The ten commandments?

Question

As Christians we are no longer under the law but under grace. However, do you believe that not follwing them ruins our testamoney in the eyes of the lost?

Answer 1

yes to your question. as Christians we are to live our lives
to exalt Christ and not ourselves.

Answer 2

To answer your basic question, YES, the reason there is so much confusion and so much disrespect for Christianity is, in part, due to people being unable to reconcile religious practices with the word of God in the Bible.

You got some totally bogus answers based on Matthew 5:17-19. Lets post exactly what Christ says about the Law:

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.....

If He did not come to destroy then He had no intention of them becoming invalid or of abolishing them, because that would have destroyed the Law. The word "fullfil" could also have been translated "make complete". Now. did Christ fullfil any of the Law? Yes He did, in fulfilling those prophecies that pointed to His first coming. Did Christ make the Law complete? Yes He did, in expanding our understanding of the Law's intent (the "Spirit of the Law"). How did He do this? What did He teach about lusting after a woman? About hating your brother? These teachings increase our understanding of how all encompassing the Law really is to be in our lives. We are not to reject the letter of the Law, but we are to go beyond the letter. This is what the Jewish authourities of His day could not grasp, and why they hated Him.

Picking up Matthew 5 again:

18 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......

He give a time frame for how long the Law will be in effect. The last time I checked outside heaven and earth were still here. Unless you are living on some other planet, heaven and earth are here for you too. Since such a time frame is given by the Messiah Himself, it stands to reason that not all of the Law has been fulfilled or not all of the people have reached perfection. Either way, the Law is still in effect. And, further, Christ is not speaking of only the 10 Commandments here. If He had He would have used different terminology likd "the Ten Words" or some such. Christ, in saying not one "jot or tittle" would pass from the Law is referring to the entire Law found in the Torah. All 613+ Commandments. And, again, there are parts of the Law and Prophets that are yet to be fulfilled, the return of the Israelites to the Holy Land (Judah is there , the "Lost" 10 tribes are not yet there), and the return of Messiah to Jerusalem are just two of many unfulfilled parts of the Law and the Prophets. Hence, it is still in effect.

19 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.

How much plainer could He say it? Break one or teach others to break one and it will adversly effect your reward in heaven. How much more plainly can He have said this? Gotta wonder about some folks reading comprehension skills!

Who will you believe? The Messiah Himself, or those false ministers who come in His name teaching their false doctrines?

Answer 3

Christians live according to the new covenant ... not the old ... so the old law is no longer of any effect ... and anyone who would be foolish enough to look to the old law for their salvation would be truly disappointed.

The subtle meaning of being under grace and not under law, is that we voluntarily follow Christ's law of love ... and by so doing, automatically "keep" the spirit of the old commandments ... while avoiding all of the associated curses.

Rom 13:10 The love of our neighbour worketh no evil. Love therefore is the fulfilling of the law.

So there's really no conflict between words and actions, and there's no possibility of scandal.

Answer 4

Protestant and Catholic teaching states that "grace" has replaced "law." (Hmm, does this sound a bit like replacement theology, which is abhorrent?)

The subject of what exactly is law, what does it mean, to whom does it apply, what is it's purpose is covered beautifully, for those who are really interested, by Elhanan Ben-Avraham. His audio files can be found at Netivyah, a Jerusalem-based group. They're in English at the website below, "Between Law and Lawlessness."

I can't recommend enough that you listen to these, rather than grapple with the attempts to explain given in these answers (some of which have merit).

May God bless your search.

Answer 5

You mean following the Law of Moses, no, if you mean we still live in sin and live life for our self and not the Lord, then yes. As a Christian we should live a life that shows faith working itself out through love. God bless.

Answer 6

the commandments are basicaly the laws so in any case if u break the law or a commandment u should go confess because u have commited a sin...if thats not what u meant be more specific pliz :)

Answer 7

I don't really care what you do but these things impress me the most:
1. Don't legislate your brand of morality. Follow it the best you can and be a good example, but don't force it on the rest of it.
2. Present well thought out arguments and solid evidence. Saying that "god say so", "I believe, so it's right" or saying that the brain is evidence for god, is like saying that your an unthinking drone.

Answer 8

Not at all. We are to be a personal light to the world. We are not to be pointing to the law as though that were a light.

.

Answer 9

in considering your question I am reminded of a quote from a b-grade science fiction movie " alien planet"

"the truth is the truth no matter who speaks it."

more or less, the ten commandments are common sense, even if you believe or not.

Answer 10

Since the teaching of the New Testament is so often misconstrued on this issue, here is a barrage of scriptures dealing with various aspects of the question. The broad context of Galatians deals with Christians and the law, so several individual passages are included. Jesus himself spoke of the coming end of the law, though many Christians misunderstand and do not recognize his prophecy or its impact on believers.

YES, Jesus PREDICTED the END of the law!

…Jesus said he didn’t come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it, (Matthew 5:17) but this DOES NOT MEAN THE LAW IS STILL IN EFFECT. The RESULT of fulfillment was the same as if he had come to "destroy" it, once fulfilled, the law was no longer in effect...

Now, we must recognize in the very next verse, Matthew 5:18, Jesus LOOKING FORWARD to the time when the law WOULD BE SET ASIDE. "...Not even the smallest stroke of a pen will disappear from the Law UNTIL EVERYTHING IS COMPLETED."

This “UNTIL...” clause REINFORCES THE TEMPORARY NATURE OF THE LAW. It ONLY makes sense when we understand that the law was intended FROM THE BEGINNING to be SET ASIDE at its fulfillment.

Of course this fits perfectly with Paul’s later teaching concerning the law:

Ephesians 2:15 Through his body on the cross, Christ put an END to the LAW WITH ALL ITS COMMANDS AND RULES. He wanted to create one new group of people out of the two. He wanted to make peace between them.

Colossians 2:14, 16, &21 (excerpts) He wiped out the written Law with its rules. The Law was against us. It opposed us. He took it away and nailed it to the cross… No one can be made right with God by obeying the law.... What if a person could become right with God by obeying the law? Then Christ died for nothing!

Romans 3:20 So it can’t be said that anyone will be made right with God by obeying the law. Not at all! The law makes us more aware of our sin. 21 But now God has shown us how to become right with him. The Law and the Prophets give witness to this. It has nothing to do with obeying the law.

Galatians 5:4 Some of you are trying to be made right with God by obeying the law. You have been separated from Christ. You have fallen away from God’s grace... The ONLY verse that talks about falling from grace, and they did it by trying to follow the law!

... The 10 commandments along with the rest of the law (described as "commands and rules" in Ephesians 2:15) were "set aside" when they were fulfilled or completed at Jesus' resurrection. We are no longer bound by that law.

BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN (AS SOME HAVE CLAIMED) THE LAW IS WORTHLESS OR MEANINGLESS!

Paul makes this clear in Romans 15:4 -- Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. The Scriptures give us strength to go on. They cheer us up and give us hope.

We see that Paul's teaching on the law is exactly in line with Jesus' own prophecy about it.

Early in Paul’s ministry, the other apostles and the elders in Jerusalem were asked about non-Jewish converts to Christianity and their relationship to the law. This letter was their UNANIMOUS RESPONSE to non-Jewish converts to Christ:

"The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the non-Jewish believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. We all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:

YOU ARE TO ABSTAIN FROM FOOD SACRIFICED TO IDOLS, FROM BLOOD, FROM THE MEAT OF STRANGLED ANIMALS AND FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY. YOU WILL DO WELL TO AVOID THESE THINGS.

Farewell." -- Acts 15:23-29

Notice that the entire body of rules contained in the Old Testament was reduced to one sentence. This is NOT a "moral license," rather, the command of Christ that we LOVE EVERYONE makes much of the old moral code unnecessary.