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THE 10 COMMANDMENTS

So far, we've only looked at 5 - here are the rest

In the Old Testament of the Bible, God gave his people commandments which they were to follow in order to live in a right relationship with Him first, and also with each other (See Exodus chapter 20 in the Bible). You have looked at five of these. These are highlighted in RED below (nos. 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9) . Please consider also the other 5 because you will be judged by these also.



1. 'You shall have no other gods before Me.' [This means putting God first. God who has revealed himself through the Bible, Creation, your conscience and Jesus Christ. If you don't believe in God (not just accepting his existence but putting your personal trust in him), then you have already broken this commandment and the Bible says God's wrath abides over your, waiting to fall on the day of judgement (John 3:18, 36). ]


2. 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.' [If you make anything with your hands or even your mind (such as a belief in a God who would never create hell) then you have set that thing up as an idol. If you put sport or family or work or money etc before God, you have carved, shaped that thing into something to be worshipped and given more importance than it should - more importance than God who gave you every good thing]


3. 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'


4. 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.' [Originally this was a compulsory day of rest from all work. Now, we are to find our rest in Jesus who is Lord of the Sabbath and every other day of the week. So if we set aside one day to rest from our normal labours, which is good to do, it must be freely as unto the Lord, not as a “religious” obligation. Most Christians today come together on a Sunday to worship God. Sunday is chosen because this was the day Jesus rose from the dead.]


5. 'Honour your father and your mother.' [To honour means more than to just obey. It speaks of doing the right thing for the right reason out of respect for your parents because they are your parents and deserve your honour. We all know that every child has broken this command - many times over.]


6. 'You shall not murder.'


7. 'You shall not commit adultery.'


8. 'You shall not steal.'


9. 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'


10. 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.' [your neighbour may not have an ox or donkey but people around you will have things like a better house, car, lifestyle, more money...]


If you cannot see from these that you are guilty before God who alone is Holy, then you have a proud stubborn heart and according to the Bible, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of judgement (Romans 2:5).

Are the 10 Commandments out of date?

Not according to Jesus and you will stand before him one day as your judge.


About 1,400 years after the 10 Commandments were given, Jesus made it clear that they still express the will of God about how we are to love him and our neighbour. A so-called religious expert of the day challenged Jesus about this. This is Jesus answer...


"Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:36-40).


If you look at the 10 commandments above, you will see that the first 4 have to do specifically with loving God ("Love the Lord your God....") and the next 6 commandments have to do with loving your neighbour ("Love your neighbour...).

Where do you go from here?


Choose your answer below to continue with the test.

Are you Innocent or Guilty of breaking God's moral law?

I still believe I'm innocent. I have not broken any of God's moral laws including number 1 above which says to put God first in my life - I am not a bad person in God's eyes, by God's standards.

I have been proud & stubborn but I accept now that I am guilty before God - I am not a good person in God's eyes. God's standards are way above mine and I'm guilty of breaking his moral laws.

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