The Ten Commandments HISTORY??, Salvation?, heaven?

The ten commandments are the old covenant

Exodus 34:28  And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

Deuteronomy 4:13  And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

They were to be a witness against them:

Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee. Deuteronomy 31:26

That covenant law was tailored for faithless Israel. All that law could do was condemn the one under that law.

Christians are not a party to the old covenant law of sin and ministration of death and condemnation (Romans 7; II Cor. 3) but rather are party to the new covenant "law" of faith (Rom. 3:27) that leads to life (Romans 7).

Christians are saved through faith; not law.

The ten commandments are like a mirror. They show us as we are. We still need to know them to show that we are wretched sinners. But there is two commandments that Jesus gave us as He fulfilled the Jewish law and ten commandments. They are, love God with all our hearts and soul, and likewise love our neighbor (fellow man ). Jesus said that all the ten commandments would hang on these two. Those two are the commandments we should obey. Matt 22:36-40 The Jews of today who have not accepted Jesus still are bound to the law and ten commandments. God will judge Christians on love, and not how perfectly we kept the ten commandments. When we work so hard to keep the ten, we always fail, because we are sinful by nature. But love never fails.

But they aren't 'commandments'. The Hebrew word used in Torah is d'varim, that which is said, not mitzvot. So something like words, sayings, or utterances is closer. Doesn't work so well in English, but English is an awkward language through which to understand Torah or translate Hebrew. Jews recognize that they are categories which contain but don't specifically detail the full picture of Jewish law. And yes, Jews are expected to worship the Jewish G-d and the Jewish G-d alone. How is that a bad thing? It's our understanding of our particular relationship with the Divine. Even though there's a lot of basic morality in them, the 10 D'varim were never intended as some sort of universal rule book. They're a shorthand summary of the Jewish agreement with G-d.

Let's break this down into manageable pieces to chew on.

The 10 Commandments were only a very small portion of the Law that God gave to Moses for His chosen people. There were 613 altogether. The first five books of the Bible contain the Law.

The sole purpose of the Law was to show man his sinfulness and need for a Savior.

Knowledge of sin: Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

It manifests God's righteousness: Romans 7:7-25

The law leads us to Christ: Galatians 3:24 Therefore the law was our tutor (disciplinarian) to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

The Law was fulfilled by Jesus when He died at Calvary.

John 19:28-30 After this, JESUS, KNOWING THAT ALL THINGS WERE NOW ACCOMPLISHED, THAT THE SCRIPTURE MIGHT BE FULFILLED, said, "I thirst!" 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

We now live in the Church Age or Age of Grace whichever you prefer. Those who have placed their faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus are not under the Law. Christians will be judged for their works of what sort they are.

I Cor. 3:5-15 *13-15 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day (Judgment Seat of Christ) will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort (quality) it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, BUT HE HIMSELF WILL BE SAVED, yet so as through fire.

DJ, There are christians and there are Christians in the world. Those who profess but do not follow and those who guard their hearts and minds and daily pick up their crosses and follow Jesus. If a person ever places their faith and trust in Jesus alone for their salvation, that person is saved whether they walk in fellowship with God or not. What happens is they remove themselves from under God's protection where Satan can influence them. But God does not lie ... they are eternally saved. They won't receive rewards when they get to heaven.

I think I have answered all your questions but if I can be of any service to you, please let me know. I'm a firm believer that God's word can answer any question we may have.

Keep seeking and studying ... the Holy Spirit is our teacher and will guide you to all truth about what our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for those who are His.

I will not attempt to answer all your questions, but rather I encourage you to seek out these answers from God himself. Pray, ask him for wisdom and guidance. Then search out His word. I can see because of the nature of your questions that you are truly "seeking His face" and I commend you for that! The reason I say that yu should seek Him, and allow Him to show you is because He will. And it will be one of the most wonderful moments of your life. Find out what the Holy Spirit is desiring to show you. Asking others only allows the possibility of allowing Satan to deceive you with his lies. But concerning your last question, consider this: If there were a salesman who truly believed in his product. Would he use it religiously? and if so would that prove that he believed in his product? I am surely not saying that Jesus is a product nor that Christians are salesmen. What I am saying is: that If you believe in Him you will do the things that He has been doing. John Ch 12:4. Aslo see Matt Ch 7 starting around verse 23

Ps Love you keep going!

There are too many scriptures to put in this forum to show you what you ask. It will take in depth study to show yourself the things you need to know, so that you will be satisfied with an answer. The Ten Commandments were part of the Old Testament law that Israel was under. They are not relevant for modern Christians except as history and understanding of the Old Testament. We are under grace, period. The only law we have to follow, other than those of the land we live in, are God's commandments, Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Thanks for asking and good luck in your studies.

The 10 Commandments are still valid, Jesus did not void them.

There are actually TWO laws referred to in the Old Testament. There are the Holy moral laws given to us by God himself in the 10 Commandments, which were already in effect for everyone before the 10 Commandments were even written, before there were even any Jews. And then there are the ceremonial laws written by Moses for the Jews.

When Christ died, the Bible says in Colossians 2:14 what was nailed to the cross were the "handwritten ordinances of man". The 10 commandments were not handwritten by man, only the ceremonial laws that were written by Moses. Those were the only ones that were done away with because Jesus became that sacrificial lamb instead. We are under grace through Christ now and no longer need to follow those ceremonies. The moral laws were given by God Himself and will always be in effect.

John 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments,

Matthew 5:18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law.

Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

We cannot be saved just by keeping the 10 commandments though. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. But it is by the works (obeying God, this would also include the 10 commandments) we "demonstrate" that we have faith. We don't do the works "to" be saved, we do them because we "are" saved, because we love Him. There is a difference.

James 2 says:

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.

16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.

24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Short and sweet:

The ten commandments are the ten most basic laws of the Torah, after the most sacred and essential, The Shema. You can file all other Torah laws according to the ten as categories.

The Torah was given by G-d to the Children of Israel, not christians, not proto-christians, not pre-christians, not any sort of people except the Children of Israel, later called the Jewish people.

The Laws given to the people of the Earth were given during Noah's age and are collectively called the Noahide Laws. (Search Noahide or Noachide or Bnei Noach, the Children of Noah)

The Law is for the benefit and discipline of the Creation (Torah for the Jews, Noachide for all other humanity), not the Creator. Jesus followed the Laws because he was subject to them, not their author.

I often wonder the same thing. From my understanding we are now under grace, therefore, sacrifices, the ten commandments, and the such have been paid for through the blood of Jesus. However, I still fell guilty when I break one of the commandments. Hope this helps.

First of all, this is very deep question!

The 10 commandments as found in Exodus are the most well known of God's commandments. But, as I'm sure you know there were many more. The book of Leviticus is crammed full of how things were to be done--especially sacrifices.

As someone said earlier, we are now under grace in that we no longer have to sacrifice to pay penance for our sins. When Christ died on the cross, He became our sacrifice. This means that to receive salvation, you need to nothing except accept Christ's payment for your sins. It's a free gift!

Paul, in the book of Romans, addressed your question though.

Romans 6:14-15 (KJV)

"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid."

I don't think you can go so far as to say that the 10 commandments are not relevant for today. They are talked about all through the New Testament. Jesus talked about them specifically in 3 of the 4 gospels and was constantly addressing "commandment issues" with the pharisees. In fact, Jesus even "tightened" the 10 commandments! Mt. 5:27-28 (one example) "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (And of course God sees the heart!)

There will come a time that God will judge man. Hebrews 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment"

For the those who have not accepted Christ as their Saviour, they will spend an eternity in total isolation and separated from God forever. It is a place that was prepared for the Devil and his angels: Hell. (And, fyi, Jesus talked more about hell than He did about heaven. Both are real and literal.) Revelation talks about a judgment for those who have rejected Christ. It is referred to as "The Great White Throne Judgment".

Revelation 20:11-15 (For sake of space I'll let you read it for yourself, but will highlight.) "...And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God;...and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged....And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

Those who have been saved from death, hell and the grave will not be judged, but rather rewarded for their works. Please note that our works did not and can not save us! I Corinthians 3:12-15 Once again, I will let you read this for yourself, but remember that Paul is speaking to those who have already trusted Christ for salvation.

You do well to base your beliefs on the Bible. Christians today (as in times past) struggle with pleasing themselves, and conforming to this world. So often times Christians are carnal (living like the world). But we are supposed to be salt and light to a lost and dying world. We should be different! We should strive to please God in all we do! The big things are the 10 commandments--they can be the 'easy' things not to do (no, I have not committed murder!) Yet Christ wants us to serve Him with our whole being! If I hate my brother, I might as well have murdered him, because God looks at it the same!

I hope this helps! Like I said, your question is VERY deep! Keep searching the Scriptures! "Seek and you shall found!" "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth"

Much success to you! :)