The Ten Commandments
1 John 5:3 This is loving God, keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not too hard.
When we receive Jesus, our spirits experience new birth. Our conscience becomes tender and we want to do God’s commandments. This bible study is meant to be an overview of all of the Ten Commandments which we will study more in depth in future lessons. The thing to stress is that we are not justified by keeping the Ten Commandments because none of us has been able to do it. This is why Jesus came. His paying our sin debt made a way for God to give us the gift of the new birth. It is the new birth that makes the difference. The new birth makes it possible to keep the Ten Commandments.
Sin was in the earth before God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses and the people of Israel.
Early in Genesis we have the account of Cain killing his brother Abel. There were no Ten Commandments then. There was no law that said, “You shall not murder”. Did Cain know that what he did was wrong? Yes. How did he know? His conscience told him.
Why did God give us the Ten Commandments then?
People didn’t always listen to their conscience. God didn’t give these laws for the good obedient people. He gave the Ten Commandments for the rebellious ungodly people. The law or the Ten Commandments just make us know that we sinned when we break one of them. The law or the Ten Commandments doesn’t help us to stop sinning.
The 10 Commandments were important to God.
He came down from heaven and spoke them audibly so that all the people of Israel could hear them. He wrote them with his own hand on tablets of stone. All the other laws he told directly to Moses and then Moses wrote them down.
The 10 Commandments was a school-master to keep us in line until Jesus would come.
If we could have kept all the Ten Commandments then we could have eternal life but no one has been able to keep the Ten Commandments. The bible says that everyone has sinned. Jesus kept the Ten Commandments. He never broke a single commandment. This is why he could pay our sin debt. He didn’t owe a sin debt. Jesus was always in right standing with God. When we believe on him he imputes (gives) to us his right standing with God, just as if we had never sinned.
A new heart was the real cure for the sin problem.
When a person asks Jesus to come into his/her heart, God gives them a new heart. They become born again. God writes his laws on their hearts. If we listen to our heart we will always do the right thing.
Let love be your guide.
Would love murder someone? Would love steal from someone? Would love lie to someone? Would love covet someone else’s stuff? Would love be unfaithful to their spouse? If you really love God would you worship a statue?
Scriptures to Study: Exodus 19 & 20, Romans 2:14, Romans 3:20, Romans 3:31, Romans 4:15, Romans 7:12-14, Romans 8:1-2, Romans 10:4-5, Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 2:16, Galations 5:14, Galations 6:2, 1 Timothy 1:8-9, Hebrews 10:1, James 1:12, Hebrews 8:10, Hebrews 10:16