Are the Ten Commandments Binding Today?
Jesus didn't come to do away with the law.
Exodus 20
1 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 13 Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 Thou shalt not steal. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. *
Matthew 5
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 21 Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Jesus didn't come to do away with the law.
Not one little dot on an 'i' or cross of a 't' will be taken away from it until *ALL* is fulfilled. He had a perfect opportunity right there to tell people the old law was invalid, he'd come and he was going to do away with it. Why would he emphasize that nothing would change, if he were there to change it all? Would he contradict himself? He goes on to pick out the 'Thou shalt not kill' commandment and not do away with it, but to expound upon it, making it so the the heart is judge beyond just actions.
So yes, those that kill are in danger of the judgement, but those that in their hearts want someone dead, those that hold such anger towards another are just as guilty and they're going to suffer from breaking the commandments as well. He brought the *real* meaning behind these laws to light. The weren't mere words. They weren't cut and dried actions with punishments, no they were/are heart and soul commandments. Jesus wanted us to see the Father's love in those commandments, he came to show us that love.
Did Jesus do away with the commandments? Or was part of his ministry to us here on earth to show us how each and every ten of those commandments was still valid and the heart would be judged in connection with them?
Matthew 19 -
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Luke 18-
20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
Mark 10:-
19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
Let's look at these passages a moment- I did some comparisons- which commandments did Jesus mention in all three books, as with a lot of things you get slightly different versions of the same event in those books of the Bible. Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. These are in all three books. However there are two more added- Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Defraud not.
That brings us to this-- Matthew 22-
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Jesus had a lawyer, yes-- a lawyer, asking him which is the great commandment hoping to trip him up and he couldn't. Because Jesus didn't come to do away with the commandments at all. He came to reinforce the meaning of them all, all ten of them.
If we love the Lord God with all our heart and soul we'll keep those ten commandments. The first four commandments have to do with how we are to show our love of God, the last six have to do with our fellow man. The two commandments Jesus spoke of encompassed them all and the lawyer didn't refute him on it, you can be sure we would have read about it if he had, something so important as that when they were trying to trip Jesus up anyway they could. How could the lawyer refute him? Jesus was keeping all the commandments as we should. They weren't done away with or changed, they were enlightened. *
Psalm 19-
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Oh yes, we need enlightening don't we? Is there one among us who could say they don't? That could say they've been enlightened enough? I don't know about you, but I want enlightenment. It's my prayer that we all be enlightened to all thing that God deems we need enlightening towards. The love of God Himself. The love of His Son. The Gift of the Holy Spirit. The knowledge we need in these last days to be among those counted worthy to stand. May we be blessed with enlightenment of the truth.