Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments VS the Commandments of Christ
Many Christians today struggle having unanswered questions about their faith. “How do I serve God acceptably? All I know from what I’ve heard in church is to live by the Ten Commandments and what the Bible tells me.”
Something goes terribly wrong inside a person when they do not know what God expects of them. They don’t know where they stand with God and what to do to please Him. It’s not that a person cannot read all about the Ten Commandments in the Bible.
That is not where the conflict comes from. The conflict comes from not knowing the difference between the Ten Commandments and the Commandments of Jesus Christ. Not knowing that is like not knowing the difference between arsenic (poison) and sugar.
I am using this example to point out that your life depends upon knowing the difference between poison and sugar and your life depends on knowing the difference between the Ten Commandments and the Commandments of Christ.
And there is something very wrong with the church when the basics of our faith are not understood.
Various pastors from different denominations are all aware of the fact that the church is indeed in crisis. Why do I say that? Because every Sunday, the Ten Commandments are preached from the pulpit, but the people still struggle with sin and their conscience is still defiled. This is the poison I mentioned earlier.
What I want to bring to your attention on this site, is the differences between the First (old) Covenant of Moses (Ten Commandments etc) and the Second (new) Covenant of Jesus Christ (which follows His new laws and Commandments), that believers might know how to serve God in Spirit and in Truth. Jesus said in John 4:24 “God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him, MUST worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.”
In Heb 8:13 it says “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away.” And in Heb 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws (Commandments) into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people”
The whole purpose of Jesus’ ministry while He was on Earth was to teach the people and transition them into the new covenant. He said that the people are no longer to follow the Ten Commandments, for He has fulfilled it within Himself. Math 5:17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. “ He said that He will write His new laws and Commandments within our hearts and no longer have them on tablets of stone.
Why then did God give the Ten Commandments?
We read in Heb 10:1 “For the law having a SHADOW of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.” In this verse we clearly see that the law (Ten Commandments etc) was a type and shadow of Jesus Christ. Everything in the First Covenant of Moses, (tithing, water baptism, Ten Commandments, Sabbath day observation, feast day celebrations etc) was a type and shadow of Jesus Christ.
When He came to Earth He fulfilled all those things in Himself saying: You will no longer live by the Ten Commandments of Moses but by the Commandments which I will write upon your heart. You will no longer have your rest in a DAY, but in ME.
Jesus Christ is the new record for our faith and if we want to please God, we follow Him and not Moses. Neither Moses nor the Bible was nailed to the cross, but Jesus was nailed to the cross. Jesus Christ is our contact point for faith, meaning that we touch Him now, and we need to observe His laws and Commandments, the Commandments of His second covenant, if we want to be saved. The Bible says, salvation is in Jesus Christ, not in Moses. 2 Tim 2:10.
We all know it is part of the Law of Moses to offer sacrifices unto God. Then why does is say in Heb 10:4 “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” This verse tells us that the Law of Moses (Ten Commandments) cannot cleanse the conscience and it cannot take away sins.
If we only live by the Ten Commandments and we do not observe Jesus’ new Commandments then our faith is not acceptable unto God. Heb 10:8 “Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;”
God is no longer pleased with the Law of Moses that is why He gave us Jesus Christ. The Law of Moses was imperfect. Christ only is perfect and only He pleases God.
In the old covenant the blood of animals was sprinkled upon the tablets of stone (Ten Commandments), meaning that God had sanctified it. But now in the new covenant, the blood of Jesus is sprinkled upon His new laws and Commandments. Does God value the blood of animals or the blood of His Son? He values the blood of His Son of course, also showing us that we need to follow that which is sprinkled with the blood of Christ.
Let’s put this whole thing in a nutshell.
Understanding why God gave us the first covenant of Moses (his laws and Ten Commandments and carnal ordinances) is very important. The law was to show man that we cannot serve God with carnal things. Col 2:21, 22 “(Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the Commandments and doctrines of men.” (As I mentioned: tithing, water baptism, Ten Commandments, Sabbath day observation, feast day celebrations etc)
He gave us the first covenant of Moses to show us that it was imperfect and only Christ is perfect as stated in James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
This site is dedicated to teaching the differences between the First and Second Covenant, the differences between the Ten Commandments and the Commandments of Jesus Christ, and to see how powerful faith can be when we are empowered by this knowledge. May the God of all peace assist all those who are seriously looking for His Grace.
