Ten Commandments

Why Did God Give the Ten Commandments?

Does He Really Expect Us to Keep Them?

God gave us the Ten Commandments for our good. When God created Adam and Eve, He created them in His own image--they knew God and His will and they were righteous and holy (cf. Genesis 1:26-27; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10). God's law was written upon their hearts (cf. Romans 2:14-16). But after the entrance of sin (Genesis 3), man's understanding of God's holy will and law became darkened (cf. Romans 1:21ff.). People began to twist and explain away God's laws and justify their own sinful actions. That we might rightly know God's holy will and law, God gave the Ten Commandments again at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 20).

The Commandments of God are good and right. In fact, they teach us God's will for our lives and warn us of those things which will bring temporal (earthly) and eternal harm to our bodies and souls. The Bible says: "The commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good" (Romans 7:10-12). So, the Ten Commandments are holy and good. If we truly kept and obeyed them, they would bring us life in fellowship with God. The problem is, not with God's commandments, but with us; for we are bent on sin and disobedience. Instead of loving God with all our hearts and gladly and willingly obeying all His good commandments, we put ourselves before God and rebel against God's authority and commands. The end result is that God's commandments which were given for our good, condemn us for our disobedience and sin!

If you consider the Ten Commandments (they can be found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5), you will find that it is for our good to love God and not have any other gods before or beside Him. It is for our own good not to make graven images and worship them. We bring harm to ourselves when we misuse God's name and fail to sanctify the holy day. We bring harm to ourselves and others when we disobey our parents, hurt and kill, commit adultery, steal, lie, and covet. God has forbidden all these things, not to make our life miserable, but for our good!

Does God expect us to keep His commandments? Most definitely! The Bible warns: "The soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4); and, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Even the Christian, whose sins are forgiven, is required to obey the commandments. The Bible says: "Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law" (Romans 3:31); and, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Romans 6:1,2).

God gave us the Ten Commandments for our good, and He does expect and require that we keep them. The problem that we all have is that we can't keep them perfectly. Even if we could keep them all outwardly, God demands holiness in our thoughts, words, and desires as well (cf. Matthew 5:17-48). Again, the Bible tells us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). The Bible teaches that "there is none righteous, no, not one...." Romans 3:10ff.).

This is why God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. Jesus kept God's commandments perfectly for us. The Bible tells us that Jesus "was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). Then, Jesus went to the cross and suffered and died for our sins. "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures...He was buried...He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). God sent His own dear Son that we, who have broken God's commandments in our thoughts, desires, words, and deeds, might have forgiveness for our sins and eternal life in heaven with God instead of the punishment of hell which we deserve! "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

In summary, God gave the Ten Commandments for our good--that we might know and do what is good and right and live in fellowship with God, our Maker. God does expect and require that we obey His commandments; but, because we are sinners and can't keep God's commandments with a pure heart and life, God sent His own Son to keep the commandments for us and die and bear the punishment for our sins! In Jesus, we are given forgiveness for all our sins; and we given a new life in fellowship with God and the desire to do and keep God's holy commandments.

Exodus 20:1-21 NKJV

1 And God spoke all these words, saying:

2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.

4 "You shall not make for yourself a 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;

5 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 on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

7 "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.

8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

10 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 cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.

11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

13 "You shall not murder.

14 "You shall not commit adultery.

15 "You shall not steal.

16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."

18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.

19 Then they said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die."

20 And Moses said to the people, "Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin."

21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.

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