NOTE: this post is about the ten commandments and Not about the rest of the law of Moses. Also God himself defined the covenant as the ten commandments,
Many today question whether the Ten Commandments still apply under the new covenant. Some believe they were temporary, pointing to writings that describe the law as a ministry that brought death and condemnation. But when we look deeper into the words of Jesus and the prophets, we find a different truth—one filled with life, purpose, and enduring glory.
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).
"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified
by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians 3:24-25).
The law that is written
on the heart and put
into the mind of the believer in Jesus (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
requires that we go further and do what the shadow pointed to:
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already
in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28).
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you,
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." (Matthew 5:43-44).
The Mosaic covenant
was 100% dependent on the people's obedience to the law - which includes the 10 commandments - and was based on the ten commandments -
but they broke that covenant through their disobedience.
The Old Covenant vs. the New Covenant in a nutshell:
"31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:
-- they broke the covenant by their disobedience because of
human failure to obey the law and the 10 commandments --
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord,
I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for
I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
That
New Covenant Law is
the fruit of the Spirit of Christ in us (in those who truly believe), of which the written commandments are
the shadow.
The fruit of the Spirit is not our fruit produced by our obedience to the ten commandments.
- and the New Covenant Law written on our hearts
requires us to go a lot further than the 10 commandments required - because it's the fulfillment of the requirements of what is contained in the shadow.
Obedience to the shadow produces death because
the law exposes our sin and the wages of sin is death.
Obedience to the Spirit can only come through faith in Christ, who said,
"3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
-- already cleansed by the Word of God, through faith in the word Jesus has spoken to us --
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine;
no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for
without ME ye can do nothing." (John 15:3-5).
Without JESUS we can do NOTHING in terms of
fulfilling God's law (which the ten commandments are
the shadow of).
Jesus also said,
"28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30).
Reliance on
OUR obedience to the 10 commandments rather than
allowing them to lead us to Christ can
only result in pride - and DOES only result in pride - because the 10 commandments WILL convict us of our sin and lead us to Christ,
as opposed to
the law that the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus writes on our hearts and put in our minds - which will
prompt us to go further than the 10 commandments requires - because
the fruit of the Spirit fulfills the law and the commandments.
The moment we start measuring our
obedience to God BY our obedience to the written law and ten commandments, we fall from Christ and from grace. (Even worse when we measure our salvation by our obedience to the ten commandments).
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).
We do not cast away the ten commandments because that would be casting away scripture -
but that does not mean that we start obeying commandments produced outwardly to get to God -
we come to Jesus, the last Adam, the Son of man and the LORD our righteousness who has already fulfilled the law and the commandments - so that we can be obedient to His INWARDLY produced commandments, a.k.a the fruit of the Spirit (of life in Christ Jesus):
"Wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians 3:24-25).
This is what Jesus and His apostles taught - and anything else is false doctrine produced by false teachers who want to bring you back under a yoke of bondage.
When Jewish believers in Christ observe their cultural appointed times (the sabbath, Passover etc) then they are doing so because it's as much part of their cultural traditions as Christmas is to Gentiles. There's nothing wrong with that. Paul's whole statement about the circumcised not becoming "uncircumcised" and Gentiles not becoming circumcised etc is about the lack of need for Gentiles to make themselves Jews culturally, and vice versa. But Jewish
believers in Yeshua are
not required to come to God through obedience to law and commandments - they come to God the same way that any Gentile does - allowing the law and ten commandments to be the schoolmaster and shadow that leads them to Christ.
