The 10 Commandments are found in the Bible's Old Testament (Exodus 20:1), They were given directly by God to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai after He had delivered them from slavery in Egypt:
"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God...
1: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'
2: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image-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. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.'
3: '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.'
4: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 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. 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.'
5: 'Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.'
6: 'You shall not murder.'
7: 'You shall not commit adultery.'
8: 'You shall not steal.'
9: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'
10: '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.'
The 10 Commandments - Christ's Summation in the New Testament
About 1,400 years later, the 10 Commandments were summed up in the New Testament at Matthew 22, when Jesus was confronted by the religious "experts" of the day:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:36-40).
A reflective reading of Christ's teaching reveals that the first four commandments given to the children of Israel are contained in the statement: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." It continues that the last six commandments are enclosed in the statement: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
How do God's Ten Commandments apply today?
Many people today feel that God's Ten Commandments are no longer valid because they do not apply to our current society. They look to the Ten Commandments as being outdated and full of inflammatory language which doesn't sit well with our politically-correct viewpoint. The Ten Commandments are also considered by many people to have been abolished by Jesus when He made a new covenant between God and man with His death and resurrection.
The problem in thinking that Jesus came to abolish the Ten Commandments is that Jesus never claimed to have abolished the Ten Commandments. Instead, in Matthew 5:17-18 Jesus says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."
In this verse, Jesus gives a clear indication that the Ten Commandments are still to be followed and adhered to even in our generation and every generation to come until the day that Jesus returns. So what does all this mean to us and how do God's Ten Commandments apply today?
God's Ten Commandments are still valid because Jesus declared them to be. We are still called by God to honor the Ten Commandments and obey what they call us to do. Jesus also told us that obeying the Law or the Ten Commandments is not just a superficial act, but one that carries the essence of the law into our thoughts and hearts.
Jesus proclaimed that if we think something that is contrary to one of the Ten Commandments, we are to view it in the same light as if we had physically carried out the act. For instance, if we think to ourselves it is okay to slander or gossip about our neighbors, we are in essence breaking the ninth Commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." If we are married and one day we see a handsome man or a pretty woman walking down the street and we lust in our hearts for them, we are breaking the seventh of God's Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." If we do our own pleasures on saturday the seventh day instead of resting, glorifying and worshiping the Lord we are breaking the fourth commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 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. 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."
As Christians, we should not think that since Paul tells us "we are set free from the law" the Ten Commandments no longer apply to us. Paul is telling us that because we are now in a relationship with Christ, we are forgiven of our indiscretions when it comes to following the Ten Commandments. We are still called throughout the New Testament to obey God's Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments also apply to non-believers because in the end, they will be judged by the essence of the law and the Ten Commandments. This means that if they are guilty of breaking even one of the Ten Commandments, be it a lack of respect or reverence for God or some indiscretion between non-believers, it will be as if they were guilty of breaking all the commandments.
God's Ten Commandments are still the standard by which we should strive to live our lives. They are not some outdated laws that were only to be used by Moses. God meant the Ten Commandments to be permanent guidelines that we are still to follow in order to have a more meaningful relationship with God and each other.
