Introduction
In today’s modern church, Christians have become apathetic to God’s law, especially the Mosaic Law. It is frequently misunderstood that Jesus came to be a new lawgiver; however, Christ came to be a fulfiller and interpreter of the already given law, which he says clearly: “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:17b-19).” Christ came to fulfill the Law and teach it to others, but what would be the Law? The Law had already been given to Moses on Mt. Sinai; this is the Law we must obey. Christ did not add new commandments to the one already given but interpreted the Law to its fullest extent. Antinomianism has plagued the church recently and it is time to halt this trend. In this article, I will exposit the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) in connection with Christ saying “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:37-40).” I will also show how the Ten Commandments are the summation of the Natural and Moral law which is what Christians live by.
Divisions of the Law
The historic division of the law consists of the moral, judicial, and ceremonial laws. The moral law consists of the ten commandments because they are perpetual and binding on Christians today. Because the Decalogue reflects God’s moral nature, the commands are antecedent to God’s will. By necessity, humanity is bound to these ten because it is by nature good. The division of natural and positive law is helpful here. Positive laws depend on the will of God and on his right of willing or not willing (mutable). For example, there was nothing naturally wrong with eating from the tree (there is not inherent morality of eating or not eating); however, by God’s just command, He set apart the tree and commanded Adam not to eat as a precept in the covenant of works. Natural law depends upon the essence of God himself which is just and good antecedently to divine command, therefore binding men perpetually (immutable). Next, the ceremonial law is the rules for sacred rites, typifying Christ, and what distinctly set apart the Israelites from the rest of the world. These are positive laws, so these laws do not pertain to things inherently moral. For example, the sacrificial system foreshadowed the one true sacrifice of Christ and not having clothing of mixed fabric which kept the Israelites from pagan practices around them. There is nothing inherently immoral about wearing mixed fabrics, but God commanded it to His people for a certain time and in a certain covenant. With these commandments being positive ceremonial laws they are no longer binding for Christians under the New Covenant because what they foreshadowed had been fulfilled. Some use the language of the ceremonial law being abrogated, which is true in the sense that Christians do not have to observe it; however, I think it is better to say it has been transposed, as Calvin said because Christ is the ultimate sacrifice and we are a royal priesthood and chosen race (1 Peter 2:9). Finally, the judicial law is the civil laws for Israel which are the moral laws applied to certain civil circumstances. For example, it was illegal for someone to have a roof without a railing. This is because the general equity thereof is the sixth commandment (do not murder) which means, put affirmatively, you must protect life. Thus, this specific civil law was a circumstantial legal application of the moral law. Although we are no longer under the theocracy of Israel, and therefore are not necessarily bound to follow all of the judicial law, they are still useful to show how a society should legislate and enforce the law. With the threefold division of the law explained, it is time to fully delve into the moral law (Decalogue).
Rules for Interpreting the Decalogue’s Precepts
In the Institutes of Elenctic Theology, Francis Turretin provides seven rules for interpreting the Decalogue correctly which show the all-encompassing nature of the Ten Commandments, commanding how Christians ought to live. Firstly, the commandments include external and internal acts, being motions of the mind. This is clearly seen in how Christ exposits the law against the Pharisees who restricted it to only external acts. Christ extends the prohibition of murder to anger in the heart and the prohibition of adultery to lustful thoughts (Matthew 5:22, 28). Secondly, in affirmative precepts, there are always negative ones and vice versa. When a virtue is commanded, a vice is implicitly forbidden; when a vice is forbidden, a virtue is commanded. For example, the negative precept of you shall not murder implies an affirmative precept of protection of life, and when God forbids theft he commands beneficence. On the other hand, the affirmative precept of honoring parents condemns injury towards them. Next, a synecdoche (when a part represents the whole) is to be acknowledged. Thus, when one species of sin is forbidden, the whole genus is forbidden. So, when adultery is forbidden, lustful desires are necessarily included, and when homicide is condemned, anger is condemned. What we see in the Ten Commandments are the most base species of the genus that necessarily include the lesser sin under that genus. Fourthly, when an effect is forbidden, the cause is included. This same principle also applies when the genus is forbidden it includes the species and when in the related the correlative is included. As for the first one, the prohibition of adultery (effect) includes the prohibition of illicit desires (cause). As for the second, commanding charity (genus) requires temperance (species). Finally, as for the third, commanding children to obey parents (related), the love of the parents (correlative) is included. Moreover, we must subject the second table of the law (loving neighbor) to the first table (loving God). When loving Christ is impossible, we are commanded to hate our parents (Luke 14:26), and human commands are disobeyed if it is opposed to God’s commands. Sixthly, some precepts are affirmative and others are negative. When we break an affirmative precept the sin is of omission (a thing that should have been done that was not) and when we break a negative precept the sin is of commission (a thing done that should not have been done). Finally, the beginning and end of all the precepts is love (1 Timothy 1:5, Romans 13:10) because it concerns the love of God and love of neighbor, the two greatest commands. With these rules of interpreting commands, one can see how the Decalogue is an exhaustive guide for the Christian moral life.
Rules for Observing the Decalogue’s Precepts
Turretin also notes four rules for observing the commandments God gave. Firstly, the whole law is to be fulfilled by the whole man. The whole man includes body and soul, mind and intellect, will and affection. Next, there are five elements denoting perfect obedience. The principle must be sincere, arising from a pure heart and faith. The object must be universal regarding the whole law. Obedience must be to the highest degree of intensity and perfection and the time must be perpetual. Finally, the end of obedience must be to the glory of God. Thirdly, our external obedience necessitates internal obedience (the motions of the mind). Finally, precepts do not have an equal degree of necessity and importance (for the second table is subjected to the first); therefore, there is not the same demerit. Yes, not all sin is equal. This is a common misconception for modern evangelicals who say “All sin is equal.” However, this is clearly not the case as seen in Scripture which says, there is a sin unto death (1 John 5:16), an unforgivable sin (Matthew 12:31-32), the one who delivered Jesus up had the greater sin (John 19:11), teachers will be judged more strictly (James 3:1), a sin of ignorance (still being a sin) justly deserves more mercy (Luke 12:48, 1 Timothy 1:13), and also Matthew 11:24. Yes, there is different degrees of punishment in hell because Scripture constantly attests that people will be judged according to their works (Revelation 20:13, Luke 10:12, explicitly saying one group of people will have harsher judgment than another group).
The Ten Commandments
Christ, as the expositor of the law, said we must love God and love our neighbor, but how do we love God and love our neighbor? The Ten Commandments perfectly command us how to do these things. The first table of the law regards how we love God and the second table of the law shows how we are to love our neighbor. The nature of the commandments proves this division of the first and second table because some commandments pertain to our duty to God while others pertain to our duty to neighbors. Regarding the first table, worship of God is immediate and divided into internal and external. The first commandment pertains to the object of our religious worship (internal), God alone (the who). The second commandment prescribes the mode of worship (the how and internal). The third regards our posture to God (external) and the fourth regards the when which is public and external. So how do we love God? We worship Him alone (affirmative precept) and do not worship any other thing (negative). We worship Him correctly, the way he commands us to. We worship him with a posture of reverence. Finally, we specifically set aside one day in seven to worship Him. This was Saturday from the beginning of creation to the resurrection of Christ and now is on the Lord’s Day, in virtue of His resurrection sanctifying the day, under the new creation, until Christ comes again. Regarding the second table, we mediately worship God by loving our neighbor which is again external and internal. The fifth commandment shows us that the duties of inferiors to superiors and vice versa are how we love our neighbor. The sixth through the ninth (external) pertains to the duty of neighbor to neighbor (equals) by preserving life and safety (6th), having chastity and respect of marriage (7th), protecting private property (8th, so don’t be a liberal socialist), and being truthful (9th). Finally, the tenth regards the internal acts of affection and desires. One thing I have not mentioned is the love of self. Christ commands us to love ourselves by saying we must love others as ourselves, which means we also have to protect our own life. This is how we are to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, and with the inclusion of the rules for interpreting and observing the law, we have a perfect guide to live a Christian life by ten commandments. As G.K. Chesterton said, “If men will not be governed by the Ten Commandments, they shall be governed by the ten thousand commandments.”
Conclusion
With the perpetual moral law being established, Christ tells us the two greatest commandments: love God and love your neighbor as yourself. How we are to fulfill these commands is established in the Ten Commandments which Christ interprets against the interpretation of the Pharisees, giving not a new law, but a new interpretation, not new absolutely speaking, but new relative to his contemporary time. Thus, we have the Law, the entire guide to our Christian life. Will we take hold of it like the Psalmists in chapter one-hundred-and-nineteen of the Psalms? Or will we toss it away without care?
Homework: Read through Psalm 119 and highlight every part where it describes the Psalmist’s description, view, or observance of God’s law and precepts and ask, do I have this same view of God’s infallible Law-Word?