THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
EXODUS 20:3-17
A. THE LAW OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IS
1. A transcript of God’s character:
a. God is holy, just and good; His law is holy, just and good - Rom. 7:12; Isa. 6:3
b. God is a Spirit - John 4:22, 23; His law is spiritual - Rom 7:14
c. God is the embodiment of perfection; His law is perfect - 2 Sam. 22:31; Ps. 19:7; 119:96
d. God is love - 1 John 4:8; His law is the total sum of love - Rom. 13:10; Matt. 22:34-38
e. God is eternal; His law is eternal or everlasting - Deut. 33:27; Ps. 111:8; Matt. 5:17-19; Luke 16:17
2. The law of the Ten Commandments controls our moral life:
a. The first four commandments control our relationship to God
b. The last six commandments regulate our relationship to our fellow men - Ex. 20:3-17; Matt. 19:16-18; Matt. 22:34-38
c. That is why they are binding upon all human beings - Eccl. 12:13, 14; Rom. 3:19
B. CHRISTIANITY AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
1. Controversy and confusion:
a. Some would have us believe that the Ten Commandments were strictly jewish and that Christ abolished them on His cross.
b. Others believe that the Ten Commandments are binding upon Christ, but that Christ transferred the obligation of the fourth commandment to the keeping of the first day of the week.
2. Attitude of our Lord toward the law of the Ten Commandments:
a. He delighted in the law of the Ten Commandments - Ps. 40:8
b. He had them in His heart - Ps. 40:8
c. He came into this world to magnify the law and make it honorable - Isa. 42:21; Matt. 5:17-48
d. He warns against the foolishness of believing that He had come to abolish the law - Matt. 5:17-19
e. They who teach that the Son of God set aside the law of God need but read Matt. 5:17-19
C. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE PLAN OF SALVATION
1. The law of the Ten Commandments and the gospel of Jesus Christ are twins; you cannot separate them:
a. The law of God exposes sin and convicts the sinner - Rom. 3:20; 7:7, 9-13; 1 John 3:4
b. Where there is no law there is no transgression - Rom. 4:15;5:13
c. The gospel of Jesus Christ offers deliverance from sin - Rom. 1:16; Acts 4:12; Matt. 1:21
2. The new and everlasting covenant provides for the law of the Ten Commandments to be engraved upon the tables of the heart: Heb. 10:15, 16; Jer. 31:31-33
3. The eternal basis of the law of the Ten Commandments:
a. They are connected with the two great commandments of love - Matt. 22:37-42
b. They are based upon the golden rule stated by our Lord - Matt. 7:12
c. No one can truly obey the golden rule and be inclined to break one of the Ten Commandments -John 14:15; 15:10; 1John 2:4-7
4. Attitude of the Christian believers toward the law of the Ten Commandments:
a. They delight in it - Rom. 7:22
b. They establish them by obeying them - Rom. 3:31
c. They uphold the claims of the law of God in their teaching and their lives - Jas. 1:22, 23; 2:8-11; 1 John 2:4-7; Rev. 12:17; 14:12
5. Since the law of the Ten Commandments is an expression of God’s
character:
a. It follows that they who work against the law of God are, in fact, enemies of God - Rom. 8:7; Ps. 94:20
b. The Lord accuses them of being liars - Isa. 30:8, 9; 1 John 3:4
6. Wonderful promises are made to them that love the law of the Lord:
a. They have great peace - Ps. 119:165; Isa. 48:18
b. They will have prosperity - Ps. 1:1-6
c. They will have a right to the tree of life - Rev. 22:14
