Introduction to the Ten Commandments

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We need to study the Ten Commandents because it reveal's God's character, man's sinfulness, our need of Christ, and our duty before God.

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Introduction:

U.S. Constitution.

This past week, controversy broke out in Washington as the Senate Confirmation hearings began for the new Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavaugnan. If you watched the beginning of the hearings on the news, there was shouting and people protesting and even people arrested for interrupting the hearing.

I bring this up because there the next Supreme Court Justice has more power to influence the country than even the President of the United States. The tenure of a Supreme Court Justice is for a lifetime. And one of their fundamental duties as Supreme Court Justice is to uphold and interpret the Constitution.

The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States. There are those who believe in authorial intent and believe that the constitution should be interpreted according to the intentions of the founding fathers and then there are those who are on the left who believe that the constitution’s interpretation may change as time passes and culture evolves. The constitution is what governs how U.S. citizens are to live. And its important because the constitution protects our freedom and liberty.

Well, just as the Constitution summarizes how a citizen is to live in the U.S., the Commandments summarizes how a Christian is to live before God.

Today, we begin a new series on the Ten Commandments. In one sense, we can say this was the constitution of the Bible for God’s people. For the next few weeks, we will be examining each of the commandments and see what they mean for our lives.

Well, just as the Constitution summarizes how a citizen is to live in the U.S., the Commandments summarizes how a Christian is to live before God.

The Ten Commandments, or literally Ten Words, Decalogue, Law, have shaped Western civilization. The Ten Commandments show that there is absolute truth, revealed by God, and man is will be held accountable to His Maker. It is the foundation of Jewish and Christian moral ethics.

In one sense, the OT furthers explains the significance of the Ten Commandments and the Prophets remind the people where they have broken the Law and the need to return to obedience to the Law. In the NT we see the true explanation of the Ten Commandments and the fulfillment of the Commandments, and the rest of the NT is the explanation of how to use the Law to glorify God as redeemed saints. Even the great Reformer Martin Luther said,

“Thus we have in the Ten Commandments a summary of divine instructions, telling us what we have to do to make our whole lives pleasing to God and showing us the true source and fountain from and in which all good works must spring and proceed; so that no work or anything can be good and pleasing to God, however, great and costly in the eyes of the world, unless it is in keep with the Ten Commandments” Martin Luther

Most of the Reformation Catechisms included the Ten Commandments to teach children and church members what it is, its purpose, and use in the life of the Christian.

Why study the 10 commandments?

And I believe more than ever we need to study the commandments because of the culture and society we live in.

Cultural Relativism

First, our society is steeped in what is called cultural relativism. Cultural relativism basically states that truth is determined by the culture or society. And this view may also lead to subjectivism, which is a view that the ethics or morality is determined by the individual.

This is problematic for a few reasons. First, truth is determined by what is popular or what is trending, rather whether or not it is right in itself. Second, truth is made up and not objective. Therefore, everyone has their own view of truth. There is no truth out there, but just made up truths that people find for themselves. So secular people will say:

That’s true for you, but not true for me. There is not one God, but many gods. There is not one way to heaven, but many ways to heaven. There is not one morality, but many moralities. Everyone is free to believe and follow whatever he wishes regardless of whether or not it is morally wrong.

Relativism denies absolute truth or a objective standard that exists outside of us.

And this is why religion or morality is constantly debated both in private and public. This is why we have culture wars when it comes to the topic of abortion or women’s rights or marriage. Because if the individual or society determines truth, people will have differing opinions regarding what is true or what is ethical.

Biblical Ignorance

Biblical Illiteracy

Second, our society is biblically illiterate. Because of the growing influence of secularism, the belief that there is no god and all that we see in this world is all that there is, people are largely ignorant of the teaching of the Bible.

Believe it or not, there was once a time where every child in public school learned the Ten Commandments in the western world.

They see the Bible as some archaic out dated book that has no relevance in society. So to put the Ten Commandments in a public school becomes offensive to non-religious people because the first table of the law deal with our duty before God.

Believe it or not, there was once a time where every child in western public school learned the Ten Commandments.

This view is largely ignorant of how the Bible has shaped western history, and even America.

Believe it or not, there was once a time where every child in western public school learned the Ten Commandments.

And sadly, the biblical ignorance is also in the church. If I were to ask some of the members of the church to recite the Ten Commandments, I believe members of our church would struggle and find difficulty with something so basic and foundational to our Christian faith.

Glorify God

And the study of the Ten Commandments is important because how can you glorify God if you don’t know what He commands? How can you glorify your Maker if you don’t know what pleases Him? How can you glorify God if you don’t know his revealed will?

Are we not longer under the law?

I thought we are Christians, no longer under the law. We are not under the ceremonial laws of the old covenant, but we are still under the moral law of God.

I believe its important to study the Ten Commandments because we need to understand the foundations of our faith. We also need to clarify misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the faith. And we need to ultimately glorify God as we know what He commands.

Like I said, this is an introductory sermon to the Ten Commandments. Next week, we will look at each commandment individually, but as we will see today, it is of great importance to study and know and obey the Ten Commandments with the help of God’s Spirit.

Main Proposition

Today, we are going to look at four reasons why the Ten Commandments are foundational to our faith, so that we can truly appreciate the Law of God and see how it applies to the Christian today.

Background:

The Ten Commandments were given to God’s people in the third month after God rescued his people from Egypt. describes God’s rescue of his people from Egypt. The people were oppressed by Pharoah and enslaved by the Egyptians. God delivered his people with great and mighty miracles to show Pharoah that He was the true God who had all sovereign power. God saved his people through Ten Plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea, and feeding his people miraculously as they approach Mt. Sinai.

And in , the people were terrified as they stood at the foot of the mountain hearing the violence of the storm, the lighting, the shaking of the earth, the loud trumpets, the smoke that showed the significance of this event. Moses had to go up the mountain by himself as a mediator because the people were terrified of the presence of God. The people were to consecrate themselves and stay at the foot of the mountain lest they see God’s glory and perish.

And as Moses receives the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone, God reminds them of why He is giving the people the Commandments. God enters into covenant with his people. This giving of the Law is traditionally called the Sinai/Mosaic Covenant.

It is because the people of God were rescued by God and in covenant with Him, they were to give their whole allegiance to God.

reminds the people that they are saved to worship and they are saved to obey. Grace always precedes obedience and obedience should always flow from God’s grace.

There is one and true God. He is Holy and worthy of worship. God’s delight in creation. His authority. He values human life because they are made in his image. He values human sexuality because the one flesh union is part of his good design. He values truth telling because He is the God of truth. And he values that we have right affections that give Him the exclusive worship.

Why Should We Study the Ten Commandments?

I. The Ten Commandments reveal God’s Character ()

Institutes of the Christian Religion 5. The Sufficiency of the Law

the law has been divinely handed down to us to teach us perfect righteousness; there no other righteousness is taught than that which conforms to the requirements of God’s will; in vain therefore do we attempt new forms of works to win the favor of God, whose lawful worship consists in obedience alone; rather, any zeal for good works that wanders outside God’s law is an intolerable profanation of divine and true righteousness.

Notice in verse one and two, who this God is.

Institutes of the Christian Religion 7. Christ Himself Has Restored the Right Understanding of the Law

They have thought that Christ added to the law when he only restored it to its integrity, in that he freed and cleansed it when it had been obscured by the falsehoods and defiled by the leaven of the Pharisees [cf. Matt. 16:6, 11, and parallels].

Exodus 20:1–2 ESV

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

This God is the Great I Am. He is the self-existent one. This means that God existed before anything. He is the First Cause, the Instrumental Cause, and the Final Cause of all things. As Paul would mention in his doxology, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory. Amen.”

Because God is self-existent, this means he is also self-sufficient. The God of the Bible does not need anyone or anything. It wasn’t as if he was lonely and he created the world to fill his lonely heart. No, he created the world to show the world the majesty and glory of His character.

Psalm 50:12 ESV

“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.

This God is also a relational God. He says, “I am the Lord your God.” He is not some God removed from our problems. He heard the cries and groanings of his people in Egypt, and God acted to rescue his people from their oppression. He is personally involved with creation and the details of our lives. He is in covenant with his people.

He is also the One in covenant relationship with His people your God.

In the ancient world, a King who take a people to himself and offer them a treaty or contract or covenant. The treaty would have a preamble, historical prologue, stipulations, benefits, and consequences of not following though with the covenant. And what is written here is very similar to ancient treaties and covenants where a Sovereign takes on subjects and promises to protects them if they will heed to the stipulations and rules set forth in the document. The people of Israel were to be God’s chosen people and a kingdom of priests by obeying this covenant.

This God is also a saving God…who brought you out of the land of Egypt. The people were slaves. They were treated cruelly. Yet, God sent Ten Plagues to show his power over the Egyptian idols who had no power.

This God is a saving God…who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

This God is a merciful God…out of the house of slavery. God know his people’s pain. He is a compassionate God.

It is interesting that a Christian understand this. Jesus Christ is our Lord. We were slaves to Satan and this satanic world system. Yet God in Christ rescued us from the slavery of our sin and brought us freedom through his life, death, and resurrection.

It was in this context, that the Ten Commandments were given. God, the great I AM, the one who existed from all eternity, the all-sufficient God, the saving God, the merciful God, the personal God, the rescuing God, gives his perfect moral law to show how his people are to live so that they can be a kingdom of priests who represent Him.

Exodus 19:5–6 ESV

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

In philosophy, one of the questions raised concerning God’s moral law, is this: (Euthryphro Dilemma) do the gods love holiness because it is holy, or is it holy because they command it? In other words, are God’s laws good because he commands it? Or are they good in themselves?

This dilemma is posed by philosophers because they say, if God’s laws are good only because He commands them, then he can command something wicked like rape and it be called good. And if God’s laws are only just because the laws are just in themselves, then why do we need God if there is a moral law outside of God himself?

The answer to this dilemma is that there is a a third option. God’s rules are just because they flow from God’s good character as revealed in Scripture. If you think about it, each of the commandments reveal the good character of God.

God deserves exclusive worship because there are no other gods beside Him. God deserves our honor because He cannot be contained to an image. God deserves we revere Him because of His awesome character. God deserves a day to Worship Him to remind us that we are not God. God deserves worship because He is our Father in Heaven. God deserves worship because He values human life and sexuality. God deserves our worship because He is just and He is a God of truth. God deserves all of our worship because He is the only one who can satisfy us eternally.

The Ten Commandments are set in the context of a covenant keeping, sovereign, rescuing, merciful and just God.

Christian—Get to know God in his fullness. Read the entire Bible to see the full character of God. Don’t focus on one attribute at the expense of others.

Romans 7:12 ESV

So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Romans

Transition: The Ten Commandments reveal God’s character, but secondly, when you see God’s character reveal in his commands, it reveals our sinfulness.

II. The Ten Commandments reveal Man’s Sinfulness (; ; )

Even after God delivered his commandments, as soon as Moses was coming down from the mountain, in , the people broke the commandments as soon as they received it. When you read the history of Israel, even after God’s great acts of deliverance, his people continued to rebel against Him and break His commandments as your read throughout the OT.

I am often amazed that when you ask the average person on the street if they will go to heaven when they die, they will say yes.

James 2 ESV

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

I am a good person. I try to keep the Ten Commandments. I try not to hurt anyone.

The Way of the Master of Evangelism

Have you lied before? Yes. What do you call a person who lies? A liar.

Have you ever stolen before? Yes. What do you call a person who steals? A thief.

Have you ever lusted in your heart after someone who was not your spouse? Jesus calls that adultery.

By your own admission, the evangelist will say, you are a thieving, lying, adulterer. Now, do you believe that a thieving, lying, adulterer is worthy to go to heaven of a holy God?

Because the Commandments are a reflection of God’s character, the Commandments are also an expression of his holiness.

Institutes of the Christian Religion 2. The Law Contains a Promise

Elsewhere he teaches that “the law was put forward because of transgressions” [Gal. 3:19]; that is, in order to humble men, having convinced them of their own condemnation.

Galatians 3:10 ESV

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

; Romans 7

James 2:10 ESV

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

James 2:9–10 ESV

But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

Galatians 3:10 ESV

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

James 2:10 ESV

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

For Paul, a true understanding of God’s commandments made him feel wretched.

Romans 7:7–12 ESV

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Romans 7:7-

The tenth commandment showed Paul that he was a sinner before God. He desired others things before God.

This was the experience of Martin Luther before he understood the gospel. You remember Luther was a priest before he became Protestant. The man was always confessing sin because his conscience was constantly tormented:

I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God, and said, “As if, indeed, it is not enough, that miserable sinners, eternally lost through original sin, are crushed by every kind of calamity by the law of the Decalogue, without having God add pain to pain by the gospel and also by the gospel threatening us with his righteousness and wrath!” Thus I raged with a fierce and troubled conscience.25

When you truly seek to obey the holy law of God, you will be filled with despair because you fall desperately short. The commandments are not only to be kept externally, but also internally. We are commanded to not murder, but we are also commanded not to be angry with our brother in our hearts. We are commanded to not commit adultery, but also not lust after another woman in our hearts. When your conscience is awakened to the Law of God, it damns you.

Who of us can say we desire God completely and truly and we are truly content with what we have?

Calvin says,

Institutes of the Christian Religion (The Law Shows the Righteousness of God, and as a Mirror Discloses Our Sinfulness, Leading Us to Implore Divine Help, 6–9)

(The law shows the righteousness of God, and as a mirror discloses our sinfulness, leading us to implore divine help, 6–9)

Institutes of the Christian Religion 7. The Punitive Function of the Law Does Not Diminish Its Worth

The law is like a mirror. In it we contemplate our weakness, then the iniquity arising from this, and finally the curse coming from both—just as a mirror shows us the spots on our face. For when the capacity to follow righteousness fails him, man must be mired in sins. After the sin forthwith comes the curse.

The Law functions like a mirror. The problem is not with the mirror, it is with the person. One preacher explains it this way:

“The law of God is like a mirror. Now the purpose of a mirror is to reveal to you that your face is dirty, but the purpose of a mirror is not to wash your face. When you look in a mirror and find that your face is dirty, you do not then reach to take the mirror off the wall and attempt to rub it on your face as a cleansing agent. The purpose of the mirror is to drive you to the water.”

The Law also restrains evil. It is a deterrent to the unregenerate.

The Law is spiritual, because not only does God require external conformity to it, but he also requires internal conformity to it.

Non-Christian—Non Christians do not want to be held accountable to this standard. If the Law was before them and there was a God who held people accountable, this would mean you are guilty and damned before God.

Romans 3:20 ESV

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

“To run and work the law commands, yet gives me neither feet nor hands; but better news the gospel brings: It bids me fly and gives me wings”

The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition The Larger Catechism

Q. 95. Of what use is the moral law to all men?

A. The moral law is of use to all men, to inform them of the holy nature and will of God, and of their duty, binding them to walk accordingly; to convince them of their disability to keep it, and of the sinful pollution of their nature, hearts, and lives; to humble them in the sense of their sin and misery,y and thereby help them to a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and of the perfection of his obedience.a

Christian

You Cannot Keep the Law in your flesh. No one has kept the law. We are guilty of breaking the law. We can only obey the Law when God writes his law not on the tablets of stone, but on our hearts.

Use the Law in Evangelism. Understand that the Law is not kept by sinners and it shows that absolute holiness and perfection of God. When you are talking to non-Christians, probe deeper with the Commandments to show them they are guilty before God and they will be held accountable.

Preacher—We as preachers need to use the law of God and constantly be preaching on sin. But the purpose of the law is not only to convict the sinner, but it is to drive the sinner to Christ.

“To run and work the law commands, yet gives me neither feet nor hands; but better news the gospel brings: It bids me fly and gives me wings”

Transition: The Ten Commandments reveal our God, our sinfulness, our need of Christ....

III. The Ten Commandments reveal Man’s Need for Christ (; ; Gal. 3:23-26)

The purpose of the Law is to show the absolute majesty of God and the sinfulness of man; and thus it is supposed to lead us to Christ. John Calvin, quotes Augustine in this manner;

Calvin quotes Augustine on how the Law humbles the sinner and leads him to Christ.

Institutes of the Christian Religion 9. The Law, as Augustine States, by Accusing Moves Us to Seek Grace

“The law bids us, as we try to fulfill its requirements, and become wearied in our weakness under it, to know how to ask the help of grace.”

Institutes of the Christian Religion 9. The Law, as Augustine States, by Accusing Moves Us to Seek Grace

“The law commands; grace supplies the strength to act.”

Institutes of the Christian Religion 9. The Law, as Augustine States, by Accusing Moves Us to Seek Grace

Again: “The law was given to accuse you; that accused you might fear; that fearing you might beg forgiveness; and that you might not presume on your own strength.” Again: “The law was given for this purpose: to make you, being great, little; to show that you do not have in yourself the strength to attain righteousness, and for you, thus helpless, unworthy, and destitute, to flee to grace.” Afterward he addresses God: “So act, O Lord; so act, O merciful Lord. Command what cannot be fulfilled.

Galatians 3:23-

I remember walking to many of the altar calls that Pastor Ed issued. If you were to die today, would you go to heaven. If I was honest with myself, I thought no. I’m not good enough. I fall short. I fail. I still sin. How can God accept me?

Friend, the answer is Christ!

, .

Galatians 3:23–26 ESV

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.

Matthew 5:17–20 ESV

“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. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

How do we get a perfect righteousness if we have broken God’s law and cannot obey it? We look to the One who obeyed the Law completely.

Galatians 4:4–5 ESV

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Galatians 4:

God in his grace has acted on our behalf! Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law for us, so that we might die to the condemnation of the Law, and live to the Lord of the Law by grace and through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:21–24 ESV

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

So Christians are no longer under the condemnation and sentence of the law because our Lord Jesus has died bearing the curse of the Law, but he rose again so that we as Christians can obey the Law from our inner being from gratitude.

Romans 6:14 ESV

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Legalistic Christian—You righteousness is not what saves you. It never was. Your righteousness has to come from another.

Despairing Christian—You may think you are not good enough for God, and that is true. You are not. But there is one who is perfect and good enough for God. The one who bore your curse in your place so that you can be brought into the family of God.

Sinning Christian—Does that mean because we are saved by grace, we no longer need the law of God?

Romans 6:1–2 ESV

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Romans 6:15 ESV

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

Romans 3:30–31 ESV

since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Romans 3:30-

Romans 3:31 ESV

Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Transition: We need to understand the Ten Commandments because they reveal the character of God, our sinfulness, our need of Christ, but also our duty before God.

How do we keep the Law if we are not under the Law anymore?

IV. The Ten Commandments reveal Man’s Duty before God (; , ; ; )

The puritan Thomas Watson said, “The moral law is the copy of God’s will, our spiritual directory, it shows us what sins to avoid and what duties to pursue.”

Romans 8:1–8 ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans

Are Christians obligated to keep the Ten Commandments because we are no longer under the Old Covenant and belong to the New?

No, if what you mean is that we need to keep the Ten Commandments to be right before God. Only Jesus can fulfill the Law.

Yes, if what you mean is that we keep the Ten Commandments not by the letter of the Law, but by the Spirit of God who writes God’s laws in our hearts. Because Jesus has fulfilled the Law, He gives us His Spirit to obey from the heart and under the law of grace.

Do we really believe we don’t have to honor our parents anymore because we are under grace? Do we really believe we can commit adultery because we are under grace? No, Jesus elevates and shows the true purpose of the law. He is the fulfillment and He gives the power to obey in the heart.

As NC Christians, we don’t obey to continue to maintain standing with God. No, we obey because we already have a perfect standing before our God in Jesus Christ. We are now under the law of Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:21 ESV

To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.

1 Corinthians 9:20–21 ESV

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.

We are not under the Law of Christ: where we love God with all of hearts and all of our minds and our neighbor as ourselves.

Romans 13:8-1

Romans 13:8–10 ESV

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition The Larger Catechism

Q. 97. What special use is there of the moral law to the regenerate?

A. Although they that are regenerate, and believe in Christ, be delivered from the moral law as a covenant of works, so as thereby they are neither justified nor condemned;h yet, besides the general uses thereof common to them with all men, it is of special use, to show them how much they are bound to Christ for his fulfilling it, and enduring the curse thereof in their stead, and for their good; and thereby to provoke them to more thankfulness,k and to express the same in their greater care to conform themselves thereunto as the rule of their obedience.

The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition The Larger Catechism

Q. 99. What rules are to be observed for the right understanding of the ten commandments?

A. For the right understanding of the ten commandments, these rules are to be observed:

1. That the law is perfect, and bindeth every one to full conformity in the whole man unto the righteousness thereof, and unto entire obedience for ever; so as to require the utmost perfection of every duty, and to forbid the least degree of every sin.

2. That it is spiritual, and so reacheth the understanding, will, affections, and all other powers of the soul; as well as words, works, and gestures.

3. That one and the same thing, in divers respects, is required or forbidden in several commandments.

4. That as, where a duty is commanded, the contrary sin is forbidden; and, where a sin is forbidden, the contrary duty is commanded:s so, where a promise is annexed, the contrary threatening is included; and, where a threatening is annexed, the contrary promise is included.v

5. That what God forbids, is at no time to be done; what he commands, is always our duty;x and yet every particular duty is not to be done at all times.

6. That under one sin or duty, all of the same kind are forbidden or commanded; together with all the causes, means, occasions, and appearances thereof, and provocations thereunto.

7. That what is forbidden or commanded to ourselves, we are bound, according to our places, to endeavour that it may be avoided or performed by others, according to the duty of their places.

8. That in what is commanded to others, we are bound, according to our places and callings, to be helpful to them; and to take heed of partaking with others in what is forbidden them.c

Jeremiah 31:33 ESV

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

. .

Jeremiah 31:33 ESV

Hebrews 10:16 ESV

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”

Even John Calvin said,

Institutes of the Christian Religion 12. Even the Believers Have Need of the Law

Here is the best instrument for them to learn more thoroughly each day the nature of the Lord’s will to which they aspire, and to confirm them in the understanding of it. It is as if some servant, already prepared with all earnestness of heart to commend himself to his master, b(a)must search out and observe his master’s ways more carefully in order to conform and accommodate himself to them.

Institutes of the Christian Religion 1. What Are the Ten Commandments to Us?

First, claiming for himself the lawful power to command, he calls us to reverence his divinity, and specifies wherein such reverence lies and consists. Secondly, having published the rule of his righteousness, he reproves us both for our impotence and for our unrighteousness. For our nature, wicked and deformed, is always opposing his uprightness; and our capacity, weak and feeble to do good, lies far from his perfection.

Institutes of the Christian Religion 5. The Sufficiency of the Law

Institutes of the Christian Religion 7. Christ Himself Has Restored the Right Understanding of the Law

Institutes of the Christian Religion 11. The Two Tables

God has so divided his law into two parts, which contain the whole of righteousness, as to assign the first part to those duties of religion which particularly concern the worship of his majesty; the second, to the duties of love that have to do with men.

The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition The Larger Catechism

Q. 95. Of what use is the moral law to all men?

A. The moral law is of use to all men, to inform them of the holy nature and will of God, and of their duty, binding them to walk accordingly;w to convince them of their disability to keep it, and of the sinful pollution of their nature, hearts, and lives; to humble them in the sense of their sin and misery,y and thereby help them to a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and of the perfection of his obedience.a