The Role of the 10 Commandments

For Christians As Spelled Out

In The New Testament of Jesus Christ

    Given the unmistakable warnings and plain teachings about the place and role of the Ten Commandments after the New Testament of Jesus Christ was given to the world, it seems that those warnings must be taken into account in any serious effort to combat those who want to remove all mention of God and the Bible in the United States and elsewhere.

    Let us first consider a sufficient number of those warnings and teachings to make the point about the place and role of the Ten Commandments for a Bible Christian. Then, let us suggest a solution that can incorporate the great number of Ten Commandment signs that people have already put in their yards, etc., while acknowledging and accommodating the New Testament demands on the subject.

Note These Applicable New Testament Scriptures:

    This partial list of passages and verses establishes the truth on the subject that cannot be ignored. They are listed along with the key words as they appear in the NT order. (KJV & NKJV. Confirm in any version.)

Matthew 5:17.....Jesus: "I have come not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it."

                7:12.....Jesus: "Do unto others...this is the law and the prophets."

              22:37-40....Jesus: "On these TWO commandments...hang ALL the law ...."

***

John 1:17..... "...the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ."

         7:19..... "...Moses gave the law, but none of you keep it."

         7:43-49..... According to the anti-Christ Pharisees: "This people who don’t know the law are cursed."

       14:21.....Jesus: "He that hath MY commandments...loves me...."

       15:10.....Jesus: "IF you keep MY COMMANDMENTS, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept MY FATHER’S COMMANDMENTS, and abide in His love."

***

Acts 13:39..... "...justified by Jesus, not by law of Moses...."

Romans 2:11-16..... ...those under the law are judged by it, not other people....

               3:20...... "by the deeds of the law, no one is justified in God’s sight."

               3:28..... "...we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law..."

               6:14, 15..... " ...we are not under the law....(Repeated:) we are NOT under the law..."

               7:4, 6..... "...brethren, you are dead to the law...delivered from the law ..."

             10:4..... "...for Christ is the end of the law...to believers...."

             13:8-10..... "...love fulfills the law... (all 10 commandments subsumed under ‘love God & love thy neighbor as thyself’)... ‘love is the fulfilling of the law’...”

***

II Corinthians 3:3-17..... (v.3) "...not in tables of stone (i.e., 10 C’s)... (v.6) Christ has made us ministers of the New Testament... (v.7)...the ministration of death written and engraven in stones was glorious...which glory was to be done away because (v.8) the ministry of the Spirit is more glorious...(v.9) ministry of condemnation vs. ministry of righteousness...(v.10) compared to the New Testament the old Law had no glory.

... (v.11) "For if that which is done away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious"... (v.12)...because of all this we can speak boldly... (v.13)

unlike Moses who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look to the end of that which is ABOLISHED... (v.14) but their minds were blinded.

 For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament; which veil is done away in Christ.... (v.15) but even to this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart... (v.16) Nevertheless, when it [the heart] shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away... (v.17)

Now the Lord is that Spirit...and there is liberty... (v.18) But we all with unveiled face...are being transformed...just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

***

Galatians 2:16..... "...by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

                 2:21..... "...if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."

                 3:1, 2..... “O FOOLISH Galatians, who has bewitched you...? Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?"

                 3:10..... "...Cursed is everyone who does not continue in ALL things which are written in the book of the law, to do them...."

                 3:11..... "...no one is justified by the law in the sight of God..."

                 3:12..... "...the law is not of faith...."

                 3:13..... "...Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law ..."

                 3:19..... "What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions TILL THE SEED SHOULD COME..."

                 3.21..... "...if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.

                 3:23..... "... before faith came, we were kept under the law , shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed."

                 3:24..... "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."

                 3:25..... "BUT AFTER THAT FAITH IS COME, WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER A SCHOOLMASTER."

                 3:29..... "...if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."

                 4:21-31... "Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?...(v.22) Abraham had two sons...(v.23) one by the bondwoman and one by the freewoman...(v.24) ...these are the two covenants; THE ONE FROM MOUNT SINAI, WHICH LEADS TO BONDAGE, which is Agar...(v.25)

FOR THIS AGAR IS MOUNT SINAI in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children...(v.26) But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all...(v.27)...rejoice...(v.28) Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise...(v.29).

But as then...even so it is now... (v.30) Nevertheless, what does the Scripture say? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman... (v31)

SO THEN, BRETHREN, WE ARE NOT CHILDREN OF THE BONDWOMAN [i.e., the 10 commandments from the Mt. Sinai Covenant], but of the free."

                 5:1..... "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage...."

                 5:4..... “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by the law ; you have fallen from grace...."

                 5:14.... "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; you shall love your neighbor as yourself...."

                 5:18.... "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

***

Ephesians 2:15..... "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances...."

Colossians 2:14..... “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross."

Hebrews 7:19..... "For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did..."

                 7:22..... "By so much was Jesus made a guarantee of a BETTER covenant."

                 7:28..... "...which came after the law..."

                 8:6....... "...He is the mediator of a BETTER covenant..."

                 8:7....... "For IF that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for the second."

                 8:13...... "In that He says, "A new covenant", He has made the first OBSOLETE. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

                 9:16...... "For where a testament is there must also of necessity be the death of the testator."

                10:9........ " ...He takes away the first [sacrifices offered according to the law], that He may establish the second [Jesus’ final sacrifice]..."

                10:28...... "He that disregarded Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

                10:29...... "...how much worse punishment...will he be thought worthy who has...insulted the Spirit of grace?"

***

James      1:25....."But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it...will be blessed in what he does."

                 2:8..... "If you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’, you do well;

                 2:9..... "But if you have respect to persons , you commit sin , and are convicted by the [royal] law as transgressors."

                 2:10.... "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble IN ONE POINT, he is guilty of all."

I John       2:3..... "...hereby we do know that we know Him [Jesus], if we keep His [Jesus’] commandments."

                 2:4..... "He who says, ‘I know Him’, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

                 3:22... “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His [Jesus’] commandments,

                 3:23.... " And this is His [Father God’s] commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He [Jesus] gave us commandment."

Revelation 22:14..... "Blessed are they that do His [Jesus’ two] commandments...."

***

    So, Scripturally, beyond any question, the New Testament teaches that the 10 Commandments ("tables of stone" in II Cor. 3:3,7) were glorious but were "done away" and "abolished" (vs. 7,13) to make way for the more glorious "2nd stage" plan of God ("a better covenant" Heb.8:6; Acts.15:18). Therefore, having seen inescapably that the old covenant from Mt. Sinai (the 10 C’s) "leads to bondage" and is "cast out" (Gal. 4:21-31), what must a Bible-only Christian do when presented with a "movement" based on the Ten Commandments and promoted as a Bible-honoring Christian strategy for combating Satan-led efforts to remove God from all public life??

    The warnings that such a strategy is totally contrary to the Scriptures are too plentiful and too plain throughout the entire New Covenant to be ignored! Amongst all those warnings, an easy one to remember tells us that the Old Law was just a "schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, but after that faith is come we are no longer under a schoolmaster" (Gal. 3:24, 25). Anyone who can read knows exactly what that says the

moment they read it; that is, unless false doctrines (I Tim. 4:1) are keeping the veil upon their hearts when Moses is read (II Cor. 3:15, 16).

    Obviously, many millions of Bible honoring Christians are more aware of these teachings about the role and place of the Old Covenant and the Ten Commandments in the New Covenant than are other millions of Christians seeking to honor the Bible. The ambivalence and hesitancy of the first group about getting excited over what looks like a movement to restore the authority of the 10 Commandments over Christians lives and beliefs is completely understandable. They know that the 10 commandments are in the Bible, that God wrote them, etc. So, they understand that putting signs out and going to rallies shows some gumption in trying to resist Satan's onslaught.

    Those in the movement for that reason, take a bow.

    OK. That’s enough....  

NOTE: From here to the end an idea based on the strength of arecent Ten Commandment Movement is suggested.  Though the issueis probably more important than ever, few if any signs are seen these days, so--unless revived--the idea has no practical application today.

    Since you’ve now reviewed the plain Scriptures which declare that zealously promoting a Christian Crusade with the 10 Commandments as the main rallying cry--without some kind of acknowledgment that they were glorious but abolished at the Cross--basically amounts to outright rebellion against the teachings on the subject in the New Testament of Jesus Christ. This is not a position that a crusading Christian can be in once the warnings of the Holy Spirit have truly sunk into one’s own spirit on this major Bible doctrine.

    There are millions of Christians who are just as eager as Judge Moore et al to combat the equally deceived humanist juggernaut with its agenda of silencing all mention of the Biblical God. But these millions are justifiably loathe to identify with a strategy that is focused on raising the 10 Commandments as THE Scriptural banner for a Christian challenge to that agenda. These millions--along with the millions who simply want to take action and haven’t been aware of the serious Scriptural conflict involved--need some unmistakably New Covenant symbol that can be added to the Ten Commandment signs, particularly those on private property.

    What then--if anything--can be done to accommodate the New Testament Scriptures and invigorate the already floundering movement begun by Judge Moore in Alabama? Clearly, it is counterproductive to try to combat the ACLU et al by using the 10 Commandments as a battering ram when God has declared them "glorious but done away and abolished". Bluntly speaking, God cannot endorse the use of that battering ram...and remain true to His unalterable Word. That much is non-negotiable.

    So, is there something sure, easy, and inexpensive that can be done to those signs that will show an awareness of the Scriptural warnings...combined with a readiness to take action? Is there some kind of alteration in the sign that can justify our calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ to make the yard sign protest a truly Christian demonstration in the U.S.A. (and elsewhere), a demonstration that people have a right to express anywhere on their property?

    Yes and yes, and Amen. Here is a simple solution that will work:

    Have whoever produces the 10 Commandment signs begin producing another smaller sign (c.18" wide and 8" high w/H wire insert 12" wide and 7" high) that will fit into the top of the standard sign. On a plain white background, put three crosses on both sides, colored bright red, with the largest cross in the center.

    Nothing else is needed to send the full message that must be sent. If Christ is to be honored in this challenge to those who would silence all tribute to the God of the Bible, the crosses on top of the Ten Commandments will send the right message.

It will work.  What Christian can object to the Crosses?

Here are four examples of how the 10 Commandment signs with the Crosses attached will look: