The Ten Commandments and the Gospel

God has promised forgiveness to those who are believers in Jesus for all of their disobedience of any and all of his commandments. This forgiveness covers all of our disobedience past, present, and future. As Christians, we're totally accepted by God "in Christ," as if we have already perfectly kept all his commandments.

So why should we obey God’s commandments?

As God's children, a healthy respect for our loving Father's discipline can be a good motivation to obey God (Heb. 12:5–11). And the hope of being rewarded by our heavenly Father for our faithful obedience to his commands can also be a good motivation (Matt. 16:27; 2 Cor. 5:10).

But our primary motivation for obeying God should not be our fear of his discipline or our hope for his reward. Instead, our primary motivation for obeying God should be our love for him. And our love for God is stirred up in us by his promise to always love us in Christ, even when we disobey him, because he already punished Jesus in our place.

Christians Obey God's Commandments out of Gratitude to God

Obeying God's commandments is not a way to earn God's love. Instead, it's a demonstration of your love for God, who first loved you in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15). John writes, "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). Paul writes, "For the love of Christ controls us...and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised" (2 Cor. 5:14–15).

There is a great contrast between obeying God as a religious duty to earn his love and acceptance, and obeying God as an expression of our deep gratitude for his amazing love for us in Jesus Christ. John writes, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:2–3).

Legalistic religion says, "I obey; therefore I’m loved and accepted." But the gospel says, "I’m loved and accepted; therefore I obey."

Christians Obey God's Commandments to Honor God and Flourish in Life

God commands us to love him and love others, as outlined in the Ten Commandments, so that we will flourish in life according to his perfect design. And God is most glorified in us when we flourish in life by keeping his commandments to love him and love others.

God's commands protect us from harmful dangers and provide what's truly best for us. They show us how to experience the fullness of life that Jesus promised when he said, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).

The Ten Commandments are like a car owner's manual, which includes instructions for how a car can best run according to its design. God's commandments are instructions and guidelines for how a human life can best flourish according to God's design.

The Psalmist writes, "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes" (Ps. 19:7–11). "Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day" (Ps. 119:97).

The Psalmist describes what the life of a person will be like who meditates on and obeys God's law: "He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers" (Ps. 1:3).

The way to experience true happiness is not to be free from all obligations to obey God's commandments so that we can do whatever we want. Sadly, often what we trust to bring us freedom is what leads us into bondage and misery. 

The Bible teaches that true freedom is not the freedom to do whatever you want, but it's having the power to do what you ought. True freedom is learning how to be empowered by God to live in line with God's good and perfect will revealed for your life in the Ten Commandments.

This is why the Apostle James calls God's law, "The law of liberty" (James 1:25).

Review Questions:

•  What is the difference in obeying the commandments out of obligation and obeying out of gratitude?

•  When is God most glorified in us? 

The Ten Commandments and the Christian Life

Having learned the Bible's answer to the question, "Why should we obey the Ten Commandments?" let's explore the Bible's answer to the question, "How should we obey the Ten Commandments?"

First, let's take a brief look at two common incorrect views.

Wrong Views of The Ten Commandments and the Christian Life

The first incorrect view is that Christians are no longer obligated to keep the Ten Commandments because Jesus Christ fulfilled them perfectly for us. This view teaches that Christians should follow a law of love and grace, the "law of Christ," where we are guided by God's Spirit, rather than the Old Testament laws in the Ten Commandments.

There are three types of laws in the Old Testament: ceremonial laws, civil laws, and moral laws. The ceremonial and civil laws were uniquely for the nation of Israel. But God's moral laws, found in the Ten Commandments, apply to everyone. When Jesus uses the word law he's referring to God's moral laws for all people. Jesus said,

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  (Matt. 5:1–19)

A second incorrect view, sometimes called legalism or moralism, is that the Christian life is mostly about rigidly striving to keep all of God's commandments. This lifestyle has an inordinate focus on external behaviors and rule-keeping, rather than on internal heart-transformation.

This focus on external behaviors often leads to a performance-based faith that is joyless and burdensome. The constant awareness of failing to fully obey all of God's laws can lead to depression and despair.

In Galatians, Paul addresses a group of first-century legalists and moralists with strong words. He writes, “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Gal. 3:3).

So, what is the biblical view of the Ten Commandments and the Christian life?

How can we become more like Jesus in our love for God and others by obeying the Ten Commandments?

Biblical View of The Ten Commandments and the Christian Life

The Ten Commandments do not have the power to transform us. Just as our obedience to God's law cannot forgive (justify) us, so our ongoing obedience to God's law as Christians cannot transform (sanctify) us.

Paul writes, "For God has done what the law...could not do. By sending his own Son" (Rom. 8:3). Only God can transform us through his Son and by his Spirit.

The Bible teaches that our salvation encompasses all three tenses:

• Past–We have been saved from sin’s penalty (Eph. 2:8)

• Present–We are being saved from sin’s power (Phil. 2:12) and

• Future–We will be saved from sin’s presence (Rom. 13:11)

God, who both created us and forgave us for disobeying his commandments, is now recreating and conforming (changing) us into the image of his Son, so that we will flourish in life by loving him and loving others in obedience to his commandments.

Paul tells us, "For those whom he [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom. 8:29).

God's moral laws, revealed in the Ten Commandments, find their perfect human expression in Jesus Christ. Jesus alone has perfectly obeyed all of God's commands by loving God and others with all his thoughts, desires, and behaviors.

So, how do we strive to be conformed to the image of Jesus and obey God's commandments with all our thoughts, desires, and behaviors, without being crushed by our constant failures to perfectly obey God?

The answer is by learning how to obey God's laws in a way that deepens our loving relationship with him.

In his love, God not only commands us to obey his law perfectly, but he also commands us to repent and believe in him when we disobey his laws.

Paul writes, "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him" (Col. 2:6). How did you receive Jesus and experience God's forgiveness? By repentance and faith.

How then do you now walk in him (live the Christian life) and experience God's transformation into the image of Christ as you strive to obey all his commandments? By repentance and faith.

Just as you repented and believed in Jesus to be forgiven for disobeying God's law, so now, as God's loved and forgiven child, it is through your ongoing repentance and faith in Jesus when you disobey God's law, that God promises to transform you into the image of his Son.

Coming to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith is meant by God to be more than a one-time event by which you are saved from sin’s penalty.

As a devoted follower of Jesus, your ongoing repentance and faith in him is also God's way of saving you from sin's domineering power in your life and changing you into the image of Jesus as you keep growing in your love for God and others.

The way to flourish in life by obeying the Ten Commandments is by learning how to allow your ongoing failures to obey God's commandments to keep leading you back to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith.

When this ongoing repentance and faith is happening in your heart and life, you will be continually drawn back to God through Jesus Christ by his Spirit, and there will be change. But the reverse is also true. When there is no real change taking place in your life, it is certain that ongoing repentance and faith in Jesus Christ is also not taking place.

True repentance and faith will not lead you to despair but to joy. The more you seek to obey God's commandments, the more you will see the depth of your sin. And the more you see the depth of your sin, the more God will reveal to you the depths of his astonishing love for you in Jesus Christ. 

When God calls you to keep obeying his commands by repenting and believing in Jesus, he is not calling you to beat up on yourself or merely to clean up your life. Instead, he is calling you to experience a real change of heart.

But how can our hearts really be changed?

According to the Bible our root problem is not an external, behavioral problem—it’s a heart problem. The reason our heart is not more transformed is because we allow it to be captured by something or someone that steals away our heart desire for God.

God created us to be worshippers, so we are always worshipping something, whether we realize it or not. The first and second commandments, "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3) and "You shall not make for yourself an idol" (Ex. 20:4a), remind us of the very dangerous tendency we all have to worship idols.

An idol is something or someone, other than God, that we look to for our ultimate source of happiness and fulfillment in life.

We should be repenting not only of our sinful, external behaviors, but also be repenting of our sinful underlying "heart-idols" that are at the root of those behaviors. In repentance we pull our heart affections and trust away from our idols. And in faith, we place those same affections back on to God through Jesus Christ where they belong.

Only when Jesus Christ becomes more attractive to us than all the temporary, fleeting pleasures of sin will our heart be changed and set free. The enslaving power of sin will never be removed from our hearts until a greater affection for God replaces it.

Review Questions:

• How are both a relaxed view of God's law and a rigid rule-keeping view of God's law incorrect ways to obey the Ten Commandments?

• What is the role of "ongoing repentance" in our obedience to God's commands?

• What is the difference between "cleaning up your life" and having a transformed heart?

The Commandments to Love God and Your Neighbor

The Meaning of Loving God with Your Whole Heart

The Bible refers to the essence of your whole being as your heart. Your heart is the core of who you are as a human being. It's the center of your nature as a person. Your heart is the one principal source at the center of your being from which come all your thoughts, desires, and choices in life. Your heart must always be thinking, desiring, and choosing.

When Jesus teaches that you must love God with all your "heart," "soul," "mind," and "strength" (Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27), he does not mean that you should see your being divided up into these four separate components. Instead, he means that you should love God with all that you are—with every dimension of your whole being.[1]

The Bible teaches that your heart reflects both the unity and diversity of your being as created in the image of the triune God. Everything you think, desire, and choose comes from your heart:

• You believe with the thoughts of your heart: "For with the heart one believes and is justified" (Rom. 10:10). "God's word pierces the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).

• You desire with the affections of your heart: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Ps. 37:4).

• You choose with the volition (will) of your heart: "He [Daniel] resolved [lit., set his heart] that he would not defile himself" (Dan. 1:8).[2]

In the Bible, the heart refers primarily to the unity of your inner self. Your mind, desires, and will are three distinct functions of your heart (sometimes called capacities, faculties, or chambers) that are deeply related and integrated, constantly influencing each other.[3]

Therefore, to love God with your whole being (heart) means to love him with everything you: 1) believe with your mind, 2) desire with your affections, and 3) choose with your will. However, because of the fall of humanity into sin, we're all born physically alive but spiritually dead with corrupt hearts that believe lies, desire idols, and choose to sin.[4]

But the good news is that God promises all who believe in Jesus Christ the forgiveness of sins and the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit through whom he graciously subdues your rebellious heart and gives you a "new heart" to replace your former "heart of stone" (Ezek. 36:26–27).

By his Holy Spirit, God is always renewing the hearts of all believers into the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29) so they will love him and others with their whole being in obedience to his will revealed in the Ten Commandments. This involves the ongoing renewal of your whole being: what you believe, what you desire, and what you choose in life.

Therefore, in each of the Ten Commandments, God requires you in unique ways to:

• Stop believing lies and start believing truth with the thoughts of your heart

• Stop desiring idols and start desiring God with the affections of your heart

• Stop choosing sin and start choosing righteousness with the will of your heart

Review Questions:

• In what ways does the concept of the heart as the center of our being inform our approach to loving God fully?

• How does the inherent sinfulness of the human heart affect our ability to obey the commandments? Give examples.

• What are practical examples of how a spiritually renewed heart influences our thoughts, desires, and choices?

The Meaning of Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself

Immediately after Jesus taught that "the great and first commandment" is to love God with your whole being (all your heart, soul, mind, and strength), he said, "And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:39).[5]

Jesus taught that your "neighbor" is not limited to someone who belongs to your particular group or community, but may include anyone you encounter in life, even your enemy, and especially those in need (Matt. 5:43–44; Luke 10:30–37).

The command to love your neighbor "as yourself," is not a command to love yourself, but an assumption that self-love is a natural human condition, and your love for others should mirror this natural love you have for yourself.[6]

Jesus takes this opportunity to answer a question he was not asked to teach that the whole law of God includes both a wholehearted love for God and others. When Jesus says that this second commandment to love others "is like" the great and first commandment to love God, he means that it resembles it in importance.

The Ten Commandments reflect an ordered and integrated love for God (commandments 1–4) and others (commandments 5–10). The first four commandments that require us to love God with our whole being are the necessary foundation for the remaining six commandments that require us to love others as ourselves.

The order of the commandments—first love for God, then love for others—reflects the importance of having our primary love for God above everyone and everything else.

Only when our love for God and trust in God is first in our life, can we truly love others for their sake and for God's sake, not only for our own sake. All our other loves for people or things are properly ordered only when our greatest love is for God.

Review Questions:

• How does the broadened scope of "neighbor" in Jesus' teaching affect the way we interact with those in need, strangers, and enemies in daily life?

• How is the assumption that self-love is a natural condition challenged by people with low self-esteem who "hate themselves?"

• Why is our love for God considered foundational to our love for others? Give examples.

Footnotes:

[1] Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

[2] In the Bible, when God called people to choose him and not choose evil, this is often referred to as a decision to "set their heart" on him. King Rehoboam’s decision to reject God is described as, "he did not set his heart to seek the Lord" (2 Chron. 12:14). Daniel was later commended for his decision to humble himself before God and seek understanding with the words, "you set your heart to understand" (Dan. 10:12). John Owen describes the constant action of your heart’s will as always choosing to either resist or submit to your heart’s thoughts and desires: "The will chooses, refuses, or avoids." John Owen, Temptation and Sin, vol. 6, The Works of John Owen, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1987), 170.

[3] Your mind cannot function apart from your desires and your will, and your desires cannot function apart from your mind and will. Similarly, your will cannot function apart from your mind and your desires. Your "heart" should not be seen as only your "affections/emotions" and separated from your "head" (intellectual beliefs) as is commonly taught. Your heart beliefs (mind) can only be right when your heart desires (affections) are rightly placed on God and your heart will (volition) is choosing to submit to God.

[4] Louis Berkhof writes, "Sin does not reside in any one faculty of the soul, but in the heart. And from this center its influence and operations spread to the intellect, the will, the affections, in short, to the entire man, including his body. " Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1984), 233.

[5] Jesus is quoting from Leviticus 19:18, "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord."

[6] Jesus also taught this in the Sermon on the Mount: "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matt. 7:12).