THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Under the New Covenant

Compiled by Rachel Cory-Kuehl, August, 2007

Most recently edited: August 2022

Scripture quoted from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

AT THE VERY END OF THIS AGE

 

Revelation 11:19 “Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.”

The seventh angel has just sounded (Rev. 11:15).

“The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our LORD and of His Christ.”

It is the very end of this age.

 

In the last moments of this age, attention is drawn to the Covenant which was kept in the Ark - The Covenant of Ten Commandments (Deut 4:13, Deut 10:5). Why? Why call attention to that Covenant if it no longer applies - if it was rendered obsolete long ago?

 Is it possible that this Law of God is still very much the standard - today?

Has it always been the standard?

Will it be the standard in the judgment?

  

NO LAW - NO SIN

Romans 4:15 “Where there is no law, there is no transgression.”

 

To “transgress” means to go beyond the limits set by a law, standard or covenant.

If there is “no law” to define the limits - then there can be no transgression.

      Without a law to define “sin,” there IS no sin.

 

Jesus came to save human beings “from their sins” - from the penalty of sin (which is death) and from the power of sin in the life.

 

Matthew 1:21 “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”

 

If Jesus’ death annulled the “law” of God, then I have never “sinned” and you have never “sinned,” and we don’t need a Savior. Without “the law of God,” there IS no sin.

 

Why then, did Paul warn the believers to “abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess. 5:22). You cannot identify forms of “evil” except by “the law of God.” Paul strongly preached against “fornication.” The word means “unlawful sexual intercourse.” The “law” or Torah, defines lawful vs. unlawful.

1 John 3:4 “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”

 

How can there be “lawlessness” without a law? And where is that law? Do human beings define for themselves what is unlawful? That is what we see in our world. How’s that working out

PAUL IS VERY CLEAR

Romans 3:31 “Do we then make void the law through faith?

         God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”

 

Wow! Through faith - He will establish His law - in our hearts.

      That is the New Covenant promise!

 

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (See also 1 Cor. 6:9-10.)

1 Corinthians 7:18-19 “... keeping the commandments of God is what matters.”

Romans 6:1 “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!

 

TO LOVE - IS TO FULFILL THE LAW

Romans 13:10 “therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”

 

Even love - so cherished in the “New” Covenant - is defined by “the law.”

If one does not “keep the righteous requirements of the law” - one is not loving.

THE CARNAL MIND - CANNOT SUBMIT - TO THE LAW OF GOD

 

Romans 8:6-7 “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.” (NIV)

 

The natural human mind, without the Spirit of God, is selfish (sinful or carnal). It cannot submit to the law of God which commands unconditional love. This is why it means death to be controlled by the sinful mind.

 

To be controlled by the Spirit of God on the other hand, is to partake of the divine nature from God, which is life. The mind indwelt by the Spirit of Christ reaches out towards God. This mind submits to the law of God. The believer is changed and is brought into harmony with the law. This is the New Covenant promise.

 

Hebrews 8:10-12 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Jer 31:33)

 

NOTE: Lest you think that this covenant only applies to those of Hebrew descent, Paul says that every Gentile believer is “grafted in” to the Olive Tree, which is Israel (Romans Chapter Eleven). We are adopted Israelites.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN THE WRITINGS OF THE APOSTLES

Commandments (Exodus 20)	Sins condemned - New Testament
You shall have no other gods before Me.	Rom 1:25; Rev 13:4; Rev 19:10; Rev 22:9
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 bow down to them nor serve them.	idolatry: Gal. 5, 1 Cor. 5:10 & 6:9 & 10:14,      Acts 15:20 & 21:25, Rom 1:25, Rev. 21:8 & 22:14 sorcery: Gal. 5 covetousness is idolatry: Col 3:5, Eph. 5:5
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.	blasphemy of the name of God: James 2:7, Rev. 13:6. 16:9 To engage in wickedness is to blaspheme the name of Christ. 2Tim. 2:19, Rom. 2:24
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:	According to the prophecy of Isaiah, who was filled with the Spirit of Christ (1Peter 1:11), the redeemed will rest on the 7th Day Sabbath - in the earth made new (Isa. 66:22-23).
Honor your father and your mother.	disobedience of parents: Rom 1:30, Col 3:20, Eph 6:1-3
You shall not murder.	hatred, murders: Rom 1:29, Gal 5, 1Tim 1:9
You shall not commit adultery.	adultery, fornication: Eph 5:5, 1Tim 1:9, 1Cor 5:1, 6:9 licentiousness: Gal. 5 sexual immorality: Acts 21:25, 1Thess 4 One man/one woman marriage is retained: Col 3:18-19, Eph 5, 1Tim 3:2
You shall not steal.	extortion: 1Cor 5:10-11 stealing: Eph 4:27 kidnaping: 1 Tim 1:9 pilfering: Titus 2:10
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.	liars: Eph. 4:25, 1Tim 1:9 fraud: 1Thess 4 perjury: 1Tim 1:9 deceit: Rom 1:29 gossip: Rom 1:29
You shall not covet . . . anything that is your neighbor's.	jealousies, envy (Gal. 5) covetousness (Rom. 1:29, 1Cor. 5:11)

 

It should be obvious to anyone reading over the list, that the Ten Commandments are the standard for the people of God today.

 

While the “first” Covenant was written very simply for a people just freed from slavery, the deeper meaning within those commandments was revealed in the “Sermon on the Mount.” Still later the Apostles (especially Paul) explained how the principles embodied in the “first Covenant” are still the standard for believers today.

 

The teachings of Jesus went beyond the simple Ten of the Sinai Covenant. Under the New Covenant we are to pray for our enemies - for those who despitefully use us or persecute us. We are to love one another as He loved us (John 13:34). These are higher standards. This does NOT void the standards enjoined by the Sinai Covenant, but rather adds a new dimension.

    

GOD’S LAW IS FROM EVERLASTING.

                     IT DID NOT BEGIN AT MT. SINAI.

Romans 5:15 “Before the law (of Sinai), sin was in the world.”

There is no sin, where there is no law (Romans 4:15).

Therefore the law of God existed BEFORE Mount Sinai.

Lucifer “sinned,” when he rebelled against God in Heaven.

That means God’s law existed in heaven.

Where God exists - His law exists.

Hosea 6:7, Job 31:33 Adam sinned.

Genesis 6:5 The people of Noah’s day sinned.

Genesis 18:20 Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for their lawlessness (sin).

These people lived long before Mt. Sinai.

Genesis 26:5 Abraham kept Gods commandments, statutes and laws.

Exodus 16:25 To the children of Israel (before Mt. Sinai) God said,

                “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?”

 

The LORD sought to bring Israel into Covenant with Himself. If you will keep My law, then you will be My special people, and I will be your God. His law was not something new to the creation. These principles were as old as God Himself.

 

The Problem arises because we human beings cannot keep His law, without His Spirit within. But they resist Him. Before Jesus died, God’s Spirit was in the world. A few surrendered to that Spirit. Then the great love displayed by the death of His Son, won millions. Today the story of the Cross has been reduced to a footnote in history, and relegated to the “religious stations.” It is drowned out by the loud and flashy attractions of today.

GOD’S LAW APPLIED TO EVERYONE.

 

Leviticus 24:22 “There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger, as well as the native, for I am the Lord your God.”

Numbers 9:14 “You shall have one statute, both for the alien and for the native of the land.”

 

Isaiah 56:6-8 “Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, and love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant; Even those I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My alter; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

 

Exodus 12:19; Exodus 12:48; Exodus 12:49; Exodus 20:10; Deuteronomy 5:24; Leviticus 16:29; Leviticus 17:10-12; Leviticus 18:26; Leviticus 24:22; Numbers 9:14; Leviticus 17:8; Numbers 15:14-16; 1Kings 8:41-43; 2Chronicles 6:32; Isaiah 56:6-8. These passages speak of non-Israelite participation in worship, and their duty towards the law.

 

The passage says, “everyone” “who holds fast My covenant.” Under the “first covenant,” Gentiles (non-Hebrews) who joined themselves to Israel were included in the Covenant. They had to first be physically circumcised - something that is not required under the “New Covenant.” Under the New Covenant, BOTH circumcision of the flesh, and circumcision of the heart will be performed for us - by Christ. We will receive new “spiritual bodies” when we are “changed in a moment.” The old “flesh” will be gone.

THE LAW OF CHRIST (Gal 6:2) vs. THE COMMANDMENTS OF MOSES.

John 1:17 “For the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

 

The “but” was supplied by the King James translators. It is not in the original. There are not two different laws, one from Moses and the other from Christ. No!

 

Moses received the LAW from the pre-incarnate Christ. How do I know that? Moses “saw the God of Israel” as did the seventy elders who climbed the mountain with him (Exo 24:11). Jesus said that no one has “seen the Father” except himself (Jn 6:46). That means the pre-incarnate Son of God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. He has always been “the only mediator between God and man” (1Tim 2:5). See our study: “The Mediator.”

 

The important thing to remember, is that every command, when accepted by faith, comes with His promise -“I will write my laws on your heart.” He has the power to transform.

 

Christ said we are to love God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves. He was quoting from the Old Testament (Matt. 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-34, Deut. 6:5, Deut. 10:12, Deut. 30:6, Lev. 19:18).

 

When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He answered by quoting from the Old Testament. The words of the Beatitudes and the words of “The Lord’s Prayer” (Matt. 6:9-13) - all are quoted from the Old Testament.

 

There is nothing “old” about the writings of Moses or the prophets. (1Chron. 29:10,11; Lamentations 3:30, Deuteronomy 15:7,8; Proverbs 30:8, Proverbs 24:17; Deuteronomy 14:1; Proverbs 25:21; Isaiah 66:1; Job 31:29; Psalm 37:11; Exodus 23:4,5; Isaiah 50:6)

 

There was nothing wrong with the Ten Commandments. They had been covered with a clutter of Rabbinic tradition. Christ came to clarify the Law and to set it free from that tradition. He came to “magnify the Law and make it honorable” (Isaiah 42:21). He clarified the law of love which was as old as God Himself.

 

GOD’S LAW and CHRIST’S LAW

 

      Christ said, “I and my Father are one” (Jn 10:30). They are one in purpose and thought.

 

Why would we think the “law of Christ” is different from “the law of God?”

 

Psalm 40:8 “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yes, thy law is within my heart.”  

When we see the man - Christ Jesus, we see what we may become (in character) when He has perfectly written His law in our hearts.

 

            Who has promised to “circumcise” our hearts? Answer: Jesus Christ!  

 

Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Hebrews 8:10).

We pray this study will prove a blessing.

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