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. (Ex 20:1-2)
Somewhere in the recesses of my brain, I remember someone telling me that the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God were "shelved" when Jesus came. I was told He gave us two new ones and that the original ten no longer applied. Whoever you were - you were wrong!!! Fill up your coffee cups and take a short walk with me through both the old and new and you will see that although Christ's command to us is "to love the Lord, your God and to love your neighbor as yourself", He does, very profoundly, address all ten of the "original" laws handed down by God.
In Exodus 20:3 - "Have no other gods before me" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 4:10 "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve". There is the first commandment.
In Exodus 20:4 - "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" -- Jesus said, in Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters." (For my Catholic friends, please note that your church had deleted this commandment (and as far as I know, they haven't put it back in) - the commandments you learned as 9 and 10 are, in fact, one commandment - but I'll get to that later).
In Exodus 20:7 - "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 5:34 "Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne"
In Exodus 20:8 - "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" -- Jesus said, in Mark 2:27-28 "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore, the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath"
In Exodus 20:12 - "Honour thy father and they mother" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 10:37 "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me"
In Exodus 20:13 - "Thou shalt not kill" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 5:22 "Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement" (this one here may be one a few thousand people may need to revisit right now)
In Exodus 20:14 - "Thou shalt not commit adultery" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 5:28 "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (and ladies, this does apply to you - just switch out the words).
In Exodus 20:15 - "Thou shalt not steal" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 4:40 "And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also"
In Exodus 20:16 - "Thou shalt not bear false witness" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 12:36 "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement"
In Exodus 20:17 - "Thou shalt not covet (thy neighbor's house, wife, servants, goods or anything that belongs to him)... -- Jesus said, in Luke 12:15 "Take heed, and beware of covetousness"
So here you have the foundation of the law handed down by God to Moses and you also have the law spoken to you in Jesus' own words. To sit here and elaborate on each one this morning would take us into lunch (and I have to be to work at 9). Over the next few days, I will try and devote some time to these (unless our Heavenly Father has something else in store for me). Take the time this morning and read the entire chapter in Exodus (20). If you have time, read commentary on it.
Although we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, we still must implement these laws into our lives. They are not archaic, they've not been "recalled" and they certainly are relevant to living a Christian life! The "laws" that we no longer fall under are not these Ten Commandments, but the laws governing sacrifice and worship written in Leviticus (another series for another time). Don't get caught up in the two "loves" - yes, these are the two great commandments, but if you look at the original ten, the first three fall under "Love the Lord, your God" and the second seven fall under "Love your neighbor"...Jesus merely explained them for our understanding.
Know the Word of God, know what is expected of you - in His court (or any court for that matter), ignorance is no excuse! Get to the heart of the matter, learn the commands given to you by the Father and reiterated by Jesus! Get it right, get it straight! If it was important enough for Jesus to come and give us further instruction on, then it is important to obey! KNOW the Word of God!!!
