Should Christians Obey the Ten Commandments?

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)

The Bible tells us that God Himself with His own finger carved the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets and gave them to Moses on Mount Sinai. (Exodus 20:1; 31:18). 

The 10 Commandments of God:

1. I am Yahweh your God, you shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make for yourselves an idol that looks like anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. 
3. You shall not take the name of Yahweh in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yahweh your God.  In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.  For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.  Therefore, Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which Yahweh your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal (secretly, openly, fraudulently, or through carelessness).
9. You shall not bear false witness (lie, withhold or manipulate the truth) against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s (selfishly desire and attempt to acquire what belongs to anyone else).

Jesus explained that all the commands given by God are based on His most prominent quality: love.  God gave us the bible to reveal Himself and His way of love to us.  And the bible shows us how to apply love in every aspect of our lives.

Jesus summarized God’s Law in these two commandments:  ““‘You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40).  So, the first four commandments tell us how God wants to be loved and the last six tell us how He wants us to love other people.

Jesus explicitly taught that obeying God’s 10 Commandments IS required for entering into eternal life. 

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”  Jesus answered, “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied.  “There is only One who is good.  If you want to enter into eternal life, keep the commandments.”  The man asked, “Which ones?”  Jesus answered, “You must not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony; honor your father and mother; and love your neighbor as yourself”.  (Matthew 19:16-19 BSB)

Note that Jesus specifically referenced some of the Ten Commandments when answering this question. Jesus didn’t necessarily have to mention all of them because the man already knew what the commandments were.  So why did Jesus say this?  

1. God’s laws reflect how He thinks.  To disobey God’s commands shows a lack of love for Him, for ourselves and fellow humans.  God will not grant anyone who disregards His laws eternal life into His kingdom because that person would only cause suffering for others and himself.  They would destroy the new heaven and the new earth, and turn it into a filthy parking lot.
2. Sin is disobedience of God’s laws, which include the 10 Commandments.  “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is the transgression of the law”. (1 John 3:4), and the consequence of sin is death: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift God gives is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).

The Bible is clear that every human has sinned and has disobeyed God’s laws.  (Romans 3:23; James 2:10-11).  But because God is so merciful, even He suffered for us when He sent His only Son to pay the penalty for our sin.  And because Jesus loves us he willingly died so we could be reconciled to God.

God wants us to stop doing the things that hurt Him, ourselves and others.  And He has the right to require us to repent of our sinful ways.  

To repent means to feel deep regret and do a complete 180º, turning away from our past way of life.  We believe that we need Jesus and that he died in our place and made the only way for us to be forgiven and no longer be separated from God now and for eternity.  We then decide to commit our lives to God.  Naturally, we will want to be baptized in Jesus’s name to symbolize our death to sin and of our being raised to new life.   

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  (Acts 2:38 ESV)  

Giving our life to God doesn’t mean we’re no longer tempted to sin or that we won’t ever commit a sin again.  But we will no longer practice sin or live a sinful life.  So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.  (Galatians 5:16 NLT)

God promises His forgiveness for all of our sins.  He gives us a new birth, (a spiritual birth). We become born of God and we are spiritually adopted as His children.  God plants within us the seed of Spirit. And by His Spirit we are progressively conformed to the image of Christ Jesus.  (Acts 2:38; Galatians 5:16)  The Spirit (which is the Spirit of God and Christ) guides us and protects us spiritually.  We’re given power from God to combat the natural temptations to sin. And we are commanded to be holy just as God is holy.  

“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.”  (1 John 3:9 ESV)  

Are We to Obey the Ten Commandments Today?  

Many Christians believe that the Ten Commandments were solely given to the Israelites when God formed a covenant with them on Mount Sinai. However, all Ten Commandments can be found in the Bible before the covenant on Mount Sinai was formed. We have some examples below and this is not an all inclusive list. These verses show that the commandments existed because God mentioned it or that people were aware of their existence.

1. Have no other gods before Him: Gen. 31:30-32, Gen. 35:2-4, Ex. 6:7, 10:7, 12:12
2. Make no graven images/idols (and by extension no other gods): Gen. 31:19, 31:34-35, 35:2-4
3. Not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain (this literally means to profane His name): Gen. 4:26, 13:4, Ex. 3:15 (there were those who did not call on/take up His name in vain)
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy: Genesis 2:1-3, 8:10-12,  Genesis 16
5. Honor your mother and father: Genesis 26:34-35, 35:21-22, 49:4-5
6. Do not commit murder: Genesis 4:8-10, 9:5-6, 27:41, 37:19-26, Ex. 1:16, 2:14
7. Do not commit adultery: Genesis. 12:9-20, 19:1-38, 20:1-14, 39:1-12
8. Do not steal: Genesis. 27:15, 30:33, 31:19,30, 44:8
9. Do not bear false witness (do not lie): Genesis 4:9-11, 12:9-20, 20:1-5, 27:1-29, 31:7,41, 37:31-35, 39:13-20
10. Do not covet: Genesis 3:6, Gen. 31:19

These verses make it abundantly clear that the Ten Commandments existed before Mount Sinai and before the Mosaic Law.  Apparently God made these Laws clear to mankind. After all, the world was destroyed by the flood because of the sin and violence people carried out against Him and their fellow humans.

All Christian churches agree that the Ten Commandments are important, BUT they teach that these Ten Laws no longer apply to Christians today. They especially believe that the 4th commandment doesn’t apply because Christians are under the New Covenant.  

Again, according to the Bible, the Ten Commandments were written by the very finger of God on two blue sapphire stone tablets, (Exodus 31:18).  After 40 days when Moses came down from the mountain, he smashed these tablets to pieces when he became enraged at the sight of the Israelites worshiping a golden calf. (Exodus 32:19)  Subsequently God destroyed those rebels, BUT God then had Moses chisel out two more stone tablets and go back up Mount Sinai where He (God) wrote these same ten laws in stone again!  Think about it:  Why would God have done this if it wasn’t really important to Him?  And why did Jesus’ disciples and all the new converts to Christianity in the first century obey these commandments after he ascended to heaven? 

If we are going to disregard God’s laws, certainly they wouldn’t be the very Laws written by God’s own finger.  Remember, the saints who enter the kingdom of God are those who “keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).   Jesus faithfully followed all of God’s laws, including the Ten Commandments. And we are commanded to imitate Jesus.  If something as important as the Ten Commandments were changed, at any point in time, even by Jesus or by the smallest amount, don’t you think it would be crystal clear in the scriptures?  I mean, God took considerable time to write these laws in stone? Is it easy to alter or delete what’s written in stone?  No!  Isn’t the whole Bible necessary for true believers today? Or do we just get to pick and choose for ourselves which of God’s laws we’ll obey?  God’s Spirit will never have us do anything that contradicts His Word.  Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  And His Word is our final authority!  

So What’s the Problem?

Many people today aren’t looking for the truth because they don’t really want the truth.   Instead they look for easy and comfortable religious doctrines that will allow them to live the way they want and still give them the assurance of being saved.  Many people believe and actually SEEK to prove that the Ten Commandments were nailed with Jesus to the cross.  But can’t you see Satan working here?  Why would anyone who really loves God want to abolish any of His laws…unless they just don’t want to obey them?   It all boils down to a heart-issue.  If we really love God with ALL of our heart, we won’t look for ways to get around obeying His Laws.  We’ll exert great effort to obey God in all we think, feel, say and do!

“Then Samuel said: Does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22 CSB)

Moreover, the Bible says that we don’t need anyone to teach us.  “And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, remain in Him.”  (1 John 2:27 NASB)

What did Jesus say about those who do not keep his commandments?  “Whoever says, “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,  (1 John 2:4 ESV)

“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them….  (Romans 10:1-5 ESV)

We should always examine ourselves to make sure that our zeal for God isn’t misplaced but is according to the knowledge He has given us.  We need to make sure we are not seeking to establish our own righteousness or someone else’s.