The 10 Commandments, the Gospel and You

         The Ten Commandments or the Decalogue are perhaps some of the best known teachings in the Bible.  Probably more material has been written on this subject than almost any other topic in Scripture.  The interpretation of the Ten Commandments consists of the extremes from offering a good moral compass to God’s absolute code of conduct for his people.  Additionally, the public display of the “Law” continues to be a lightening rod dividing believers and un-believers as the “separation of church and state” issue is debated on the court-house steps and in society at large.

            As Christians, they serve as a charter of conduct for a people already redeemed, who already participate in God’s redemptive plan by being walking and talking examples of what it means to be created in God’s image.  They are a picture of righteousness and point to the Righteous One who alone was able to keep the law, “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).  So, the Decalogue are commands of God to be understood in a redemptive context, a context that defines the deliverance of God’s people in Exodus and the reiteration of that redemption in the New Covenant through the blood of Jesus.

            As we get ready to share our testimonies for the Great Exchange on UGA campus on Wednesday, September 28^th, this event heralds 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  This is the same redemptive thread that began with the “Passover” and continues throughout Scripture until Jesus’ cry from the cross, “It is finished.”  Just as the LORD passed over the Hebrew mud huts stained with the blood of the lamb to judge sin, the LORD made his only Son to be sin so that the sin which was ours could be judged on the cross and atoned for by the blood of Jesus for all times.  As our substitute, Jesus kept the Law perfectly and then gave us his righteousness and took our iniquities and nailed them to the cross as he completed the Great Exchange transaction.

            In a similar way, the Ten Commandments serve as a bridge between the two covenants.  The LORD gave the Law as a means for his people to relate to him and to each other as well as to differentiate between the pagan cultures of the world.  In the NT, Paul tells us that, “The Law also served as a guardian until Christ came so that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24).  Because of the Law we were under a curse; for it is written, cursed be everyone who does not “abide by all things written in the law and do them” (Galatians 3:10).  Galatians reminds us that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us”... (Galatians 3:13).

            The writer of Hebrews continues to expand this bridge between the covenants, “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.  For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second” (Hebrews 8:6-7).  The church must, therefore, view the Law from a Christological perspective rather than as a treasure chest of moral principles.  Since believers in Christ are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we should view the Law as reflecting the perfect righteousness of Christ and our ideal for Christian living.

            We must be careful to remember that the Ten Commandments are not primarily concerned with personal, private morality.  Our individual righteousness is not so much at stake, but rather a corporate dimension, whereby the people of God live in community and harmony as a testimony to the glory of God.  This was God’s intention in the OT, but even more so in the NT, as the people of God are not trying to earn or secure their salvation, but rather living as that “shining city on a hill” for the entire world to see.

            Unfortunately, we often use the Ten Commandments today as a basis by which to judge the “personal morality” of others rather than as a reminder of our own depravity.  It is bad enough to use this barometer in the church, but when we subject this treatment to those outside the family of God, we send the wrong gospel message, that being right with God is primarily a matter of proper conduct.  To single out the Ten Commandments and set them up as a standard of conduct for unbelievers or American society in general indicates not only a misunderstanding of the purpose of the Decalogue, but of the good news itself.  Christ died and rose to provide another way.  We should do nothing to obscure or confuse that message.

Papa Fred

September 26, 2011