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thatAbout 1,300 years after God gave the laws, Jesus upheld them calling
them the “conunandments” and listing five of them for the rich young
ruler <Matt. 19: 16-22>. And in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus showed
that His coming had not canceled the Conunandments. He specifically
mentioned the laws against killing <Matt. 5:21> and committing
adultery <Matt. 5:27>.
Jesus actually placed these laws on a higher plane by demanding that
the spirit as well as the legal aspects of the law be kept. Jesus placed
His eternal stamp of approval on the Jaw by declaring, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to
destroy but to fulfill” <Matt. 5: 17-19>.
The holy God uttered His Commandments from the top of Mount Sinai
amid smoke and fire– visible expressions of His power, majesty, and
authority <Ex. 19: 16–20: 17>. Later the Commandments were engraved
on two tablets of stone, “written with the finger of God” <Ex. 31: 18>.
The awesome nature of the events surrounding the giving of the law is
mentioned a number of times in the Bible, perhaps to emphasize the
solemnity ofthe occasion <Ex. 19:16-19; Deut. 4:11-12>.
The Ten Commandments form the heart of the special COVENANT
between God and His people. He told them, “Now therefore, if you will
indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a
special treasure to Me above all people… And you shall be to Me a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation” <Ex. 19:5>. These verses also
emphasize that their obedience to the Commandments was to be the
basis of Israel’s existence as the special people of God.
God never intended for the Ten Commandments to be a set of
regulations by which the people of Israel would earn salvation. God’s
favor had already been freely granted! This was overwhelmingly
demonstrated by His deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage
<Deut. 4:37>. Therefore, at the heart of the covenant relationship lay an
act of divine GRACE. God even prefaced the Ten Commandments with
a reminder of His deliverance <Ex. 20:2>.
The Ten Commandments are still relevant today. The world desperately
needs to see the name and character of God displayed in the lives of
Christians who still take His Word seriously. These Commandments,
particulady coupled with the teachings of Christ, are still the best
guidelmes for practical daily living known to man.
Read Romans 13:8&9:
(Owe no man any thing, but to love one
another: for he that loveth another hath
fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not
commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou
shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false
witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be
any other commandment, it is briefly
comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou
shalt love thy neigh bour as thyself).
By the use of Romans 13:8-9, Paul has excused
Christians from their obligation to worship God
with all faculties oftheir body by basically saying,
all that a person has to do to fulfill the Law
(Torah/Old Testament) is to love one another as
thyself. Jesus did not exclude our first and
foremost obligation (which is one of the first and
greatest commandments) to worship only One
God; and secondly, to love our neighbor as
stressed in Mark 12:29-31:
And Jesus answered him, “The first of all the
commandments is, Hear, 0 Israel; The Lord
our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
strength: this is the first commandment. And
the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other
commandment greater than these.”
After reading Galatians 5:2; “Behold, I Paul say
unto you, that, if ye be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing,”) I learned that Paul
abolished circumcision which is included in the
law (Torah). As a matter of fact, Jesus and John
the Baptist were both circumcised. This
abolishment of Paul’s is a contradiction to Jesus’
and Abraham’s teachings. For all Muslims and
Christians are from the seed of Abraham, and
circumcision is an obligatory act. In fact, Abraham
was neither a Jew nor a Christian, and his religion,
which should be followed, is the worship of no
god but the One True God.
With Matthew 5:17-18 in mind, let me identify
another inconsistency in the New Testament. In
Mark 16:15 it is mentioned that Jesus said: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature.”
This contradicts Matthew 1:21, 10:5-6, 15:24,
and 28:19. Depending upon which Bible you are
using, Matthew 28:19 could read “all nations” or
as “all the nations,” which should mean the
twelve tribes of Israel as Jesus said in Matthew
15:24.
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