Written in Stone!

The Law of God

The 10 Commandments were given by the mouth of God.

Exodus 20:1 “And God spoke all these words, saying:”

The 10 Commandments were written by the finger of God.

Exodus 31:18 “And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.”

The 10 commandments (decalogue) were written in stone.

Deuteronomy 4:11–13 ““Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice. So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.”

In the book of Job oh that my words written in stone with an iron pen I know that my redeemer lives and He will stand at last on the earth, I know that in my flesh I shall see god

John says these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of God and believing you might have life in his name

The stone tablets were placed in the ark of the covenant.

1 Kings 8:9 “Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.”

Hebrews 9:4 “which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;”

That doesn’t mean that number 10 was a dud and should not be left out but we will deal with that later.

The Law of God is eternal.

Psalm 119:89 “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.”

The Law of Moses

The Law of Moses, “the Law of the LORD!” began with the 10 commandments.

The Law of Moses also contained civil and ceremonial laws.

The Law of Moses was good!

Psalm 19:7–11 “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.”

I keep saying law of Moses, but it is actually God’s law given to the children of Israel .

Christ respected, obeyed, and fulfilled the Law of Moses.

Matthew 5:17 ““Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”

The Law of Moses was for Israel.

Exodus 24:3–4 “So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.”

As Christians, redeemed by Christ, we do not fall under the law of Moses and its 600+ commandments.

Acts 15:24–29 “Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

The Law of Moses has a purpose, to teach us that we are sinners in need of a Savior.

Galatians 3:23–26 “But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

The Law of Moses can’t save you!

Romans 8:3 “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,”

God isn’t finished with the Law of Moses.

Isaiah 12:2–3 “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ ” Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.”

The Law of Christ

Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Christ gave us His law!

Mark 12:28–31 “Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.””

It is important to note that Christ also gave us His commands and His new covenant which is another lesson for another day.

The law of Christ has a different people and a different purpose.

1 Corinthians 9:19–21 “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law;”

The Law of Christ is founded on the Law of God, the 10 Commandments.

Love God, Love others.

Christ had a more serious interpretation of the 10 commandments than the Jews did.

Matthew 5:21–22 ““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.’ 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 5:27–28 ““You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

The Law of Christ and the Law of Moses are subsets of the Law of God!

We obey the Law of Christ out of the loving desire of our hearts.

Ephesians 6:5–6 “Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,”

Do the 10 Commandments have a place in our lives? YES

They aren’t outdated, they are eternal! Romans 6:15 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!”

By Grace you have been saved!

Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We as Christians obey Christ’s commands out of our love for the Savior!

1 John 5:1–5 “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”