When Jesus was asked: "which is the great commandment in the law?" 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 neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:35-40 NKJV)
Jesus has quoted the commandment to love God from Deuteronomy 6:5, and the commandment to love our neighbour from Leviticus 17:18. These commandments were among many given by God to Moses. The commandments, to love God and our neighbour, do not replace the other commandments. Rather they are the basis for the other commandments.
Paul says: Owe no man anything but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shall not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shall not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:8-10) These are some of the Ten Commandments, which Paul says are an expression of our love for our neighbour. Perish the lie that says that if we love, we can ignore these commandments. It is not difficult to see that if we love our neighbour, we will not murder him, steal from him, bear false witness against him, or commit adultery with his wife.
Other of the Ten Commandments, direct our love for God. In the second commandment the words ‘love’ and ‘hate’ appear. God says: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in 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 showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)
To love God, we must also keep the first commandment where God says: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3) But to keep this command, we must understand and believe what God says of himself, when he says: I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me. (Isaiah 46:9) But perhaps this takes a lifetime to learn.
And surely no one can say they love God if they transgress the third commandment: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. (Exodus 20:7) God is perfect and this is why: the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
In all matters, if we love God, we will not follow the way of his enemy, the devil.
Jesus reproved the Pharisees for not keeping the fifth commandment, saying to them: God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and he that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall sat to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (Matthew 15:4-9) How relevant this message is today. The worship of those who now say that keeping God’s law is unnecessary, is vain and hypocritical.
The same logic applies to all of the Ten Commandments. Total obedience is required. James writes: 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. (James 2:10,11)
Jesus taught that we must keep the Ten Commandments to inherit eternal life: a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him . . . Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. (Luke 18:18-20) Jesus here is quoting those of the Ten Commandments relating to our neighbour. That he does not quote those commandments relating to God is not significant.
But keeping the letter of the ten commandments is not enough. The spirit of the law must also be observed. We must not only not steal; we must also give to the poor and to God.
But Jesus went beyond merely telling him how to inherit eternal life. He showed him complete obedience which is the way to inherit also a crown. Jesus said to him: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. Such obedience would have shown total adherence to the spirit of the commandments not to steal and not to covet. It would also have shown that he was ready to make God, his God in all respects and thus obey the commandment: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Some say that when Jesus taught the Ten Commandments, he was still teaching the Old Covenant. But this is wrong doctrine. The teaching of the Old Covenant finished with John the Baptist. Jesus said: The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God is preached. (Luke 16:16)
Commandments in the New Testament are built upon the foundations of commandments of the Old Testament, in a similar way that university study is built upon school study. It was not always necessary for Christ to restate the Old Testament commandments, as he was speaking to Jews who knew the letter of the law. Christ said: I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew 15:24) Jesus never told them to forget the Ten Commandments.
Jesus saw that other commandments were based upon the Ten Commandments. He said: Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgement: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: bat whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. (Matthew 5:21,22) I think that the most terrible words about judgement, must be understood in the context of cruel oppression from a position of power, rather than just petty spite and temper. Paul says: in malice be as children, who fight and squabble, but play together again the next day.
Murder is the ultimate act of hatred. But lesser forms of hatred, such as mockery, also transgress the same principle. Of those who do not kill, but yet mock, it is written: Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. (1 John 3:15)
Some say that the law of Christ sets a higher standard than the Old Covenant law; but the Old Testament also speaks against mockery. Solomon writes: Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker. (Proverbs 17:5) And Solomon speaks against anger, saying: He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty. (Proverbs 16:32) It is probably truer to say, that rather than change the standard, Jesus clarifies it, thus diminishing the excuse or cloak for sin. And so He said: If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. (John 15:22 NKJV)
Paul said God: hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. (2 Corinthians 3:6) Paul is referring to the more negative aspects of the law of God, which bring death to the flesh. For example David says: deceitful men shall not live out half their days. (Psalm 55:23) And to those who say, ‘No, this won’t happen’, the Psalmist says: Yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off. (Psalm 94:23) Such a message would devastate a false accuser, being the negative implications of the ninth commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness.
(This threat does not apply to the average old lady that tells lies, of whom Paul says that the aged women should not be false accusers. It applies only to those who falsely accuse for the purpose of overthrowing righteousness, to establish wickedness.)
Such a message has useful correctional value. So why does Paul call it: the ministration of death? (2 Corinthians 3:7) It is because knowledge alone of what is right is insufficient to empower righteousness. It may lead only to condemnation. Paul, referring to his unconverted state said: to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18)
Only the power of the Holy Spirit could set Paul free from sin. And he said: the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2) The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22,23)
But this: righteousness of the law is only fulfilled in those: who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:4) And so Paul says to those who were overtaken by sin: Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16) This is a commandment to keep, not just a statement of the theology of conversion. Keeping this commandment means devoting our lives to good. It means not only avoiding the worst excesses of sin as defined by the Ten Commandments, but also obeying the principles of the Ten Commandments, as explained by Christ and his apostles, and as learned from all the holy Scriptures, both Old Testament and New.
Jesus said: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63) Because understanding and obeying Christ’s words imparts spiritual life, Jesus could say to those who believed on him: If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (from sin.) (John 8:31,32)
I have explained how Jesus taught the importance, not only of the Ten Commandments, but also of the underlying principles. But Jesus did not fully explain every doctrine and commandment. He taught that our prayers should begin with praise, the Lord’s prayer beginning: Hallowed be thy name. But he gave no detailed instructions on how to praise. The Old Testament, however, has a multitude of Psalms, where the glorious meanings of the attributes associated with God’s name, are given. The Psalm beginning: The Lord is my Shepherd is the English translation of God’s name: JAHOVAH RAAH. And so Christ’s teachings must be complemented with those of the Old Testament, if our obedience is to be complete. Jesus stated this when he said: man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. (Luke 4:4)
In my articles, I teach, not only the letter of the Ten Commandments, but also the spirit. By drawing on the totality of Scripture, I show how to obey neglected commandments that are vital to a true obedience to the spirit of the Ten Commandments. How neglected today is the commandment of the Psalms to praise the Lord? And who, today sufficiently comprehend the glory of God and his wondrous works to spend time in praise without excessive repetition. Imparting such a comprehension is the purpose of my discussion of the commandment: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
I hope that through such discussions I am able to minister the Spirit to the reader so that the law of the Spirit of life may set free from the law of sin and death. But such a ministry is not easily acquired. The apostle Paul, referring to his sufferings, said: So then death worketh in us, but life in you. (2 Corinthians 4:12)
My articles explaining God’s law to love God and our neighbour are grouped according to the principles of the Ten Commandments, to which I believe that all God’s commandments are related. It is good to understand the principles of commandments that we may recognise the importance of our obedience in addition to understanding the means of obedience.
The Ten Commandments are:
FIRST: And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.
SECOND: 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 showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
THIRD: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
FOURTH: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
FIFTH: Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
SIXTH: Thou shalt not kill.
SEVENTH: Thou shalt not commit adultery.
EIGHTH: Thou shalt not steal.
NINTH: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
TENTH: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour’s.
I have quoted these from Exodus 20:1-17. They are also listed in Deuteronomy 5:6-21, where the command not to covet thy neighbour’s wife appears in a different order. From this the Roman Catholics deduce that a separate commandment belongs to such coveting and they group the commandments slightly differently to Protestants. But the listing in Exodus surely shows that they are wrong.
Although in my papers, I stress the spirit of the Ten Commandments rather than the letter, it is important to recognise the authority of the letter of the commandment. A wilful disregard of the letter of the commandment will cancel the empowerment of the Spirit obtained by observing other aspects of the spirit of the commandments.