9/10/17 – Ephesians 6:2-3 
The Commandments Pt. 1 – The Purpose

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpUT3_y5oKc

Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
Grace Fellowship Church

www.GraceDoctrine.org

1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Study Notes:

The Doctrine of the Ten Commandments Related to the Church Age.

In this study, we will note each of the Ten Commandments, (also known as the Decalogue, which is part of the greater Mosaic Law given to Israel in the Pentateuch that also includes the Ordinances, and the Judgments), to understand them in relation to the Church Age in which we live today. The term “commandments” is found in and represents an integral part of both the Mosaic and Christian systems, but with widely different significance.

Although they can be applied by all members of the human race in a moralistic society as protection under Divine Establishment principles, commandments, (including the Ten Commandments), are addressed in the Scriptures to the Jew and the Christian, but not anyone unsaved, (Jew or Gentile). The reason is, Divine commandments serve only to direct the daily life of those who are in right relation to God.

The Ten Commandments were first given to the nation of Israel directly by God under His Divine counsels. They are found in the books of Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:1-21. The Divine counsels for Israel given to Moses remained in effect for the Israelites until the death and resurrection of Christ. That time period is what theologians call the Age of Israel, the Age of the Law, and/or the Jewish Dispensation.

These Divine counsels fall into three major divisions:

1. The Commandments, Ex 20:1-17, which directed Israel’s moral actions.

2. The Judgments, Ex 21:1 - 24:11, which governed Israel’s social activities.

3. The Statutes or Ordinances, Ex 24:12 - 31:18, which guided Israel’s religious activities.

These three forms of Divine requirement were interrelated and interdependent, that is, one could not function fully apart from the other two. Therefore, the modern notion that the Mosaic Commandments are still in force, but that the Judgments and Ordinances have been abolished, can be contemplated only when a lack of understanding exists regarding the form and nature of the Mosaic commandments. When you understand Scripture such as Num 15:32-36, you see that the penalty of death was Divinely imposed for the breaking of the Ten Commandments. Regarding the severity in the penalty for transgressions of the Mosaic Law, it is written in Heb 10:28, “Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

“L.S. Chafer noted, “That the entire Mosaic system is not now in force is evident from the fact that not all its conditions are applicable, for example; The Sabbath enjoined by the Mosaic Law is superseded for the present age by the Lord’s Day, and the promise of long life in the Promised Land, which God had bestowed on Israel, has no relation to the Church, (as we have noted in Eph 6:3). In fact, scriptures directly declare that the Commandments of Moses are to be abolished and done away for the present age, John 1:17; Rom 6:14; 7:1, 3-4; 2 Cor 3:6-11; Gal 3:23-25.”

If you fear that the voiding of the Commandments of Moses involves the loss of their great principles of righteousness, please note that every truth contained in the Mosaic system of morals, except the Sabbath day, has been restated and is adapted to grace and not to law. In fact, the first of the Ten Commandments of Moses appears nearly fifty times in and adapted to the new relationship of the believer with God in the Church Age under grace. Therefore, most of the Ten Commandments have been restated in the New Testament and are applicable to the Church in living the unique spiritual life for the Church Age, yet under grace and not under law. In the Church Age, we are no longer under the Mosaic Law, which begins with the Ten Commandments and then goes much further in regards to the societal and spiritual life of the Israelite during the Age of the Law, also known as the Jewish Dispensation.

Because Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Law, we are no longer under the Mosaic Law. The relationship which the nation Israel held to YHWH should not be confused with the high and holy relationship which Christians now hold toward God by reason of being in Christ. Therefore, things like the laws of separation between clean and unclean, of ceremonial defilement, of Sabbath observance, etc., are set aside during the Church Age by Jesus Himself in the pursuit of his ministry to reach the sinner.

Jesus said in, Mat 11:13, “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John (the Baptist),” indicating that a new reality had entered the scene and was replacing the old order, Mark 1:15; cf. 2 Cor 5:17.

Gal 3:10-12, “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law, to perform them.’ Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘The righteous man shall life by faith.’ However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, ‘He who practices them shall live by them’.”

Gal 4:9-11, “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.”

Gal 5:18, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.”

Rom 6:14, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under Law, but under grace.”

Gal, 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery, (the Law).”

Eph 2:15, “By abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace.”

Rom 7:6, “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”

              

Rom 10:4, more strongly than any other passage, raises the question of the place of the law and its continuing validity for the Christian.

Rom 10:4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Cf. Luke 24:44

Here we are confronted with the affirmation that the law no longer determines our relationship with God. Many think this opens up a life style of antinomianism, the rejection of any and all laws and regulations, especially absolute norms, for the moral life.

For Paul, the Law “was our custodian until Christ came,” Gal 3:24. Its temporary function has now been accomplished; and Christ is therefore also the terminus, the cessation of the Law. He is the end of the law for righteousness “for everyone who believes.” For it is only in the response of faith to Christ, in the humble submission to God’s righteousness, Rom 10:3, that the bondage of the law, (consisting of its revelation of sin and its inability to help us beyond it), can come to its end. Cf. Mat 5:17-20; Rom 5:20.

Rom 5:20, “And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

In Fact, all the Mosaic Law is fulfilled by the Holy Spirit, Gal 5:16-24.

Yet, regarding the Ten Commandments, as noted above, most of them have been restated in the New Testament and therefore, are applicable to the Christian way of life.

A PERSONAL NOTE FOR YOU

If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I am here to tell you that Jesus loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His life for you. God the Father also loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His only Son for you by sending Him to the Cross. At the Cross Jesus died in your place. Taking upon Himself all of your sins and all of my sins. He was judged for our sins and paid the price for our sins. Therefore, our sins will never be held against us.

Right where you are, you now have the opportunity to make the greatest decision in your life. To accept the free gift of salvation and eternal life by truly believing that Jesus Christ died for your sins and was raised on the third day as the proof of the promise of eternal life. So right now, you can pause and reflect on what Christ has done for you and say to the Father:

"Yes Father, I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins."

If you have done that, I welcome you to the eternal Family of God!

Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher: James H. Rickard
23 Messenger Street, Unit 3
Plainville, MA 02762

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