I Will Follow: How Christians Must Obey the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17)

“All Your ways are good. All Your ways are sure. I will trust in You alone.” – Chris Tomlin ✅

Dear petered-out perfectionist,

Are you one who likes seeing all items marked with checks? Is your report card something you want to flex?

Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with that, literally when you got a perfect grade. I know the satisfaction this accomplishment brings, but I also know the exhaustion behind it stings.

I was the kind of student who stays up all night trying to finish school projects. I do my best in everything. There was one time in high school when I cried because I got a violation for forgetting to wear my ID. This is a huge deal for someone who wants to keep a clean record.

If you’re like the past me, get ready to lament because you’re going to read the Ten Commandments. Before you grab tissues, I’ll tell you the good news: Jesus paid the price so that we don’t have to get punished for breaking any of God’s laws. Now, this is something worth shedding your tears for. Cry because Christ suffered and died in your place because of your sin, but rejoice because He resurrected and thus, redeemed you from the curse of the law.

Exodus 20:1-17 (NIV)

And God spoke all these words:

² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

³ “You shall have no other gods before me.

⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷ “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³ “You shall not murder.

¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵ “You shall not steal.

¹⁶ “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁷ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Moses with the commandments on stone tablets (created in Animal Crossing: New Horizons)

These are just the main commandments. The Old Testament law, which God gave to Moses, consists of “365 negative commands and 248 positive for a total of 613 commands” (Keathley, 2004). The law is categorized by most theologians into 3 aspects: ceremonial, civil or judicial, and moral. The Ten Commandments are part of the moral law (Lindsley, 2013).

Jesus summed up the law into two greatest commandments: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40).” This isn’t something new; He quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, respectively (What Are The Two Greatest Commandments, 2020).

If we don't understand what love is, we can never follow the law. That's why God Himself demonstrated it to us. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16).” No other god has taught what true love is but God the Son who came down to earth to be one of us, to reach out to us, to save us. We learn from Jesus that love is about giving one’s self away. In 1 Corinthians 13:5, it says love “is not self-seeking” along with the other traits of love in that chapter.

Let’s look at the commandments. The first one is for us not to have other gods before God (v. 3). This means we live our lives for Him alone, not for ourselves, nor for anyone, nor for anything, not for money nor for our careers, but only for Christ the King. We therefore must not make an image that substitutes Him (v. 4) and misuse His name (v. 7), and we must keep the Lord’s day holy (v. 8).

Commandment numbers 5 through 10 are about loving others as ourselves. Loving ourselves may sound self-seeking, but Jesus’ example shows a person is worth dying for. I’m given this worth, this salvation to live forever, not because I earned it, but because this is what love means. Therefore, loving myself is loving my life, and loving others is loving their lives. We must have concern for the salvation of their souls.

The fifth is to honor our parents (v. 12). There’s a difference between honoring and making a person your god. Beware if there’s a person in your life, like maybe your parent, whom you fear or revere more than God. That person could be your idol. How do we honor our parents then? “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right (Ephesians 6:1).” We must also be respectful of them. You can't respect others if you don't respect the people around you. You can’t even respect God if you don’t know how to respect people. The first people in our lives are our family, our parents. They’re our first neighbor to love. We don’t live for them, but we must be willing to die for them, both literal and in the sense of sacrificing for them.

The next is not to murder. Murder means to deliberately kill a person (Merriam-Webster). Jesus extends this command to the mental aspect when He said, “I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment (Matthew 5:22).” This takes a discipline on our part with how we view others. We must love them to the extent that we don’t think badly of them.

The seventh commandment follows the same principle when it comes to our minds. We must not look lustfully, for it’s considered adultery already (Matthew 5:28). If Commandment #6 is to not take away life, Commandment #7 is to not take away dignity from your neighbor.

Commandment #8 is to not take away tangible things. Commandment #9 is to not take away a truthful perception of another person. Lastly, Commandment #10 is to not take away contentment from yourself and contentment in God. It affects your neighbor when we plot to commit #8.

The good news is Jesus saves us from all our sins. That doesn't mean that we can do anything we want now. Accepting this salvation means we're now children of God. Those whom He calls, He dwells in through His Spirit. As we live by Him, His fruit will bear in us. We'll have a heart that seeks to love the people around us.

As long as we're in the world, though, we'll be tempted to sin. Let's not think it's up to our own strength to overcome, but it's only through Christ. He is our righteousness. For us, He fulfilled the law. In Jesus, we're considered without flaw.

Those whom God calls His own

Are first sinners to the bone

But through Christ's saving power

The evil in us His perfection devours

Those called now live for love

For they're in awe of the Caller above

With love,

Celina <3

References

Keathley, J. H. (2004, June 10). The Mosaic Law: Its Function and Purpose in the New Testament. Retrieved from Bible.org: https://bible.org/article/mosaic-law-its-function-and-purpose-new-testament

Lindsley, A. (2013, November 19). Moral Law and the Ten Commandments. Retrieved from TIFWE.org: https://tifwe.org/resource/moral-law-and-the-ten-commandments/

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Murder | Definition of Murder by Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from Merriam-Webster.com: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/murder

What Are The Two Greatest Commandments. (2020, November 2). Retrieved from The-Ten-Commandments.org: https://www.the-ten-commandments.org/whatarethetwogreatestcommandments.html

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