THE 10 COMMANDMENTS
Is the Law of Moses relevant to us? Many Christians would say No, for it's all done away with in Christ, and we must now live in the liberty of the unconditional love and grace of God and our hearts must be guided by the Spirit of God. But we also know that the heart of man can be totally deceiving, filled with greed, self-righteousness and justifications.
What then would be Christ's answer to the question? Seems like in His manifold wisdom, He already knew that Christians would one day use Him as an excuse to abuse and undermine the Law of Moses in such a manner. He said, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." He added that unless one's righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees (who esteemed the Law), he shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. After that he went on to expound on the Commandments and gave examples of how His followers ought to obey the Law. If the law was strict, He was even stricter. He requires that we do not just fulfill the Law but love the Law and fulfill them most willingly from the depths of our hearts, to the inner most part of our thoughts and then expressing it through our actions. He went way past the Law into the intent of the Law, into the very heart of God. Thus in this article we shall look at the Commandments the way Jesus looks and interpret them as Jesus interprets. We do not just fulfill the law but also take delight in the Law. He is the manifestation of the Law and the Grace. Not the Grace to break it or undermine Law, but the Grace to love it and fulfill it.
The 2 commandments upon which hang the 10 commandments.
Matt 22:37-40. Jesus said to him," 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.(NKJ)
Or rather, from these 2 commandments, the Torah, oral and written laws were derivedJesus came, not to abolish the law but to fulfill the Law. Why then were the Pharisees against Him? Because there were 2 parts to the Law, the tradition of the Law and the the spirit of the Law. And the way of Jesus' practices of the Law fulfilled the spirit of the Law rather than the tradition of the Law. And it is God's intended purpose that the practice of the Law should bring one into the spirit of the Law and not the tradition of the Law. God's Law is never done away with. But the circumcised in the heart are already considered circumcised before God, thus we gentiles must in like manner practice the Law and fulfill the spirit of it rather than the ritualistic tradition of it. Thus, the 10 commandments are interpreted, not by the tradition of the law but by the spirit of the Law, which is but the law of the Spirit of the New Covenant. The question of whether if we should fulfill the Torah is a definite yes, but it is the spirit and not the tradition that we must satisfy.
| THE 10 COMMANDMENTS | ||||
| COMMANDMENTS | APPLICATIONS | |||
| The Outward Observation | The spirit of the Law and the law of the Spirit to the circumcised in heart, whether it be Jews or gentiles | |||
| PHYSICAL (Body) |
NATURAL (Soul) |
SPIRITUAL (Spirit) |
||
| 1 | You shall have no other gods before Me. | There is only 1 God and you must not have anybody else to replace or stand against Him as God over this Earth and Universe. | He alone is God and nobody else and nothing else are to be over your soul, in all relationships, perceptions and possessions concerning life on this earth. | He is the only One Supreme God of the Heavens and all spiritual realms and of your heart and you must not place anything higher than Him or replace Him or have anything that stand against Him. |
| 2 | You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or 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; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. | No carving of idols to represent Him or other powers in Heaven, earth or Hell, and never to bow down to them, neither to worship them nor grant them their wishes. | He is not to be molded into the traditions of man nor any other authorities be put to be equal or above Him, and to bow down and serve them instead of Him. | He is not to be molded into what you see as right in your own eyes by creating the image of God in your own understanding, or to have any thing else, like rituals, dogmas, gifting and anointing to replace Him or put to be equal with Him. |
| 3 | You shall not take the Name of the Lord in vain | Not to use His name lightly in oaths, swearing or documentation where He is called upon as witness. | Not to speak, swear in His Name carelessly in life and relationships, especially where He is witness. | Not to use His Name carelessly in spiritual services like prophecy, teaching, preaching, counseling. |
| 4 | Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. | Set aside a day solely for the purpose of honoring and worshipping God, where nothing else is more important. | A time in the week for rest in God for the soul, family and other natural relationships where God is honored. | The rest in God from self strength and all other defilement. |
| 5 | Honor your father and your mother. | To acknowledge and bless your own parents. | To respect and honor spiritual and natural parents, to exalt them and love them. | To highly esteem, honor, respect and submit to spiritual "parents" like pastors, elders, leaders. |
| 6 | You shall not murder. | No unlawful killing of human life but to preserve and prolong rightful living. | No unrighteous hatred, emotional torture or deprivation to fellow men. | No character assassination through gossip, backbiting, insinuation and innuendoes. |
| 7 | You shall not commit adultery | No unlawful sexual intimacy between a man and a married woman. | No unlawful emotional exchange or thoughts between a man and a married woman | No spiritual infidelity or unfaithfulness by suggesting in words or action that God is an unworthy Husband, incapable of love, care and protection, nor looking to the world or anything else for strength and help that should be given by God, or by not giving the best portion to God. |
| 8 | You shall not steal. | Unknown to others, taking things that are not rightfully yours, but somebody else's. | Can be in terms of secretly taking love, emotion, support, credit that is due to others. | No assumption of position, authority, glory, people that belong to God or other fellow men. |
| 9 | You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. | No speaking of lies, false swearing and false proof to the harm of your neighbor. | No words or actions with intention to mislead for unedifying purposes. | Not standing by the truth of God or of neighbor when you know it. |
| 10 | You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's. | You shall not crave for what belongs to your neighbor, his wife, servants, animals and everything that belong to him. | You shall not be envious about that which belongs to your neighbor no matter whether he deserves them or not. | You shall not be envious about your brother's ministry, strength, anointing, people, members, blessings and calling. |
RESTORATION OF BIBLICAL PATRIARCHY
HEBRAIC ROOTS OF CHRISTIANITY
Copyright © Israel CS Lim, June 1998
