doing the training. I was the subject of these lessons. Because there was a lifestyle that I had that fit my current circumstances. But with the wedding day and the vows exchanged and the promises and covenant we entered into in the sight of God, those circumstances changed forever, and must I say, definitely for the better. But as we live, I had to adjust because I was no longer a guy who lived on his own. I didn’t have my own apartment. I wasn’t in my college dorm room. I was with a married woman.

And so that process changed. And if you come over to my house, my apartment, you know that it has changed since I was there alone. And it is time to continue moving on into that wonderful period of my life. In the scriptures, we see two distinct periods from the law of Moses forward, and that is when the Israelites were under the law of Moses. And then you see when Jesus came, the law was fulfilled, and now we are under the law of Christ. And that is a distinction that much of Christianity understands. Most of the Christian believing world knows we believe in Jesus. It is through Jesus that we have salvation, and yet there are some different theories out there as to what exactly is the point of the Old Testament.

And do we keep parts of it or do we keep a certain favorite type of it? The Ten Commandments. Now I want to suggest this morning before we read any passages that I do not hate the Ten Commandments. I do not ignore the Ten Commandments. Some people might even argue with you if you were to say the Ten Commandments were abolished with the law of Moses, that, okay, well, you say that you can steal now and you can commit adultery and you can murder, and I say, of course not, because my Savior says not to. So it is certainly not an argument if the Ten Commandments are done away with, that we can now all of a sudden do all of those things. What must be checked is then what is the law if the Ten Commandments are no longer in place?

For we are under one system of law and they cannot be mixed. If you open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5, you see a passage that has caused much contention. And I just want to look at it briefly from both a positive and negative perspective. In Matthew chapter 5 and verse 17 and 18. As we examine this morning this question, are they still binding? Because that has some important implications on our faith and in fact on our eternity. In Matthew chapter 5 and verse 17, Jesus says, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

And you close your Bible and you say, okay, the law of the prophets are here forever, right? Well, let’s look a little bit closer. In Matthew chapter 5 and verse 18, Jesus says, For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished. In verse 17, note how that verse concludes I have not come to abolish them, being the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them. And so you see the very intention of this verse of Jesus is you have to remember that as a man he was facing persecution because he was charged with blasphemy as an individual. And he was defending himself. He’s not against the law. He had no malicious intent against the law other than to fulfill his father’s will and to fulfill his father’s plan, which included the ending of that law.

That would be, of course, when all things are fulfilled, when those things are finished. And we know that Jesus is the author of our salvation. We know that it is the law of Christ that we are under, and so it makes, of course, perfect sense that the law would end with Christ, and certainly Jesus in his life perfectly kept the law because Jesus was perfect. And the law of Moses was the law in which he was to be in subjection to. But note the other side of this in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 17 as it relates to our discussion this morning. If we’re trying to decide if the Ten Commandments are still binding upon us, is this really the right source to look at to prove that conclusion?

In Matthew chapter 5 and verse 17, he said, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. So if it is true from these verses that the law and the prophets are to stand forever, they will never be changed, because after all Jesus did not come to abolish them, as verse 17 says, then we still have a whole lot of other commands to keep that aren’t just the Ten Commandments. We would be responsible for keeping animal sacrifices, and the like of which was found throughout the law and was echoed by the prophets. So this is an improper place, both in terms of understanding what Jesus said correctly and misapplying what he did say to prove that the Ten Commandments are still binding.

1. Who the Law of Moses Was To

But it’s an interesting point as we move forward, we need to look at what the law of Moses is before we decide, do we keep it? And which parts would we keep, up to and including the Ten Commandments? Well, first of all, we want to see who the law of Moses was to. And to do that, I want to look at Deuteronomy chapter 5. The Ten Commandments are in fact found in Exodus 20, but I want to note some language here in the first three verses of Deuteronomy chapter 5. In Deuteronomy chapter 5, beginning in verse 1. And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.

Note verse 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. Who is it not with, specifically mentioned? Their fathers. Who were their fathers? Also Israelites. But note verse 3. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us.

2. Why Then the Law? A Guardian Until Christ

It was for them. It wasn’t for others. It wasn’t for those in times past. It wasn’t for people of other nations. It was for those people who were alive in that day, and we’re at that place. And so we need to understand that isn’t the extent of the law of Moses. That’s who it was to. That’s who it was for. But then the question remaining is why was it there? Why was it to just the Israelites? And we have a lot of New Testament enlightenment on this issue. Look in the book of Galatians. You’re going to see a bunch of verses this morning from Galatians, Deuteronomy, and Hebrews. And so we’re going to go ahead and start that process now. In Galatians chapter 3, note with me beginning in verse 19.

In fact, Paul illustrates our exact question to begin verse 19. Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now, an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not. For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture, note this verse, imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now, before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.

So then the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there’s no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. And what that verse points us to is a multiplicity of things of why the law was there. But first and foremost, it was a tutor, it was a guardian for us, up until what point?

Until Christ. The old law was there to lead the people to Christ. And we’re going to see that substantiated time and again as we look at some other passages this morning. But understanding that the law of Moses was to the Israelites, and it was there as a tutor, and even in verse 29, now that it’s time has passed, we can all be heirs according to the promise of Abraham. And that’s an important point for us to consider. You remember Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, three promises were made to him land, nation, and seed. What was that seed promise? Do we remember? Through your seed all nations of the earth shall be blessed. All the families of the earth would be blessed through the seed of Abraham.

Well, how do we get to take part in that? When did his family open up beyond just his physical descendants? When Christ came. When Christ died. And now we can be heirs according to the promise. That is our hope. That is our living. But certainly, if that’s the case and we understand that, we want to obey Christ in all the ways as we should, and obey everything that is applicable to us. And so we need to understand a little bit more. Look in Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 1, you see similar language to that in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 17. Both of them use a similar word. In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 1, for since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year make perfect those who draw near.

Now note verse 4 of Hebrews chapter 10, while we’re here, we’re going to come back to it. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. And thus you see the whole of the matter of the problem with the law. The problem, as it were, with the law, the reason Christ’s law is greater, as we will see later, is enacted on better promises, because Christ’s law can take away sin. With the blood of Christ, we can be forgiven in a way that the blood of bulls and goats could never satisfy. We’ve all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We have the wages, we have earned the wages of death, and it is Jesus’ blood alone that can cleanse us and forgive us of that wrong.

And so that’s the reason that the new law came and supplanted that. But if you notice the word in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 1, they were a shadow. And later you see the realities have come. In Colossians chapter 2 and verse 17, it refers to the parts of the old law where a shadow, but the substance belongs to Christ. And so when you take our thinking of Matthew chapter 5 and apply it to Galatians chapter 3, Hebrews chapter 10, and Colossians chapter 2, you see the old law had a purpose. It was to a people, and it was good. It fulfilled its purpose. And then Christ fulfilled it. Christ authored the new law. And we’ll see how he ushered it in momentarily. But to continue this thought, when did it end?

3. When It Ended: Nailed to the Cross

Or are we still under the law of Moses? And what I want to get across this morning is not to reiterate something that I believe all of us understand and know intrinsically, we are under the law of Christ, not the law of Moses, but to be able to explain this to others, because there are some, even within the fold of Christianity, that uphold the Ten Commandments in particular. And this is something that we should not just be able to say, but that we should be able to point out. Hebrews chapter 9 is one of those important passages that explain how and when it ended. In Hebrews chapter 9, now with me in verse 15. Talking about Jesus, it says in verse 15, therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised internal inheritance.

Since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. Note verse 17, the common sense that we understand that applies even still in our time today, for a will takes effect only at death, since it is not enforced as long as the one who made it is alive. Now note verse 18, just to bring this thought a little bit more home. Therefore, not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. Verse 19, for when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.

And so we see that Jesus had his will in force. But when did that happen? When he came unto this earth and lived and taught? When he died. A will takes force when the author of that will has passed away. And we understand that application to our time, but we see, okay, well, these covenants need to be inaugurated with blood. Whose blood was it? Of course, it was the blood of Jesus. And that’s something for us to consider this very morning, even if we partake of the Lord’s Supper. Look with me in Matthew chapter 26. In Matthew chapter 26, we see Jesus’ own commentary on this issue.

In Matthew chapter 26 and verse 27, and he took a cup, and when he had given things, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. That is one of the purposes of the bloodshed of Jesus Christ. It was the blood of the covenant. And that’s something for us to consider when we think about the law of Christ, and we think about when it would be inaugurated. There had to be a death, so the will would come into force, and it had to be inaugurated with blood. And both of those things coincide with the crucifixion of Jesus. But what we see also in Colossians chapter 2 is a very specific point that not only issues when the new covenant comes into place, but when the old would have been set aside.

Look at Colossians chapter 2. If you’re going to highlight or take anything at all away from the lesson this morning, understand this passage, be able to reference it and teach it to anyone who would ask you. In Colossians chapter 2, we’ll go ahead and begin the reading in verse 9. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. And you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses. Note verse 14. By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. In verse 15, he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in regards in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come. But the substance belongs to Christ. And so when did the new law come into effect? With the death of Jesus, when the blood was shed.

4. Why It Would End: Better Promises

When was the old law put away? Oh, we find that it was nailed to the cross. And doesn’t it make perfect sense to understand what the Bible is clearly spelling out for us? At the death of Christ, when he suffered on the cross, when he died on the cross, that was the end of the old law, and certainly the beginning of the new. And you say, well, then why would that be? Why did it have to end? Well, look at Hebrews chapter 8 now. Back to Hebrews. I told you we’re going to spend some time in Hebrews. And Hebrews chapter 8, note, verse 6. But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old, as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

For if the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. In verse 13, and speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete, and what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Do you see that when the new came, the old was done? They do not coincide. We are under the new law, which by definition makes us not under the old law. Do we see that? Nod your head, yes. Let me know that you’re awake and follow. Alright. So we see why would it end? Well, as we just read. The second covenant, the new covenant was enacted on better promises. In Galatians chapter 3 and verse 29, we already understand this point.

So that we can all be heirs according to the promise. If you think about why the new covenant is better, because first and foremost, we have forgiveness of sin. Do you remember Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 4? For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. But the blood of Jesus can and does forgive his servants who seek his forgiveness and to obey him. So if there was no other reason than that, that would be fantastic. But we know, secondly, that the new covenant, unlike the first one, is for everyone. And that includes your friends and neighbors who we sometimes shy away from talking to about the gospel of Christ. If we were to celebrate and to champion that the New Testament is for everyone, and we have this newfound forgiveness of sin because we have Jesus as opposed to animal sacrifices, which we say are old fashioned, and we don’t have to do them because we know somewhere in the scriptures it says the law is done away with, which by the way, we know is Colossians chapter 2 now, right?

Why don’t we preach that message to the whole whole world? If everyone in the world can now come to God through the sacrifice of Christ, why do we not stop at nothing to get that message out there? Why do we keep it within us? Why do we keep it in our church buildings where most of the people who are here already know that truth? Jesus died for all, and that means those people in the homes out there in the neighborhoods who aren’t here this morning. The gospel message is for all, not just for those in a church building. But we consider that we now know we now know who it was to, why it was enacted, when it ended, and why it would end. Let’s look at the matter of the Ten Commandments.

5. The Matter of the Ten Commandments

If I told you you were trying to stay under the ministry of death, how would you react to that? Would that be something you say, yeah, I’m a part of that? Well, look at 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Perhaps there is no more clear indication, at least in my estimation in Scripture, that we are to not follow the Ten Commandments, that they are in fact part of the old covenant, the old law, because in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, we see the way that the new that the Ten Commandments are clearly referenced and designated. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 3. If you didn’t waste all your ink highlighting Colossians chapter 2, make a note here. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need as some do letters of recommendation to you or from you?

You yourselves are our letter of recommendation written on our hearts to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us. Here comes the comparison. Start keying in on these phrases. Written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ towards God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit give law gives life. What’s the contrast here? The new covenant and the law by the letter.

The law by the letter is not the new covenant. Well, what is that letter that kills at the end of verse 6? Verse 7. Now, if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

What was not permanent? The letters carved in stone. What was carved in stone? The Ten Commandments. Were they messed up? Did God make a mistake? No. There was some glory there. But note verse 10. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory. Why? At all? Because of the glory that surpasses it. Well, where is the glory that surpasses it? Where is that foundation? That is found in Jesus Christ. His glory is permanent. This covenant is forever, unlike the ministry of death, unlike the Ten Commandments, that could be called the ministry of condemnation, referred to as the ministry of death, because people would be shut up in their sins, because the Ten Commandments were a part of the very same covenant that until Christ came was using the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin.

Because that was what God had asked them to do. But what we need to understand is the Ten Commandments were absolutely a part of this system. But I want to look at another thought back in Colossians chapter 2. Turn back there with me. In verse 14, we noted how the law would have been nailed to the cross. But in verse 16 and 17, here’s a question for you. Is the Sabbath optional? In verse 16, Paul writes, therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in regards, excuse me, on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come. But the substance belongs to Christ. Now, this idea of a shadow I hadn’t elaborated on earlier, but consider if you were to play hide and seek with someone in this building and you were to see their shadow, would you have won the game?

No. But what it would do is if I was hiding behind a corner or a chair and you saw my shadow, it would lead you to me. But you need me to win the game. It’s not about the shadow, it’s about the substance. And in verse 16, the references given include the Sabbath day. So would Paul, if the Sabbath day is to be remembered as the fourth of the Ten Commandments, if the Ten Commandments are still binding upon us, would Paul have ever said, Therefore let no one act as your judge. That is inconsistent with Scripture. That is not the way God applies laws, and certainly not the way an inspired apostle of Jesus Christ would write his New Testament letter. We need to consider that when he says, Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath, he’s making the point that taking the Sabbath day or understanding that we should keep maybe some of the old covenant laws and ideas because they’re helpful to us is not wrong.

But what is wrong is binding them, making them a portion of God’s law that we are to follow when God has not ordained it that way. We need to make sure that we know that we can speak where the Scripture speaks. And be able to explain why we meet on Sunday, why we don’t meet on Saturday. Why, as ridiculous as this sounds, we don’t murder, steal, or commit adultery. We do these things because that is what Jesus has required of us. That is what God’s will is for his people. And but one final point in proving the Ten Commandments as part of the old law is found in Deuteronomy chapter 9. I said we’d go back there. I want to look at two passages actually in Deuteronomy, one in chapter 9 and one in chapter 10.

But here’s actually a very minor link that I find very fascinating in proving the Ten Commandments as part of the first covenant, because the scripture itself reveals it that way. In Deuteronomy chapter 9 and verse 9, when I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. And the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. What tablets are we talking about?

The Ten Commandments. What are they referred to as? The tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant, right? Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verse 1. At that time the Lord said to me, Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first. Verse 3 So I made an ark of Achaea wood and cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up to the mountain with the two tablets in my hand, and he wrote on the tablets in the same writing as before, the ten commandments that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly, and the Lord gave them to me. Note verse 5. We know these are the tablets of the covenant, the tablets of stone, the Ten Commandments.

Where do they go in verse 5? Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark that I had made. And there they are, as the Lord commanded me. First of all, they’re referred to as the tablets of the covenant. Which covenant is that? The old covenant. But we know now where they were supposed to be, right? They’re in the ark. Look at Hebrews chapter 9. In Hebrews chapter 9, they are lumped in with something that reveals what portion of Scripture that the Ten Commandments should stay with, and that is the old law. In Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 1. Now, even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared, the first section in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the presence.

It is called the holy place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the most holy place. Now note all this comes back to verse 1. Now, even the first covenant. Note verse 4. Having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. What are those? The Ten Commandments. Where were they? In the ark. What was that a part of, according to Hebrews chapter nine? The first covenant. That’s the game, folks. They were a part of the first covenant. Not because we don’t like them, or because I have something against them, but because God said so. They were a law unto his people.

Conclusion

And for those who claim that the law is split because we follow the Ten Commandments because they are part of God’s quote moral law and not all the other laws that were part of the law of Moses, they missed this very crucial point. That first and foremost, the Ten Commandments were not a law unto themselves. It was a part of all the other laws and regulations that were found in the law of Moses. And it was part of the first covenant. It was to the Israelites, and it is not to those who follow Christ today. And so, as we conclude, I want to think about the new covenant. What do we have today? What are we under? We’re under the law of Christ. What does that mean?

We have Jesus. We have salvation. We have forgiveness of sins. That is a game changer. Why we would try to hold ourselves to the old law is frustrating. It’s confusing. It’s wrong. Do you see that? Do we see how we need to accept the blessings of Christ? We are not the author of the inspired will of God. So we just need to take it and do it. We’re not under the old law. We have better promises, and so we should live better. Just because there’s less laws governing our everyday type of activity in a very specific minutia type way does not mean that we do not have a God to glorify. It does not mean that God is no longer holy and he is no longer pure, and that we should no longer imitate that.

We should be holy, for God is holy. And that is a way of life. That is a way of thinking, and that is a lifetime of servitude. But it comes with a better promises because we have a better high priest, and we have the sacrifice that will take away our sins. Will you pray with us? Our dear God and most gracious and wonderful and loving Heavenly Father, we praise you for your greatness. We’re thankful for the way that you deliver your will to us, that we can examine, and that we can understand what you, the Almighty God, wishes for His creation to do. Help us, O Lord, to properly understand, to not be blinded by tradition or conceit or pride, and to simply submit to your will.

Help us to take on the attitude of Jesus, to be a servant, to be humble, and to be in subjection to your will. O Lord, forgive us of when we do wrong. Help us to always live each and every day, recognizing that Jesus died for our sins, that we can be forgiven. We can have a hope of living eternally with you in heaven. Help us as we go through this worship to praise you as the Almighty God that you are, to praise you in the ways that you have designed for us too, and for us to learn more about your will and to be ready and able to teach about Christ. We pray, dear Lord, that we will continue strong in faith and strong in courage, even as the world drifts away from you.

Help us to go through this period of worship and to come back each and every day that we have the ability and to serve you and to speak to you in prayer. It’s in your Son’s name we do pray. Amen. We’re now dismissed to our Bible class.