The 10 commandments

[B-A-C]

The phrase "Ten Commandments" is only in the Bible a few places. There were actually between 310 and 616 commandments in the old Testament ( depending on if you counted some as duplicates ).
But why these ten? Which of the 600 hundred were the "ten"?

Most of them are in Exodus 20.

Exod 20:2; "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Exod 20:3; "You shall have no other gods before Me.
Exod 20:4; "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
Exod 20:5; "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Exod 20:6; but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Exod 20:7; "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Exod 20:8; "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exod 20:9; "Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
Exod 20:10; but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
Exod 20:11; "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
Exod 20:12; "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
Exod 20:13; "You shall not murder.
Exod 20:14; "You shall not commit adultery.
Exod 20:15; "You shall not steal.
Exod 20:16; "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Exod 20:17; "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Are there ten commandments here? Most people count eight or nine. The two that Jesus said were the most important aren't here.

Lev 19:18; 'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.
Deut 6:5; "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

These are the two most important ones according to Jesus.

When I was ... ( a lot ) younger. We had the 10 commandments in court rooms, in schools, even many restaurants and banks had them posted on the wall.
Somewhere along the way, they offended somebody. This seems very odd to me, that someone would be offended by the 10 commandments.
Which one do you not like? Don't kill, don't steal? Don't lie?
.... don't commit adultery... now we are getting somewhere. I do know some people who don't like that one.
... don't honor your parents? Well that one is also difficult sometimes. Especially for teenagers.

I suspect it's this one about Loving God that really offends people. I find that amazing. In today's society where everything is about tolerance and acceptance and loving everyone....
well, I mean you can love everyone but God. Why does that one offend anyone?

Matt 22:36; "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
Matt 22:37; And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'
Matt 22:38; "This is the great and foremost commandment.
Matt 22:39; "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
Matt 22:40; "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

Jesus said these were the two greatest commandments. He went on to say, the whole law ( all 600 commandments ) were basically covered by these two.
Paul said something similar.

Rom 13:8; Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9; For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Rom 13:10; Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Well at least about the neighbor part. Basically, if you aren't killing people, stealing from them, lying to them, having an affair with their spouse... you are in effect loving them.

 

[B-A-C]

Near the beginning of the Sermon on the mount, Jesus said.


Matt 5:17; "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
Matt 5:18; "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Matt 5:19; "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 5:20; "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matt 5:21; "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.'
Matt 5:22; "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
Matt 5:23; "Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
Matt 5:24; leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
Matt 5:25; "Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.
Matt 5:26; "Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

Matt 5:27; "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY';
Matt 5:28; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Matt 5:29; "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Matt 5:30; "If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

Matt 5:31; "It was said, 'WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE';
Matt 5:32; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Matt 5:33; "Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.'
Matt 5:34; "But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
Matt 5:35; or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING.
Matt 5:36; "Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
Matt 5:37; "But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil.

Matt 5:38; "You have heard that it was said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.'
Matt 5:39; "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
Matt 5:40; "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.
Matt 5:41; "Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
Matt 5:42; "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

Matt 5:43; "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.'
Matt 5:44; "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Matt 5:45; so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Mat 5:46; "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
Mat 5:47; "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
Mat 5:48; "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

We have three of the original ten here. Some of them got a little more difficult.
But we still can't go around murdering people, we still need to love our neighbor, and we still aren't supposed to commit adultery.
But now I have to love my enemies... that's sometimes a tough one. I can't divorce my wife just because I don't like her anymore.

 

[B-A-C]

Eph 4:28; He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

Matt 15:4; "For God said, 'HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,' and, 'HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.'
Matt 19:19; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Mark 7:10; "For Moses said, 'HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER'; and, 'HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH';
Mark 10:19; "You know the commandments, 'DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'"
Luke 18:20; "You know the commandments, 'DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'"
Eph 6:2; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise),

A lot of these look familiar, we saw them back in Exodus. Honoring your mother and father is important to God. There are at least seven of the ten listed above here.
The main one that is conspicuously missing here is... "keep the sabbath day". It's the only one not repeated in the New Testament.
Well, it was mentioned by the Pharisees, but not Jesus or Paul.

 

[B-A-C]

Do you love Jesus? Of course you do... everyone says they do.. but... the proof is in the pudding as they say.

John 14:15; "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

So I will ask again, do you love Jesus?

 

[Dave M]

Do you love Jesus? Of course you do... everyone says they do.. but... the proof is in the pudding as they say.

John 14:15; "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

So I will ask again, do you love Jesus?

this is the true litmus test, and what is the best way to know Jesus commandments?? read his word every day. Let his word become part of your dna.

I remember a while back one of the regulars on TJ actually made the claim loving Jesus had nothing to do with salvation, now this man seemed to talk with authority and come across and as sincere person, but if one knows Jesus (the word) they will have no problem spotting phonies.

another thing is when you are in the world you will not want to keep his commandments, but will justify to yourself why its ok.

Or another thing that happens is people fall away from the word of GOd and start trusting in there own thoughts, and never realize they are deceived and do the work of the devil. These ones are dangerous because they wrap up a lie with the truth, just like satan did when tempting Jesus.