There are things that cannot be repeated often enough. These include, in particular, the 10 Commandments of God. Declared outdated, obsolete or simply abolished, which couldn’t be more wrong.
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False representation of “the laws”
Since it has become firmly established in many people’s minds that alleged “the” laws of God are obsolete since they were ultimately “nailed to the cross”, it does not hurt to point out again and again that this is not “one complete law”, but that a distinction must be made between the laws of God (10 Commandments) and the laws of Moses (ceremonial laws).
The 10 Commandments of God were written in stone by God Himself, while the ceremonial laws were written in a book by Moses. The 10 Commandments of God indicate what sin is and the ceremonial laws were given because sin was committed. The 10 Commandments of God are eternal and are just as unchanging as the character of God and the ceremonial laws were a shadow, a symbol of what Jesus Christ and His work of salvation accomplished. The 10 Commandments of God were kept IN the Ark of the Covenant and the book with the ceremonial laws was kept NEXT to the Ark of the Covenant.
The ceremonial laws were nailed to the cross and were finally fulfilled by Jesus Christ. But the 10 Commandments of God, which also depict His character, remained unchanged and remain unchanged. The differences between the two sets of laws are so striking that it is downright surprising to lump them together and declare them abolished. Further details and relevant Bible passages about the differences – here.
In the Old Testament
Keeping God’s commandments, which were not first enforced on Mount Sinai but have long existed with Adam and Eve, runs like a red thread through the entire gospel. The core message is “If you love me, then keep my commandments!“. This begins (logically) in the Old Testament.
Exodus 20:3-6
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.“
These verses are also an excerpt from the (true) 10 Commandments – Info
Deuteronomy 5:8-10
“Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.“
The repetition of the unchanging 10 Commandments can be found in Deuteronomy, chapter 5.
Deuteronomy 7:9-11
“Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.“
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
“And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?“
5. Moses 11,1
“Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.“
“Statutes, judgements, commandments”. A clear distinction.
Deuteronomy 11:13-14
“And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.“
5. Moses 11,22-23
“For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.“
5. Moses 19,8-9
“And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers; If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:“
5. Moses 30,16
“In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.“
The list of “commandments, statutes and legal provisions” illustrates the different character of each.
Joshua 22:5
“But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.“
Daniel 9:4
“And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;“
Nehemiah 1:5-7
“And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.“
Here it is again made clear that commandments, statutes and legal regulations are different works. At this point in time, the “statutes and legal regulations” were still valid, since Jesus Christ had not yet come to fulfill them through His own work of salvation. The commandments, on the other hand, were and are still valid.
In the New Testament
As is often claimed, the New Testament is not the replacement of the Old Testament, but on a large scale the antitype, the fulfillment of what was shown in the Old Testament. A supplement to boot. Jesus Christ himself admonished (Matthew 24) to read the book of Daniel and understand the predictions. The book of Revelation in particular is a seamless transition from the prophecies in Daniel 10 to 12.
The core statement, “If you love me, keep my commandments,” is also contained in the New Testament.
Matthew 5:17-19
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 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. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.“
Matthew 19:17
“And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.“
Matthew 22:37-40
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.“
The emphasis here is “the whole law and the prophets HANG on it” and NOT that they are replaced by it (Info). Anyone who truly loves God and his fellow human beings will automatically keep the 10 Commandments. However, this does not mean that these commandments are abolished, but rather confirmed, just when viewed in a different light.
John 14:15
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.“
John 14:21
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.“
1 John 2:3-4
“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.“
1 John 5:2-3
“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 grievous.“
2 John 1:6
“And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.“
“You who practice lawlessness”
Actually, these are clear statements, as one would think. This immediately raises the question of how much effort must have been put into convincing many people and denominations that the 10 Commandments have been abolished and are non-binding.
And here comes the next stumbling block. Which of the 10 Commandments are still valid? ALL 10 of the 10 Commandments, including the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11)! It is precisely this commandment that has been at the center of the attacks from the very beginning, by the group from which the Roman Catholic Church ultimately emerged. (Info).
Accordingly, those who still consider the commandments to be binding are considered “exotic” today. These are precisely the ones who will be the target of the final persecutors “at the end of things”. (Info).
Jesus Christ warned against lawlessness, i.e. the disregard of the commandments. Not for then “now”, but also for the future. He gave an unequivocal answer to those who constantly and naturally violate the commandment, since they may simply be treated as abolished, according to Matthew 7:23:
“And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.“
It is paradoxical that the absolute foundation and thus the reason for the gospel, the “good news” about the possible salvation of mankind, was simply torn down by him. The law (Info).
The Greek word is “anomia” and means “you who practice lawlessness”. Some German translations have “you evildoers” in this place, which does not adequately convey the explosive nature of this matter. After all, who considers themselves an “evildoer” if they believe they are doing the right thing because they have been told to do so? And they do not even realize that by (permanently) ignoring even one of the 10 Commandments they are in rebellion against God. This is exactly what seduction looks like, which Jesus Christ warned against (Matthew 24:4).
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 12:17
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Revelation 14:12
Bible verses from King James Version (1611)
