Introduction: Let's review what we covered in the past ten studies. The keeping of the law has never saved anyone.
- "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." (Galatians 2:16)
The truth is, salvation has never been by the keeping of the law. It was not that way in the Old Testament, it is not that way now, and it will not be that way in the future or during the Millennium. This is why Hebrews tells us that salvation has always been through Jesus, "For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it." (Hebrews 4:2)
The purpose for the law was never to save but to show us our need of salvation. It is compared to three things in the Scriptures:
- A schoolmaster; Galatians 3:24-25, The schoolmaster was not the teacher, but brought the student to the teacher.
- A plumbline; Amos 7:7-8, The plumbline did not straighten a wall, but showed its need of straightening.
- A mirror; James 1:23-25, A mirror does not clean a man's face, but shows the need for washing the face.
The Ten Commandments can easily be divided into two groups of five:
- Commandments 1-5 have to do with our relationship to the LORD. The phrase "the LORD thy God" is found in each one. They have to do with piety.
- Commandments 6-10 have to do with our relationship to one another. The word "thou" is found in each one. They have to do with probity.
In the original language of the Old Testament, these 10 commandments were neither numbered nor divided. The Roman Catholic Church has traditionally divided them into two groups, the first of which consists of the first four commandments while the second is made up of the last six. However, the Jews have, from their earliest records, divided them into the two groups of five I mentioned above.
There is another interesting fact concerning these Ten Commandments. All of them deal with three areas; thought, word, and deed.
- Commandments 1-2 = thought; verses 2-6
- Commandment 3 = word; verses 7
- Commandments 4-5 = deed; verses 8-12
- Commandments 6-8 = deed; verses 13-15
- Commandment 9 = word; verse 16
- Commandment 10 = thought; verse 17
** The first commandment is found in Exodus 20:1-3, "And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." We found that idolatry is a grievous sin and God puts it first on His list of ten commandments. Why first? If our foundation is wrong, our structure will be shaky.
** The second commandment is found in Exodus 20:4-6. The second commandment is not a restating of the first, but rather the stating of another commandment. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." Not only is it forbidden to have other gods before God, it is equally forbidden to make and have other gods in your possession.
** The third commandment is found in Exodus 20:7, "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." The third commandment goes much further than the mere mispronunciation of His name. Taking His name in vain also included how we use His name and how we live as Christians.
** The fourth commandment is found in Exodus 20:8-11, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." The Sabbath Day of the Old Testament was given as a sign for the people of Israel and was to be observed until was fulfilled in Jesus. There is no Christian Sabbath; never has been and never will be. Today but there is the principle of rest and the example set by the early New Testament believers to meet for worship on the first day of the week. We do not have a Christian Sabbath to observe but we do have a command to not forsake the assembling ourselves together as the manner of some is.
** The fifth commandment is found in Exodus 20:12, "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." This commandment completes the first grouping of five commandments. As I mentioned earlier, the first five commandments deal with our relationship to God and piety toward Him. What is piety? Piety is the state or quality of being pious, especially concerning devotion and reverence to the Lord. It also means a devotion and reverence to parents and family. (American Heritage Dictionary)
The remaining five commandments do not deal with piety but probity. Again, what is probity? It is uprightness and honesty, and, as stated earlier, these commandments deal with our relationship to one another.
** The sixth commandment is found in Exodus 20:13, "Thou shalt not kill." Is this kind of killing simply the taking of a human life? Does it include the taking of human life no matter what the reason? There are 10 words in the Old Testament used for the word kill. Exodus 20:13 uses the ninth meaning, which means, to break or dash in pieces; to kill, to slay, in a violent, unjust manner. It means to murder.
Continuing now in the last division of five commandments, we come to the seventh commandment, again dealing with another aspect of probity, that is, our honesty and uprightness with others.
** The seventh commandment is found in Exodus 20:14, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." There is probably not a clearer commandment among the ten. This verses means exactly what it says but has more than one application. "Preacher, what does this verse mean?" It means that you do not have God's permission to commit adultery, whether spiritual or physical, period, and that it is sin to do so.
- - Adultery means voluntary sexual relations between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse. (American Heritage Dictionary)
- - An adulterer is one who commits adultery. (American Heritage Dictionary)
- - Adulterate is another form of the word and it means to make impure by adding extraneous, improper, or inferior ingredients. (American Heritage Dictionary)
Continuing now in the last division of five commandments, we come to the eighth commandment, again dealing with another aspect of probity, that is, our honesty and uprightness with others.
** The eighth commandment is found in Exodus 20:15, "Thou shalt not steal." It is interesting to note that this does not just deal with theft but with other things as well. This is seen in the Hebrew meaning of the word steal.
** The ninth commandment is found in Exodus 20:16, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." Perhaps this commandment is not as plain as it may appear. Bearing false witness involves more than simply lying. Lying is definitely a part of it, but there is more here than simply not telling the truth. To bear false witness, means to testify against another person falsely. It means to be deceitful in your dealings with others, and God says that bearing false witness against anyone is sin.
** The tenth commandment in our series is found in Exodus 20:17, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's." Our world is plagued with many curses. Among its worst is covetousness. In the Ten Commandments, God strictly forbids this inner sin. He calls it a sin to covet anything that is your neighbor's. The dictionary defines covetousness as grasping for more or being greedy of gain. It is as the sin of selfishness. Dr. Lee Roberson calls this, "An ancient sin dogging (closely tracking) the steps of modern man."
Matthew 22:38-40 gives the two greatest commandments in all the Bible. "This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." On these two hang all of the law and prophets. Simply put, if you will be obedient to the two greatest commandments in the Bible, you will not be as likely to be in violation of God's Ten Commandments.
Why these two? Because the first five commandments have to do with piety, that is, our relationship to the Lord, and the last five commandments have to do with probity, that is, our relationship to one another. In other words, a proper piety toward God and a proper probity toward people fulfills the whole of the law.
In this message, let's tie the last ten weeks together by understanding what Jesus meant when He said, "...On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
1. We are to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
- Heart = this is the real you, your inner man, your depth.
* "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..." (Proverbs 23:7)
* "...for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." (Matthew 12:34)
* In other words, God wants us to love Him very deeply and sincerely.- Soul = this is our emotions.
* What is it that you feed to your emotions?
* If our emotions are out of control, they will determine what we do and believe.
* "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." (Colossians 3:2)- Mind = this is what we think about and what we learn.
* What you think about determines what you are!
* Guard your mind against ideas and philosophies that are anti-God. Humanism says that man is his own god. Hedonism says to do your own thing. Be careful what you see, hear, and read.- Strength = this is our abilities.
* God has given each one of us gifts and strengths, that is, abilities. They were given for God's honor and glory. To use an ability for your own personal desires while excluding the will of God, is to prostitute that gift and ability. This is what He means when He says that we are to love Him with our strength. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31)
* Bathsheba taught this to her son Solomon, also called Lemuel, in Proverbs 31:1-3, "The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows? Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings." (Proverbs 31:1-3) Her husband David gave his strength to women and it destroyed him!- If we will love the Lord with all our hearts, we will have no other Gods before us. We will have no graven images to bow down to. We will not take His holy name in vain. We will not neglect to give God every day of the week. We will honor those whom God honors, our parents.
2. We are to love others as God would love them.
- You can love this way by doing for others what the Lord would do for them.
* Reach the lost; "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)
* Help Christians to grow in the Lord; "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:24-25)
* Forgive and be kind to others; "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:29-32)
* Care for the needs of others; "Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me." (Matthew 25:45)
* Ask yourself, "What would Jesus do if He were here?" This would change our behavior toward others if we would let it!- If we will love others as we ought, we will not murder. We will not commit adultery. We will not steal. We will not bear false witness through lying. We will not covet.
Conclusion: These two commandments are the greatest commandments in all of the Bible. On them hang all the law and the prophets. Remember, the first five commandments have to do with piety, that is, our relationship to the Lord, and the last five commandments have to do with probity, that is, our relationship with one another. In other words, a proper piety toward God and a proper probity toward people fulfills the whole of the law. If we can decide to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and others as ourselves, we can fulfill God's Ten Commandments to the best of our human ability. Our fallen human nature will prevent this from happening without failure, but we will come closer to it by obeying these two commandments.