Lesson 12—What God Requires 8 Life’s Vital Answers 1

are as guilty as if we break them all. True, we are not saved by keep-
ing the law, but this text shows we will be judged by it. If Jesus reigns
within, He will give us the strength to keep it.

Psalm 111:7,8 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his
precepts are trustworthy. They are steadfast for ever and ever, done
in faithfulness and uprightness.

God’s commandments are eternal.

Revelation 14:12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of

God’s last people on earth before the end of time are commandment
keepers. There is no thought that the law is abolished, instead they
establish it.

Hebrews 8:10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of
Israel after that time, declares the Lord. _______________________
__________________________________. I will be their God, and
they will be my people.

In the New Testament age we no longer need the commandments on

John 14:15 If you love me, you will obey what I command.
.
The test of love is obedience. Friend, do you love Jesus enough to
obey Him? Remember, He loved you enough to die for you. His plea
to you today is to keep His commandments. They are not grievous –
in fact to keep them, will keep you out of trouble in this life, and bring
you happiness. God’s way of willing obedience is the best way, and if
Jesus is supreme in your life, He will give you the strength to keep the
commandments of God. Do you desire, by the grace of God to keep
all of God’s commandments? _____
Text—NIV Version. AUC Resources PO Box 116 Mitcham, Victoria 3132 Australia.
Lesson 12—What God Requires 2 Life’s Vital Answers 7

1 John 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is law- Ten Commandments, however, were written by God Himself. Surely
lessness. this gives them deep significance.

Some say that the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross of Where were the Ten Commandments located?
Christ: but this cannot be so. This text defines sin as the “breaking of
God’s law”. You see, if the law is abolished, then so is sin and if sin is Exodus 25:16 Then put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give
abolished, then the need of a Saviour becomes unnecessary. Why did you.
Christ die on the cross? To save us from our sins, which are trans-
gressions of God’s law. If it were possible to do away with the law, A small box called the “ark”, which was situated in the sanctuary, was
Christ need not have died, but the fact that He was prepared to make the resting place of the commandments. The law of Moses was
this supreme sacrifice proves the unchanging character of God’s law. placed in the “side” of the ark. The Ten Commandments are often re-
ferred to as the “Testimony”.
Romans 3:20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight
by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of The first four deal with our love to God, and the last six deal with our
sin. love for our fellow humans. They can be divided into these two sec-
tions. There is one underlying principle behind these commands –
We are saved because of our faith in Jesus Christ, and not because LOVE. In these commands we see a transcript of God’s character:
we keep God’s law. This text does not say it is unnecessary to keep “God is love”. At first they may appear to be a list of “don’ts, but when
the law, but it says we are not justified by keeping it. We are justified Christians are motivated by love, they want to please God and re-
by the blood of Jesus. This text in no way says it is unnecessary to spect their fellow humans.
obey God’s requirements.
James 2:8-12 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture,
Romans 6:14,15 For sin shall not be your master, because you are ‘‘Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show
not under law, but under grace. What then? ___________________ favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For
_________________________________________! whoever keeps the whole law and
yet stumbles at just one point is
We are not under the condemnation of the law because of the grace guilty of breaking all of it. For he
(unmerited favour) of Christ. His blood covers our sins so that the law who said, ‘‘Do not commit adultery,”
cannot condemn us. The question is asked by Paul; “Shall we sin (or also said, ‘‘Do not murder.” If you do
break the law) because we are not under the law but under grace?” not commit adultery but do commit
and the reply is most definite - by no means - “God forbid”. God’s for- murder, you have become a law-
giveness to us does not give license to sin. breaker. _______________________
______________________________
Romans 3:31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not al all! ______________________________. The Ten Commandments were written
Rather, we uphold the law. with God’s own finger. The only part of
There is no virtue in keeping nine com- the Bible written directly by God!
Genuine Christians will not seek to break God’s law; instead they es- mandments instead of ten. If a person
tablish it; uphold it and keep it. It is only as we break the law that we is hanging from a great height by a chain with ten links, and only one
come under the condemnation of it. For example, we are not affected link breaks, he/she falls. The strength of the chain is dependent on its
by the speed limit law while driving, until we exceed it – then we are weakest link. If we willingly break one of God’s commandments, we
Lesson 12—What God Requires 6 Life’s Vital Answers 3

minder to the onlooker that One would come and die for their sins.
John the Baptist pointed to our Lord and declared the significant condemned by it. Simply because we are under grace, does not give
words, “Behold the Lamb of God”. When He died on Calvary’s cross, us free rein to break the law, rather we are under greater obligation to
the veil of the great temple curtain was torn from top to bottom, to sig- keep it. We are only under grace so long as we keep the law. For ex-
nify that the entire ceremonial sys- ample, if a prisoner is given a pardon and is released from prison,
tem was forever finished. (See does his freedom allow him/her to break the law? If he/she does
Matthew 27:50,51). No longer he/she is no longer free – the law of the land condemns the person
need the priests offer up sacrifices. and he/she goes back to prison. In the same way, God’s law will con-
The One great and perfect Sacri- demn us when we break it.
fice was offered that Friday after-
noon, when the true Passover Romans 7:7 What shall we say,
Lamb bowed His head and died. then? __________________________
When He cried out, “It is finished”, _______________! Indeed I would not
the old Ceremonial Law that have known what sin was except
pointed the people to His sacrificial through the law. For I would not have
death was nailed to the cross. But Jesus said – Don’t think that I came to known what coveting really was if the
NOT SO WITH THE TEN COM- law had not said, ‘‘Do not covet.”
destroy the law.
MANDMENTS. There was nothing
temporary about them. They are to last as long as heaven and earth. Paul is emphatic. There is nothing
wrong with the law. In fact he says that
Moses receiving the
he would not be conscious of sin with- Ten Commandments.
Matthew 5:17-19 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law
or the Prophets; _________________________________________ out the law to show him his errors.
I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest Here he quotes from the 10th commandment. The commandments
letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from can be likened to a mirror. If a boy with a dirty face looks in a mirror,
the Law until everything is accomplished. then the mirror reveals to him that his face is dirty – but it won’t clean
it for him, he needs soap and water. As we look at the command-
Jesus certainly did not have any intentions of making any change, in ments they show us our sins, but they do not cleanse us. We need
fact, He condemned those who taught that it was in order to break the blood of Christ to make us clean. When we are cleansed and look
God’s law, and commended those who taught the necessity of keep- into the commandments, they no longer condemn us.
ing it.
Romans 7:12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is
holy, righteous and good.
The Ten Commandments
Exodus 24:12; 31:18 The LORD said to Moses, ‘‘______________
_____________________________________________________, God’s law is perfect – it cannot be faulted. What change did take
with the law and commands I have written for their instruction.” place at the cross concerning the law?
...Then the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he
gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone in- Colossians 2:14-17 . . . having ____________________________
scribed by the finger of God. _____________________________________, that was against us
and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
The whole Bible has been written by people, yet inspired by God. The And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public
spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore do
Lesson 12—What God Requires 4 Life’s Vital Answers 5

not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a detail this temporary ceremonial code. This Law can easily be identi-
religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These fied in the Scriptures. It talks about circumcision (a religious Jewish
are a shadow of the things that were to rite), sacrifices, offerings, purifications, ceremonial holy days, and
come; the reality, however, is found in other rites associated with the Hebrew sanctuary service.
Christ.

This written code of ordinances is a The Moral Law The Ceremonial Law
rite or a ceremony. In Old Testament Spoken by God Himself. Exodus 20:1,22. Spoken by Moses. Exodus 24:3.
times animal sacrifices were made, Was written by God. Exodus 31:18; Exodus Written by Moses. Exodus 24:4; Deuteron-
symbolising the supreme sacrifice 32:16. omy 31:9.
Christ or the Messiah would make one
On stones. Exodus 31:18. In a book. Exodus 24:3,7; Deuteronomy
day. There were many ceremonies 31:24.
that revolved around these sacrifices, The sacrificial ceremonies were ful-
Handed by God its writer, to Moses. Exodus Handed by Moses, its writer to Levites. Deu-
such as partaking of certain foods and filled at the cross and blotted out.
31:18. teronomy 31:25,26.
drinks. Why don’t we offer animal sac-
Deposited by Moses “in the ark”. Deuteron- Deposited by the Levites “by the side of the
rifices today? Because this would show we have no faith in Christ’s omy 10:5. ark”. Deuteronomy 31:26, ARV.
sacrifice. Just as it’s no longer necessary to shed the blood of ani-
mals, so it’s unnecessary to partake in the ceremonial system associ- Should “keep the whole law”. James 2:10. Apostles gave “no such commandment” to
“keep the law”. Acts 15:24.
ated with the killing of animals. Christ fulfilled the law of ceremonies.
When He died, the temple veil tore in two as an indication that the Because we “shall be judged” by this law. Not to be judged by it. Colossians 2:16.
James 2:12
temple services had come to an end. Generally speaking, the Bible
does not try to differentiate between the 10 commandments and the The Christian who keeps this law is “blessed The Christian who keeps this law is not
law of Moses. To the Jew there was one law of God, and all details of in his deed”. James 1:25. blessed. (See for example, Galatians 5:1-6).
the law were important, whether ceremonial or moral. However, the “The perfect law of liberty”. James 1:25 (Cf. The Christian who keeps this law loses his
New Testament in many instances mentions specific parts of the law. James 2:12). liberty. Galatians 5:1,3.
This text mentions the ceremonial system, and not the moral law. Paul said, “I delight in the law of God”. Ro- Paul called this law a “yoke of bondage”.
Even the sabbaths mentioned were not necessarily the 7th day Sab- mans 7:22 (Cf. verse 7). Galatians 5:1. (See Acts 15:10).
bath of the 4th commandment. The Jews had several ceremonial sab- Established by faith in Christ. Romans 3:31. Abolished by Christ. Ephesians 2:15.
baths which fell on certain dates of the year, each one occurring once
Christ was to “magnify the law and make it Cancelled the written code with its regula-
a year. honorable”. Isaiah 42:21. tions. Colossians 2:14.

The Two Laws Let the Bible itself explain and clarify the differences between these
When God led the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, He de- two laws. Please notice each text carefully:
livered to them in fiery majesty the Ten Commandments. This holy
law was spoken by God, written by God, recorded on tables of stone, To the unbiased reader of God’s Word, it becomes more than clear
and is of eternal duration. At the same time another law, of temporary that the Ten Commandments are binding upon all people for all time
usage, was also delivered to the children of Israel. This law dealt with in every place, whereas no one is bound to keep the Ceremonial Law
the ceremonial rites of the Jewish sanctuary service, and concerned that was fulfilled in Christ. The Ceremonial Law with its sacrificial sys-
itself with a system of religion that passed away at the cross. Large tem pointed the people to the coming of Christ. Every time the blood
sections of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy describe in of a beast was shed in the old Jewish temple, it was a dramatic re-