The Ten Commandments

Are the Ten Commandments still relevant today?

By David Burdick

In other words, are the Ten Commandments changeable, alterable or abolished? Many declarations have been made to indicate that this is so.

Can Christ, the Son of God, change the Law of His Father? Does He have that authority? Does the Son have the power to overthrow His Father’s will? Would He do such a thing? Is there even such non-compatibility between the Two that would make an overthrow necessary? And if He had the authority to refute His Father’s Law governing Earth, would that affect God’s kingdom throughout the rest of the universe?

This may sound like much conjecture, but really it is applicable and spoken of in the scriptures. Of course we know what Christ, Himself, promised, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19). This was in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah, “The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will magnify the law, and make it honourable.” (Isaiah 42:21). See what are the Ten Commandments.

Christ came to put an end to sin, that enemy of His human race, and that which had so crucified His Father. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” (Romans 8:3). Jesus proved that sin was not a fact of life, but an aberration of life. His target, upon coming to Earth, was sin; He had sin in His cross-hairs when He stepped down from His throne in heaven. After 33 years, He successfully condemned sin in humanity and showed that Satan would soon be put out of business.

But the Bible’s definition of sin is in its relation to righteousness. The two are juxtaposed. “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” (1John 3:4). Since sin and righteousness are polar opposites, by condemning sin, Christ magnified His Father’s law of the Ten Commandments, as it was by condemning or diluting the authority of God’s law that Satan offered sin to our first parents. Rather than condemning or diluting or even hinting at destroying His Father’s law, Jesus magnified the Commandments, not only in letter but in their spirit. Just read His statements following His declaration to not destroy the law or the prophets. He not only reiterated the law, but raised the ceiling on righteousness. Actually there never had been a ceiling on the Law until human philosophy put it there. Originally, the sky was the limit; development had no restrictions, growth in grace was never ending.

Would the Son of God ever overthrow the Law of His Father’s government? Jesus said, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). So, why would Christ ever work to undermine His Father when a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand?

There is one, however, who does desire to destroy the law of God and cause division in God’s kingdom. He is the same wily enemy who said, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” To destroy God and everything He stands for is the devil’s one desire. “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth.” (John 8:44). “And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.” (Revelation 13:6).

Lastly, Christ wouldn’t remove the bounds of His Father’s law here on Earth, and thus make this, as some would like to call it, a privileged planet. God is no respecter of persons. He doesn’t play favoritism, not even with planets of His creation. “Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” (Isaiah 2:22). Why should man think that the eternal King should alter His Law of the Ten Commandments to suit a fallen created being’s perverted nature? But, again, there is one who would want Earth to be without obligation to God’s law. And he has dark purposes for convincing us of that idea which would give him limitless control over us, to the point of possession. “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin….Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” (John 8:34, 44).

God never changes. “I am the Lord, I change not.” (Malachi 3:6). “In the beginning, God.” “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” (Genesis 1:1; Psalms 90:2). If He would never change, neither would His Law.

Next Page...