The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17)
Like the number seven, ten is also one of the Bible’s perfect numbers. Our whole system of numeration consist of so many tens and is founded upon the first ten.
God gave us the Ten Commandments. They contain all that is necessary. They contain all that is necessary for a proper relationship with God—the first four commandments—and all that is necessary for a proper relationship with man—the last six commandments.
Jesus further summarized all that is necessary for us by reducing the Ten Commandments to two Great Commandments; namely, to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind and to love others as ourselves (Matthew 22:35-40). Jesus then went on to add that “on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
It is not, as the Bible plainly teaches, “the letter of the law” that produces obedience and leads to life (2 Corinthians 3:6). Instead, it is “the spirit of the law” that produces obedience and leads to life. The simple truth is: Men will never do right because they ought to, but only when they want to. It is love, which is “the spirit of the law,” that makes us want to do right and leads us to live as God intended.
Think about it; if you love God as you should love God will you ever: (1) put any other god before him (2) make unto yourself a graven image that you bow down to and serve (3) take God’s name in vain, or (4) fail to remember the sabbath day? Of course not! There is no way you would do any of these things if you loved God as you should love God.
Likewise, if you love others as you should love others will you ever: (1) fail to honor your father and mother (2) kill (3) commit adultery (4) steal (5) bear false witness, or (6) covet? Of course not! There is no way that you would ever do any of these things if you loves others as you should love others.
This explains why the Apostle Paul taught that “love is the fulfilling of the law” and the “end of the commandment” (Romans 13:10; 1 Timothy 1:5). All we have to do to live as we should is to love as we should. Now, to love as we should requires the deposit of God’s love in our hearts, a deposit which is made the moment we give our hearts to Christ (Romans 5:5).
Have you given your heart to Christ, resulting in you being indwelt by the Holy Spirit and your heart becoming a depository of God’s perfect love? If not, there is no better time for you to do so than the present. As the Bible says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Don Walton
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