The 10 Commandments.

[Petra-Psalm118:8]

What do the 10 Commandments mean to you? If you take a moment and look at each Commandment, what does it means to you, and how/or if you believe it it applies to Christians today. I have recently reread this passage and am wondering about Christian thoughts about them.

Exodus 20

King James Version (KJV)

20 And God spake all these words, saying,

² I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

³ Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

⁴ Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

⁵ Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

⁶ And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

⁷ Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

⁸ Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

⁹ Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

¹⁰ But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

¹² Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

¹³ Thou shalt not kill.

¹⁴ Thou shalt not commit adultery.

¹⁵ Thou shalt not steal.

¹⁶ Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

¹⁷ Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

¹⁸ And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.

¹⁹ And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

²⁰ And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

²¹ And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

²² And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

²³ Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

²⁴ An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.

²⁵ And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

²⁶ Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. .TakeTake a moment and look at each Commandment and explain what it means to you, and how it applies to Christians today. I would like to know how Christians think about them. This is intended for a discussion where views can be expressed and why. Please do not contradict anothers view, just allow for open opinions to be expressed.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Petra-Psalm118:8

[Guest man]

This is going to sound bad, but I don't really give the 10 commandments all that much thought. I'm not saying they're not important, because they are, but I focus more on the 2 commandments given to us by Jesus.

Mark 12

²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.

³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

I think when one starts trying to obey the actual 10 commandments, they become distracted and lose sight of the Gospel. I don't believe anyone is capable of following those commandments to the letter and it's futile to even try. God took all His commandments and condensed them into two. It's a whole lot easier to concentrate on loving God and our neighbor than it is to work from a checklist. The bible tells us that if we break one commandment, we've broken them all. So as I said, it's futile to even try. It becomes a stumbling block for some and many are discouraged because of their inability to keep those commandments. The Lord gave us a way around those commandments through His Son Jesus. I see no reason to resort back to the old ways when we have Jesus to lean on.

All of this of course is just my opinion. People are free to do as they choose.

[gnomonist]

The 10 commandments mean just what they say, and are the standards of righteousness.

However, before Christ (and the Spirit) man kept them by their own power, and thus failed.

With the Spirit, the Law is written in our hearts (e.g. the command of Christ to love God and man) so we will have the tendency to now emulate them as someone who loves will not really want to break them. When we fail (due to our flesh nature) we have an Advocate. So the morals that the Law dictates are very much in effect yet, however the penalty was taken at the cross in which Christ will forgive those who are truly repentant seventy time seven times.

[GoldenEagle]

What do the 10 Commandments mean to you? If you take a moment and look at each Commandment, what does it means to you, and how/or if you believe it it applies to Christians today. I have recently reread this passage and am wondering about Christian thoughts about them.

The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law even though the Law and Prophets bear witness to it.

Romans 3:21-24

²¹ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Those of us who are adopted into God’s family as co-heirs in Jesus Christ have been freed from sin and become slaves to God. Our God is a good Master.

Romans 6:22

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

The law only pointed to our iniquity in our sin leading to death. In Jesus Christ we’re free from the law of sin and now we’re under the law of the Holy Spirit who guides us.

Romans 8:1-4

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Christ set us free and we’re not to submit once again to the yoke of slavery of sin.

Galatians 5:1

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Even though we’re free it is not an excuse to use our freedom as an opportunity to sin.

Galatians 5:13-14

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴ For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

We can approach God’s throne with boldness as through Jesus Christ we have access to the Father.

Ephesians 3:11-12

¹¹ This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹² in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

We’re to live as free people but not use our freedom as a cover-up for evil.

1 Peter 2:16

Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God's slaves.

God bless,

GE

[other one]

Interestingly this subject is something that jumped out at me late last year.....................

Matt 25:31-26:1

31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 "And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? 38'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39'And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' 41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' 44 "Then they themselves also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' 45 "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46 "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

NASB

Which of the ten commandments did these who are going to hell break????

[Guest ninhao]

Which of the ten commandments did these who are going to hell break????

Hello Other One,

You don't go to hell for breaking a commandment; you go to hell for being in enmity with God and being outside His grace.

[Petra-Psalm118:8]

Thanks...I am looking for discussion on them...when I was going over them again, I was thinking about how Gods commandments would make life on earth (the way He originally intended) so simple and peaceful. As a Christian, what do you find the hardest ones to keep?

[other one]

Thanks...I am looking for discussion on them...when I was going over them again, I was thinking about how Gods commandments would make life on earth (the way He originally intended) so simple and peaceful. As a Christian, what do you find the hardest ones to keep?

Personally the only one I have had any trouble with would be the 4th..... until I retired I was required to often work seven days a week.

[Petra-Psalm118:8]

Keeping the Sabbath...that's a tough one for a lot of people because of work. Glad to hear that you don't have to do that anymore. It is difficult to apply that to the way the world is now, especially considering the cost of having/raising a family, even to just maintain basic needs for many. Poverty and homelessness has always been a problem in the world, but even more so now with the economy in such a bad way. It truly is good news to know that God is our judge, loving, kind and understanding and Jesus our spokesperson. It is also a large group of people that need prayer from fellow Christians. A day of rest is important for health and wellness too.

[GoldenEagle]

Thanks...I am looking for discussion on them...when I was going over them again, I was thinking about how Gods commandments would make life on earth (the way He originally intended) so simple and peaceful. As a Christian, what do you find the hardest ones to keep?

As Man said the commandments (paraphrasing) can be summed up with "Love God, love people." Both are difficult and we stumble at times. God is good to forgive us, dust us off, and lift us up every time. Praise God for His mercy and grace!