Are The 10 Commandments In Force Today?
Have The Commandments of God Been "Nailed To The Cross"?
Which "10" Do You Know?
Is It Proper For Man To Change Laws, Written In Stone By The Finger Of God?
Does "Law" and moral behavior come from man or God? In these "modern" times is a code of moral behavior passe and should we be able to do what we wish as long as it doesn't hurt anyone? Most people will acknowledge it's a good thing not to steal, lie, and murder; but the 10 Commandments of the Bible are much more than that!
The "Big 10" are enumerated twice in scripture; Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Here's the Deuteronomy presentation (NKJV):
1 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. 4 The LORD talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. 5 I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He said:
6 [I] ‘I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.
8 [II] ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 9 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
11 [III] ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
12 [IV] ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16 [V] ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
17 [VI] ‘You shall not murder.
18 [VII] ‘You shall not commit adultery.
19 [VIII] ‘You shall not steal.
20 [IX] ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 [X] ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’
22 “These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
Notice that they're longer and more descriptive than most of us remember. Also notice that the first 4 have everything to do with our relationship to God, while the last 6 concern our relationship with each other. Some will argue that Moses learned these laws from earlier Egyptian texts, but in Christianity this a false precept. In the Judeo-Christian world you are asked DIRECTLY to either believe in God (Christ) or believe in a falsehood created by man and/or Satan. God wrote these laws and gave them to Moses. Also, remember that the "Big 10", on tablets of stone, were kept in the Ark of the Covenant. This attaches supreme, undeniable importance to the Commandments. The "Levitican" laws, or, the Laws of Moses, were written on parchment and kept in a side-pocket outside of the Ark. In other words, the "Levitican" laws are man-made and have less importance.
Our Catholic brothers and sisters may notice that the "Decalogue" they were taught is different than what scripture says. ... More on that later ...
Please pay particular attention to the 4th Commandment. It is significant that this law was established early and with "intended mention":
Genesis 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
In fact, in the Exodus 20 iteration, the 4th Commandment starts like this:
8 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ...
... otherwise, the Commandments are almost an exact duplicate in Deut. 5. There can be no misunderstanding! These LAWS ARE OF SUPREME IMPORTANCE - THEY ARE COMMANDMENTS FROM GOD!
... time to answer some questions!
Are The 10 Commandments In Force Today?
Have The Commandments of God Been "Nailed To The Cross"?
First, additional validation of the Law;
1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (the "law" referred to here and below are, in context, the Big '10")
Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (some use this verse to say, "look! the law has ended!"; but the context and the translation is simply saying Christ is the culmination of the law - keep reading!)
Matthew 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (this is Christ Himself saying the Law is still valid, valid until everything in scripture is completed! "fullfilled" in scripture literally means, "filled full"; completed)
Romans 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. ("yea" can be correctly thought of as, "instead")
What was nailed to the cross?
Colossians 2
11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. 16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not[d] seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. 20 Therefore,[e] if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— 21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 22 which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
Everything in that passage speaks of the laws of Moses, in context - those "Levitican" laws written on parchment and placed to the side of the Ark. The "sabbaths" mentioned are the ceremonial sabbaths celebrated throughout the year as part of the man-made rules of worship. It is clear that the Bible does not deny the 7th Day Sabbath.
Which "10" Do You Know?
It would be inappropriate to discuss the 10 Commandments without mentioning the "other" version, the man-made one that billions of good, decent Catholics know. The Catechism’s traditional presentation of the commandments for memorization are:
1. I am the Lord your God: You shall not have strange Gods before me.
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
4. Honor your father and mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
Please understand my disagreement is with the Roman Church, the "system", not Catholics. My wife grew up Catholic and she had to memorize the above version as a child. Here are my points:
1. Notice, number 1 has been altered to say "strange gods". Are Roman Pagan gods allowed for worship? If not, why change it?
2. Oops! the original number two has been completely removed! It makes sense because idol worship is taught within the Roman church.
3. The Lord's Day? Not the Sabbath?
Do you remember me pointing out that the first four Commandments deal with God's relationship to us? Does it appear to you that someone or something is trying to USURP God's position?
Yes, the Big "10" (ALL 10) are as valid today as they were from the beginning of time. They have not been "nailed to the cross", and they cannot be changed by man or his institutions.
... Whom do you follow? God or man?
The Observer
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