Jesus taught very clearly that the Ten Commandments remain in full effect and that keeping them is necessary for eternal life. When the rich young man asked Him what to do to inherit life, Jesus answered, “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17 NKJV), and when asked which ones, He quoted directly from the Ten Commandments: “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and your mother,” and added, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 19:18–19 NKJV). He warned all not to think He came to abolish the law, saying, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17–18 NKJV). He further declared that “whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19 NKJV). For Jesus, love for Him is proven by obedience: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15 NKJV).
Paul, however, speaks of the law in a more complex way, saying, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14 NKJV), and “by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20 NKJV). He also wrote, “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4 NKJV), and declared that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4 NKJV). In another place he said that Christ “has wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14 NKJV). He also told the Ephesians that Christ “abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances” (Ephesians 2:15 NKJV). These statements, along with Paul’s repeated emphasis that believers are “not under the law,” have led many to believe that the Ten Commandments were done away with, even though Paul also wrote, “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31 NKJV).
Even in Paul’s own time, his words about the law were deeply debated and often misunderstood. Many Jewish leaders interpreted his teaching as speaking against the law, which led to him being arrested and put on trial, as recorded in Acts 21:27–28 and Acts 24:5–6, where he was accused of teaching against Moses and the customs of Israel.
The difference is that Jesus spoke plainly and directly, teaching that obedience to the Ten Commandments is required as the way to demonstrate love for God and to enter life, while Paul often emphasized being “not under the law” and spoke of the law as nailed to the cross, abolished, or no longer binding, which has led to confusion and to many thinking the commandments were set aside. But Jesus never changed His words, and till heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part of God’s law will ever be done away with. So the real question remains: who will you believe—Jesus’ clear words or interpretations of Paul?
Blessings