This is the first in a series of articles on the Ten Commandments. In this study of the Ten Commandments we will first look at the meaning they had for the Israelites to whom they were given, then we will consider further light cast upon these commandments in the New Testament Scriptures and seek to discover the meaning they have for believers in Christ today.

The Ten Commandments and their corollaries in both the Old and New Testaments are very wide ranging, covering much of our thought and behavior patterns. Topics that may be touched on in this series include horoscopes, swear words, nursing homes, driving habits, overeating, abortion, pornography, coffee breaks, white lies, and keeping up with the Joneses.

But wait a minute! I can just hear some of my readers protesting:"The Christian is no longer under the law. Are you trying to put us back there where we don’t belong?" The answers to this statement and question are, clearly, "Yes, you are correct," and "No, I am not." But this is a very important issue and requires a careful, detailed discussion before we proceed with a study of the Ten Commandments.

Scripture clearly teaches us:"By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight" (Rom. 3:20). "A man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Gal. 2:16). "Ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Rom. 6:14). "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit; are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Gal. 3:1-3).

So we are not saved by keeping the law. We are not justified by doing the works of the law. And even after we are saved through trusting in the shed blood and finished work of Christ, we are not to use the law or Ten Commandments as a rule of life. The law tells man what God wants him to do and not to do; but man always has been and always will be utterly powerless in himself to carry out the dictates of the law.

The law is a tool God uses to bring unbelievers to a knowledge of their sinfulness and utter inability to reach God’s standard of holiness. "By the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20). "I had not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet" (Rom. 7:7). Several years ago we were studying the Sermon on the Mount at a Bible study where I work. A lady who attended regularly came to me after one of the lessons and said, "Before I started coming to these Bible classes I thought I was a Christian. Now I can see that I am not." The law, as contained in the Sermon on the Mount, convicted her of a condition and a need she had never realized before.

But what about the believer? Isn’t it appropriate to use the Ten Commandments and other laws of Scripture as a rule of life, to help us live the Christian life as God wants us to live? This is appropriate only if we are told in the Scriptures that it is appropriate. However, let us listen to what the Scriptures say rather as to the Christian’s rule of life:Our rule of life_ that which should be our all-consuming desire_is to "win Christ" (Phil. 3:8); to "know Him and the power of His resurrection" (3:10); to "follow after" Christ and "press toward the mark" (3:12,14); "to walk, even as He walked" (1 John 2:6); to set our "affection on things above" (Col. 3:2); to be "followers [or imitators] of God" (Eph. 5:1). This standard_Christ Himself_is much, much higher than the law. When we have Christ as our object, and are walking according to the Spirit, "the righteousness of the law [will] be fulfilled in us" (Rom. 8:4).

Of what value, then, is it for true believers in Christ to study the Ten Commandments if we are not to have them as a rule of life? Consider the following stories of John, Mary, Frank, and Joan.

John has been taught at the assembly Bible studies and Bible conferences that Christ Himself_and not the law_is to be the believer’s rule of life. He is sincerely trying to put Christ first and have Christ as His one object in life. However, he believes that as His relationship with Christ deepens, the Lord will show him things that he should start or stop doing and, further, that he will lose interest in his old habits the better he gets to know Christ. That explains why he is still smoking, still reading Playboy, and still spending his Sunday afternoons watching athletic events on television. He hasn’t yet received a clear direction from the Lord to give up any of these pleasures, and, note, he hasn’t advanced far enough in his knowledge of Christ to have lost his interest in these things.

Then there is Mary. She often hears the Bible teachers say emphatically that believers are not under the law but under grace. Mary knows she is sinning in her relationship with her boyfriend. But she argues with herself that it really doesn’t matter that much since she knows she is saved, that God is gracious and forgiving, and that nothing_not even her sin_can separate her from the love of God and cause her to lose her salvation.

Frank learned at the Wednesday night Bible study that the teachings of Christ’s "Sermon on the Mount" constitute "kingdom truth" and do not apply to believers in the present dispensation_that is, the Church age. So when a brother in Christ remonstrated with Frank for his tendency to return tit for tat and not turning the other cheek when provoked, Frank defended himself by saying that those verses in Matthew 5 do not apply to us today.

Finally, Joan was overheard saying, "I am glad we are not under the law like Israel was. They had to tithe, but I know the Lord is just as happy with the three to four percent I am able to give Him."

John’s mistake was to replace the Word of God with a sort of mystical approach to knowing God’s will. In so doing he relieved himself of any personal responsibility for discovering God’s will for his life. He didn’t see that God expected him to read and study His Word, that God would, through His Word, convict him of things in his life that needed changing, and that he was responsible to bring his life style and habits and behavior patterns into conformity with God’s Word.

Mary had the correct doctrine concerning the believer’s eternal security; however, she made the mistake of equating God’s grace with leniency toward sin. "Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid" (Rom. 6:15). What she failed to understand, or what the well-meaning teachers failed to emphasize, was that our being "under grace" refers to the source of our motivation to please God in all we say and do. Those who are under the law, if they desire to be obedient to it, will obey out of fear of the consequences of disobedience. Or else, they will try_as the Pharisees did_to ease their consciences by interpreting the law in a way that will mesh with their own attitudes and behavior. Those under grace, on the other hand, desire to obey God out of the deep gratitude of their hearts for His infinite love and grace in sending "His only begotten Son" to die as our substitute for sin. And they will seek, in communion with the Lord, not only the power to carry out the commandments written down in God’s Word, but to enter more deeply and fully into His perfect will for every aspect of their lives.

What Frank did not realize, and what those who taught him did not make clear, was that God’s standard of holiness and right behavior for Christians is not less than but far higher than the sum total of laws and commandments given in Scripture. If we would only stop and think a moment, we would realize that it is inconceivable that God’s standard of holiness for the Church, the body and bride of Christ, those of His redeemed ones who are most precious to Him, should be any lower than that for His people of another dispensation or age of time.

Joan viewed God’s laws as a burden, and was relieved when she came to understand she was no longer under that burden. However, she turned her newfound freedom into self-indulgence rather than into the liberty to turn herself and her possessions over to the Lord.

In summary, the role of the Ten Commandments for the Christian is similar to that for the unbeliever. The law is used to give to the unbeliever the knowledge of sin. The law is similarly useful in shaking the believer out of the complacency of thinking that he/she is truly devoted to Christ and doing His will in all things. We may sincerely believe that we are following Christ, obeying God, filled with the Spirit. But we are not left to our own thoughts and feelings about this. The Bible largely reveals God’s will for us. So it is helpful for us frequently to allow God to test us by His Word as to how faithful and devoted we are to Him. And sometimes we will find, if we are honest with ourselves, that we have not even measured up to the simplest of His commands.

As a cautionary note, we must never, never, check ourselves against the Ten Commandments, or Sermon on the Mount, or any other part of God’s Word, and come to the conclusion, "I’m doing just fine." The Ten Commandments, Sermon on the Mount, etc. reveal God’s minimum standard of behavior for His children. Christ Himself is our standard. If we are truly devoted to Him, truly responding to His infinite love and grace as those who are "under grace" and not "under the law," we will, never become complacent and satisfied with our level of holiness and spiritual maturity until we are fully "conformed to the image of [Christ] (Rom. 8:29), until we are "like Him" when "we shall see Him as He is" in our eternal home in the glory (1 John 3:2).

In the next issue, Lord willing, we will study the first commandment.

FRAGMENT Love to Christ smooths the path of duty, and gives wings to the feet to travel it. It is the bow which impels the arrow of obedience; it is the mainspring moving the wheels of responsibility; it is the strong arm tugging the oar of diligence.

There are many things which it would be pleasing to God for us to do which He has not specifically commanded us. A true child is not content with merely doing those things which his father specifically commands him to do. He studies to know his father’s will, and if he thinks that there is anything he can do that would please his father, he does it gladly. So it is with the true child of God. He does not ask merely whether certain things are commanded or certain things forbidden. He studies to know his Father’s will in all things.

FRAGMENT What will God do for His children who really walk in His ways and really seek to do His will? He will do anything and everything! Our business is to walk in fellowship with God; our business is to seek to please Him and act according to the Scriptures, and it is impossible to say to what degree we shall be honored and used.

FRAGMENT A lady said to Mr. Dwight Moody, "You’re too narrow altogether:no theaters, no dancing, no playing of cards, no pleasures of any kind." "Let me tell you, replied Mr. Moody, "that I go to the theater, dances, and card parties just as often as I want." "No! Really?" "Yes, I go as often as ever I want to_but I never want to!"

There are many things which it would be pleasing to God for us to do which He has not specifically commanded us. A true child is not content with merely doing those things which his father specifically commands him to do. He studies to know his father’s will, and if he thinks that there is anything he can do that would please his father, he does it gladly. So it is with the true child of God. He does not ask merely whether certain things are commanded or certain things forbidden. He studies to know his Father’s will in all things.

FRAGMENT What will God do for His children who really walk in His ways and really seek to do His will? He will do anything and everything! Our business is to walk in fellowship with God; our business is to seek to please Him and act according to the Scriptures, and it is impossible to say to what degree we shall be honored and used.

FRAGMENT A lady said to Mr. Dwight Moody, "You’re too narrow altogether:no theaters, no dancing, no playing of cards, no pleasures of any kind." "Let me tell you, replied Mr. Moody, "that I go to the theater, dances, and card parties just as often as I want." "No! Really?" "Yes, I go as often as ever I want to_but I never want to!"