After Jesus Christ himself, the 10 Commandments of God are among the most attacked parts of the gospel. Abolished, eliminated, abolished, these are the theories. Whether out of a misunderstanding or intentionally is irrelevant, because anyone who ignores and violates the laws written in stone, even in mistaken belief, will not be able to avoid God’s justice.
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A fatal mistake
Are the 10 Commandments of God still valid? This question is often asked and unfortunately often answered completely incorrectly. A description and justification for the commandments that are fully valid today and in the future can be can be read here.
The reason for the erroneous belief that Jesus Christ nailed the laws to the cross is largely due to the confusion between the laws of God written in stone (10 Commandments) and the rules of ceremonies written in a book. Another reason for this error that the 10 Commandments have been abolished is the lack of knowledge that there is a distinction between laws and statutes.
In short form:
The 10 commandments of God are valid. The ceremonial laws (statutes) have been abolished.
God’s justice is eternal justice and His laws are the truth, as in Psalm 119:142. “Eternity” and “already abolished around 2000 years ago” don’t go together at all. Since sin is defined by the transgression of the law, if the law were nullified, sin would also cease to exist. And for this reason grace (for what else?) would not be necessary at all. From this alone you can see that the claim that the 10 Commandments have been abolished is completely illogical.
Attack on the whole front
Since the opponents of the gospel attack on all fronts, in addition to claiming that the 10 Commandments are invalid, they have also redefined sin (Info) and persistently concealed the eternal justice of God (Info). This particularly affects the (formerly) Protestant and evangelical churches.
The Roman Catholic Church maintains the validity of the 10 Commandments. But, and it’s a huge “but,” she teaches falsified commandments according to her catechism. The Second Commandment (idols, images, etc.) was deleted and appended to the First Commandment as an insignificant, never-mentioned accessory, and the Tenth Commandment was simply divided into two commandments in order to return to the number ten (Info). The original Fourth Commandment (Sabbath) is an excellent example of how this church wages massive war against God’s commandments (Info).
Large churches celebrate error
The sad result of these many “misunderstandings” is that a real majority of Christians are subject to error.
A group basically puts any description that even remotely resembles a rule, whether commandments, statutes, dietary regulations, into a sack and throws it into the sea. “Only the love and grace of God” counts. And at the same time, their hands are raised to heaven, languishing. In fact, this philosophy is fundamentally identical to the adversary’s “law” of “do what you want”, only celebrated with a halo attached. This teaching can be found primarily in free churches with charismatic traits, especially Pentecostals.
Another group follows the distorted commandments of the Roman Catholic Church, which were unfortunately also adopted by the Reformers. These merely swapped commandments 9 and 10 in order. The Catholic Church, completely ignoring the Second Commandment, teaches glorifying images, figures, relics and statues and kneeling before them and even worshiping them. The Reformers followed the (true) Fourth Commandment of the Mother Church Rome by also defining this holy seventh day of the week as a “Jewish Sabbath”. According to the theory, this Sabbath is no longer valid for Christians (Info).
The bottom line is that Catholics and even (conservative) Protestants only follow eight or nine commandments, but not all ten. James 2:10 speaks plainly about this:
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.“
The way things look after the Pope’s visit to the Far East, including Singapore, the First Commandment has now been canceled (Info).
Statutes are not 10 commandments
The clearest reference to the abolition of the ceremonial laws and NOT the 10 Commandments through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ can be found in Ephesians 2:15:
“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;“
“Commandments in statutes” (“in ordinances”) are clearly the ceremonial laws that Moses received from God for the establishment of certain festival times and also the conduct of the priest’s service. The term “statutes” alone is the real key. This is what the “Federal Center for Civic Education” says about the term statutes (Quelle):
“Articles of association refer to a written agreement about the order and procedure to be followed within an association, what tasks it has and who represents the association externally and in what way.“
So clearly there is a process, an order for the design, the procedure of a ceremony or its course. This was the case, for example, with the daily sacrificial services, as well as with the requirement to circumcise newborn boys on the 10th day. All of these rules were abolished with the saving work of Jesus Christ.
This is where the big misunderstandings arise. For anyone who nevertheless carries out these abolished ceremonies (statutes) in the belief that they are necessary, thereby rejects the saving work of Jesus Christ and places themselves back under the law (works-righteousness). But as a sinner you can “do and do” whatever you want; without the grace of Jesus Christ, man is condemned by the law. And the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
Comparison for differentiation
The following are some excerpts from the Bible with the clear distinction between the 10 commandments and the ceremonial laws (statutes). Origin, storage location and character differ significantly.
| Laws of God 10 Commandments |
Laws of Moses Ceremony, order of events |
| Referred to as “the law of the Lord” Isaiah 5:24 “Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” |
Referred to as the “Law of Moses” Luke 2:22 “And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;” |
| Referred to as the “royal law” James 2:8 “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:” |
Called “laws in statutes” Ephesians 2:15 “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;” |
| Written in stone by God Exodus 31:18 “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” |
Written in a book by Moses 2. Chronicles 35:12 “And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.” |
| Laws placed in the Ark of the Covenant Exodus 40:20 “And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:” |
Statutes placed on the Ark of the Covenant Deuteronomy 31:26 “Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.” |
| Will be valid forever Luke 16:17 “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” Psalm 119:142-144 “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights. The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.” |
Were abolished with the crucifixion of Jesus Ephesians 2:15 “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;” |
| Laws Point to Sin Romans 7:7 “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” |
Were introduced because of sin committed Galatians 3:19 “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.” |
| Laws are not burdensome 1. John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” |
Laws (statutes) are directed against man Colossians 2:14 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” |
| Law condemns all people James 2:10-12 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” |
Law condemns no one Colossians 2:14-16 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:” |
| Laws of the Spirit Romans 7:14 “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” |
Laws of the Flesh Hebrews 7:16 “Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.” |
| Laws are perfect Psalm 19:7 “DThe law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” |
Laws made nothing perfect Hebrews 7:19 “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.” |
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:15
Bible verses from King James Version (1611)
