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Ten Commandments
inthe
NEWTESTAMENT?
any people
believe that
a11 of the Ten
Command–
ments were
done away at
he cross.
Sorne say that the commandments
were reinstituted later in the New
Testament. Others believe that a new
commandment has taken the place of
the Ten.
Just what is the truth?
Jesus said,
"lf
thou wilt enter into
life, keep the commandments" (Mat–
thew 19: 17). Did He mean the Ten
Commandments or sorne other com–
mandments?
If
you love Jesus Christ you wi11
want to know for sure which com–
mandments He was referring to.
Your eterna! salvation is at stake!
There is no reason for confusion.
The Scriptures wi11 show the truth if
you diligent1y search for God's in–
spired answer.
Which Commandments?
The young man who was speaking to
Jesus had the same question we are
asking. "He saith unto him,
WHtCH?" (Verse 18.)
1n answer Jesus quoted
ji
ve
of the
Ten Commandments listed in Exo–
dus 20.
" Jesus said, Thou sha1t do no mur–
der. Thou shalt not commit adultery,
Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1979
by
L.
LeRoy Neff
bear false witness, Honour thy father
and thy mother ..." (Matthew
19:18-19).
He then summed up these five
commandments (verse 19) by saying,
"Thou shalt
/ove
thy neighbour as
thyself." The five commandments
that Jesus mentioned concerned our
relationship with our neighbors.
They were the commands concerning
murder, adultery, stealing, lying, and
honor to parents.
Obviously, when Jesus used the
word "commandments," He was re–
ferring to the TEN Commandments
of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy
5.
Even though Jesus mentioned half
of the Ten Commandments here,
sorne might suppose that things
changed after the cross. In order to
make sure, we ought to search and
see if the other New Testament writ–
ers mentioned all or just part of the
commandments. We wi11 see if all ten
cornmandments are found in the
words of Jesus and, in addition, the
letters of the apostles, particularly
the writings of Paul, the apostle to
the Gentiles.
We cannot love God properly if we
do not Iove our neighbor, so let us see
if the last six commandments con–
cerning our neighbor are reiterated.
Love Thy Nelghbor as Thyself
The fifth commandment from Exo–
dus 20 states: " Honour tby father
and thy mother...." We have al–
ready read what Jesus said in Mat–
thew 19:19: " Honour thy father and
thy
mother.~'
Did Paul, the apostle to
the Gentiles, mention this command–
ment in his writings?
He most certainly did! He repeat–
ed it almost word for word, and in
addition explained the
spiritual in–
tent
and purpose of this Iaw: "Chil–
dren, obey your parents in the Lord:
for this is right" (Ephesians 6:1 ).
Paul's next statement quotes the fifth
command, adding the fact that this is
the first commandment with prom–
ise.
The sixth commandment against
committing murder has already been
given by Jesus in Matthew 19:18:
"Thou shalt do no murder." He ex–
plained the spiritual intent and pur–
pose of this command in Matthew
5:21, 22: "Ye have heard that it was
said by them of old time, Thou shalt
not kili ; and whosoever shall kili shall
be in danger of the judgment: but 1
say unto you, that whosoever shall be
angry with his brother without a
cause sha11 be in danger of the judg–
ment."
This command is therefore more
binding in its spi ritua l intent and
purpose in this New Testament time
than it ever was before. Jesus Christ
was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah
proclaiming that t he Christ, when
He carne, would
"magnify
the Iaw"
(lsaiah 42:21).
Paul repeated this command in
Romans 13:9. It is
sti/1
a sin to mur–
der another human being.
The next command forbids
adultery. Many people want to do
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