The 10 Commandments
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My next major work will be a article on the 10 Commandments. There seems to be some educated people that post on this board and why I ask for input. My goal is to write an article in between scholarly and laymen level. I have gotten complaints from visitors to my site claiming I am too academic. So for this article I want to keep my word count no more than 3,000 words.
I have completed the introduction to my article. I was not sure on what BIble translation to use and was debating between the NIV, KJV, and ESV, so I decided on the HCSB. I wanted a translation that was easy for the average joe to understand, and so the HCSB reads very much like the NIV, and its a little more literal.
Other than spelling and Grammar errors (which I have not even checked myself yet) what do you say? This article will be written for the Christian. Thanks..
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The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments are found both in Ex 20 and Deut 5. They are very important as they are stated twice in the OT, and referred too often in the NT. Jesus himself used the Ten Commandments often in his evangelism endeavors, and Paul emphasized their importance in Romans. The first four commandments pertain to the relationship of the Israelites with God, and the other six deal with social relationships within the body of Christ. The Ten Commandments were designed to lead Israel into a life of Holiness, and Holiness is the major theme of the next book in the OT Leviticus. By the time of Christ, many looked at the Ten Commandments wrong, and thought that obeying them would lead to eternal life and prosperity on earth. None of these interpretations are what the Ten Commandments are teaching. The Ten Commandments reveal sin, and are a great schoolmaster. Many in today’s church think that the Ten Commandments are no longer needed, because we are under grace, but this is not entirely true. We are under grace, but the law reveals sin (Rm 3:20) and is a great tool to use in evangelism. God has spoken through the Ten Commandments and we must take it seriously. Hearing the voice of God through the Ten Commandments is not just to receive information, but to meet God. God did not give us His commandments so that we could memorize it, but that we could live better for him. We do not live for him to earn our salvation, but in response to our salvation. These Ten Commandments have been neglected and forgotten by many in today’s church, and I have seen the need to write about them. All scripture unless otherwise indicated will be from the Holman Christian Standard Version (HCSB).
Then God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.
1. Do not have other gods besides Me.
2. Do not make an idol for yourself.
3. Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God, because the LORD will punish anyone who misuses His name.
4. Remember to dedicate the Sabbath day.
5. Honor your father and your Mother.
6. Do not murder.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Do not steal.
9. Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10. Do not covet.
Exodus 20:1-17
The FIRST Commandment
Do not have other gods besides Me (Exodus 20:3)
I have completed the introduction to my article. I was not sure on what BIble translation to use and was debating between the NIV, KJV, and ESV, so I decided on the HCSB. I wanted a translation that was easy for the average joe to understand, and so the HCSB reads very much like the NIV, and its a little more literal.
Other than spelling and Grammar errors (which I have not even checked myself yet) what do you say? This article will be written for the Christian. Thanks..
–
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments are found both in Ex 20 and Deut 5. They are very important as they are stated twice in the OT, and referred too often in the NT. Jesus himself used the Ten Commandments often in his evangelism endeavors, and Paul emphasized their importance in Romans. The first four commandments pertain to the relationship of the Israelites with God, and the other six deal with social relationships within the body of Christ. The Ten Commandments were designed to lead Israel into a life of Holiness, and Holiness is the major theme of the next book in the OT Leviticus. By the time of Christ, many looked at the Ten Commandments wrong, and thought that obeying them would lead to eternal life and prosperity on earth. None of these interpretations are what the Ten Commandments are teaching. The Ten Commandments reveal sin, and are a great schoolmaster. Many in today’s church think that the Ten Commandments are no longer needed, because we are under grace, but this is not entirely true. We are under grace, but the law reveals sin (Rm 3:20) and is a great tool to use in evangelism. God has spoken through the Ten Commandments and we must take it seriously. Hearing the voice of God through the Ten Commandments is not just to receive information, but to meet God. God did not give us His commandments so that we could memorize it, but that we could live better for him. We do not live for him to earn our salvation, but in response to our salvation. These Ten Commandments have been neglected and forgotten by many in today’s church, and I have seen the need to write about them. All scripture unless otherwise indicated will be from the Holman Christian Standard Version (HCSB).
Then God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.
1. Do not have other gods besides Me.
2. Do not make an idol for yourself.
3. Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God, because the LORD will punish anyone who misuses His name.
4. Remember to dedicate the Sabbath day.
5. Honor your father and your Mother.
6. Do not murder.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Do not steal.
9. Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10. Do not covet.
Exodus 20:1-17
The FIRST Commandment
Do not have other gods besides Me (Exodus 20:3)
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[Kevin Miller]I was using the word “in force” to mean the Law is not automatically negated by the New Covenant if one does not accept the New Covenant, that is, to accept Christ as Savior according to the gospel of grace, which removes the believer from being under the Law.[Paul S]What do you mean by “in force.” If believers are effectively exempt from the curse of the law, then doesn’t that exempt us in some way from the “force” of the law? By “in force,” do you mean only that the principles of right and wrong contained in the 10 commandment should still be considered as principles of right and wrong? Would that be the same as having some kind of “force”?
First, all the 10 Commandments are still in force. Second, believers in the finished work of Christ are effectively exempt from the curse of the Law (Deuteronomy 26:27 [correction Deuteronomy 27:26]. Galatians 2:21. Galatians 3:10. Galatians 5:4. 1 John 3:4. James 2:10.)
Yes, and no. No, in that, unless one receives Christ under the New Covenant one is still subject to the curses of all the Old Covenant. (see Deuteronomy 27:26. James 2:10. Revelation 21:7, 8. 1 John 5:4, 5.)
The way I see Greg’s and Larry’s and James’ position is that certain principles of right and wrong have been in effect since creation, and those principles are in effect whether they are told by Adam to his children or told by the patriarchs to their families or written by God in stone to the children of Israel or spoken by Christ to the disciples. Yet what should we as believers today consider as authoritative? Do we look JUST at the words written by God to the children of Israel or do we look at the whole Bible to see what is in effect for today? I think that last question is where a lot of the misunderstanding has arisen in the thread. I think that everyone who has posted, even the ones who say the 10 Commandments are still in effect, are trying to look at the whole Bible. That is why you presented your understanding of Christ being our Sabbath rest. You got that from the New Testament. Christ is the fulfillment of the Sabbath, and believers therefore are at liberty to decide whether to observe it or not today. Of course, couldn’t we apply the whole Mosaic law in that same manner? Christ is the fulfillment of the whole Mosaic law, so when we consider our own liberty to obey or not, we look at principles other than the Mosaic law to determine if an action is right or wrong for us as believers. That which is “in force” for us would thus NOT be the Mosaic law, but would be the moral principles of right and wrong from Creation and from the lips of Christ and the pens of the New Testament writers. Since we also see those principles written down in the 10 Commandments, would it be fair to say that those principles are what is “in effect” rather than the “Mosaic Law” still being in effect?
The Sabbath observance was key part of the Old Covenant given to the people of Israel. So if one is non-Jew under theocracy rules of Israel, yes, under their rules they would be required to observe God’s 7th day Sabbath, the curse of the Law would apply to the non-Jew. So if Christians as missionaries to Jews, in their country, we would and should observe the 7th day Sabbath in their sight. Even though, the Christian is otherwise exempt from the curse of the Law in God’s sight through Christ. (see Galatians) (see Matthew 24:20, the Sabbath Law is to be observed by the fleeing people of Israel.)
By the way, you did have me a little confused when you said, “The Sabbath observance is still in effect as God commanded it to the people of Israel.” Do you believe that nonChristians today are bound by the command of the Sabbath observance, or are just today’s Jews bound by it, or am I misunderstanding what you tried to say?
The only true God is, who is, the only self evident truth not contingent on any thing else. "[There is] no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD." -- Proverbs 21:30.
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