The Ten Words

What I thought “those other churches do” is value the Ten Commandments. Wow!  I couldn’t be further from the truth! It was Jesus Himself who taught He did not come to abolish the Law (Matt. 5:17), the only one who enters the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 7:21) and the truly happy one (Luke 11:28) is the one who hears and keeps the word, the will, of God. Even the Apostle Paul, who many view as the champion of God’s grace, teaches that the outgrowth of true saving and sanctifying grace is following the will of God, which He delineates is summarized in the Ten Commandments (Rom. 13:8-10). 

 

The Ten Commandments, actually referred to as the “Ten Words” in the Old Testament (Exodus 34:28; Deut. 4:13; 10:4), summarize the  will of God as revealed in Scripture. What is more, it is not only God’s Law that reveals His wisdom (Deut. 4), it is God’s briefly stated “Ten Words” that reveal so much wisdom in such a small package. 

 

The wisdom of God is particularly seen in the three main uses of the Law that Scripture teaches. Once we grasp these, we will also see how knowing the Ten Words is helpful to a true follower of Jesus Christ. 

 

The first purpose of the law is to teach a person that God is a perfectly holy God, from whom all sinners are separated because of their sin (Isa. 59:2; Rom. 1:18-3:20; Gal. 3:23; 1 John 1:5-6) and so we need a Savior (Rom. 3:21-26; 2 Cor. 5:21). We will see this purpose stated in the answer to question #15 in The New City Catechism, which we will examine in a future article.

 

The second purpose of the law, as we also will be reminded of in the answer to question #15 in The New City Catechism, is to teach us how to live as a new person in Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:8-10). 

 

The third purpose of the law is to restrain people from the full practice of sin and lawlessness (1 Tim. 1:8-11). Law itself cannot change a person and/or save them. But a culture that has been impacted by the Christian worldview and thus is ordered by Law rooted in the Ten Words benefits all and helps preserve the culture, much like salt (Matt. 5:13). 

 

In all these ways, now we can see just how we are well-served by learning the Ten Words. We are ready to see how question and answer 8 in The New City Catechism helps us with this: “What is the law of God stated in the Ten Commandments? Answer: You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below—you shall not bow down to them or worship them. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Honor your father and your mother. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. You shall not covet.”  

 

Thank You, God, for Your Ten Words!

 

Your Joyful Catechizing Pastor,

 

Tom