Are Christians Suppose to Keep the Ten Commandments?

Published on March 6, 2011

Are Christians Suppose to Keep the Ten Commandments? [ 44:29 ] Play in Popup | Download

Some Christians make the mistake of attempting to keep God’s Law in order to be saved. Others make the mistake of ignoring God’s Law in light of the grace of Christ. What is wrong with these perspectives and how should a Christian relate to God’s Law.

TEXT: Deuteronomy 4:1-8
SERIES: Difficult Questions Christians Deal With
SPEAKER: Jason Dollar
DATE: March 6, 2011

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Deuteronomy 4:1-8 “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you. Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. But you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today. See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?”

1) YES BECAUSE God’s Law is the expression of His holy heart.

Passages in the Bible that teach this:

Deuteronomy 4:8 (compare with v.7) And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

Psalm 19:7-9 The law of the LORD is perfect,reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

Psalm 119:72-73 The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.

Isaiah 42:21 The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious.

Matthew 5:17-18 “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. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

Thinking through the first four Commandments (Exodus 20:1-11) to see this.

You shall have no other gods before Me.
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.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Those who have been made right with God through Christ will long to obey the Ten Commandments.

Hebrews 8:10-11 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

Psalm 119:97 Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.

John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

1 John 5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

YES BECAUSE God’s Law is the foundation of a perfect human society.

Thinking through the final six Commandments (Exodus 20:12-17) to see this.

Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.

God’s Law is summed up in one word – love – the single most important component of a perfected human society.

Matthew 22:37-40 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Romans 13:8-10 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

But obedience to God’s Law does not make a person a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Romans 3:21-22 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

Romans 3:28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

APPLICATIONS: