What I write below is explained in greater detail at our upcoming Freedom Conference. The truth you will hear will break all types of chains from our lives. So please attend the upcoming one! You’ll walk away astounded by His grace!
“You’re teaching people heresy because you don’t teach them to obey the 10 Commandments!” This was the final comment an angry person shouted at me when we discussed whether God requires Christ indwelt people to keep the 10 Commandments. His concern was encapsulated in an excellent question. “How will people know how to obey God or when they sin?” My main answer to him was that we have something much better than the 10 Commandments to live by. So, let’s dig into the truth about this question many Christians have.
Hebrews 8:7-12 quotes the prophecy in Jeremiah 31:31-34 describing the superiority of Jesus and His New Covenant compared to Moses and the Old Covenant. Our Father fulfilled this when Jesus died, was buried, rose, ascended, and seated at His right hand. Look at what happened in verse 10 for all who believe. “I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts.”
The external 10 Commandments written on stone tablets were based on the character of God. That same character has been written internally on our new hearts and the mind of Christ we now possess. How is this possible? It’s because salvation means we are united with Christ and are now like Him. I John 4:17c states this plainly by saying, “As he is, so also are we in this world.”
He is holy, so we are holy. He is righteous, so we are righteous. He is loving, so we are loving. He is kind, so we are kind. He is patient, so we are patient. He is generous, so we are generous.
Did you know that we died to the authority of the 10 Commandments and were raised so we could live under the authority of Jesus? “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in relation to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another. You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4).
How do we obey God without the 10 Commandments? We grow in relying on Christ in us to express His character every day. The New Testament letters tell us this. When we aren’t living like who we are in Christ, we are sinning, and the Holy Spirit lets us know this. We repent by telling God we are sorry for not relying on Him to live through us as children of God and thank Him that we are already forgiven. We then choose in conversation with Him to trust Him in us and remember who we are.
Did you know that the 10 Commandments are not made for a righteous person? 1 Timothy 1:7a states, “We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person.” Why? Because of what I wrote above.
Then why did Jesus say this? “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18). Didn’t Jesus completely fulfill the entire Old Covenant laws, including the 10 Commandments and the sacrifices? Yes, He did, so we aren’t required to do so.
I just want to give you one more encouragement. As long as we rely on Christ to love people, we are fulfilling the intent of the 10 Commandments without thinking about them. “Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8).
© Mark Maulding (But feel free to share this.)
