As I was going through the catechisms with a group of ladies I meet with regularly, we came to these about the 10 commandments, and the following question was raised. “Do you really seek to follow the 10 commandments? After all, they are under the law, and Jesus replaced the law.”
It is a fair question, so I presented a challenge to the group. I asked them to take the next week to see if the New Testament and teachings of Christ supported each of the 10 commandments. Can you guess what they found?
Yes, Jesus’ teachings support the 10 commandments. Not only do they support the 10 commandments, Jesus takes them to the next level.
For instance, do not murder. Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 5:21-22:
21 “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ 22 But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.
Let’s take murder off the table for a moment. Jesus says that if you are even angry with someone, you are guilty. If you call someone an idiot, you are guilty. OUCH! This hits all of us. We may think that because we are not murderers that we are in the clear, but Jesus expects us to take it to the next level pursuing a life of holiness and blamelessness.
The point of the law, as we will continue to see, is to show us how desperately we fall short of holiness and perfection. We are without hope when it comes to our sin, except for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
God in Everyday Life 