The Broadness of the Ten Commandments

This is told by D. L. Moody in a study about the ten commandments:

It is related of a clever infidel that he sought an acquaintance with the truths of the Bible, and began to read at the books of Moses. He had been in the habit of sneering at the Bible, and in order to be able to refute arguments brought by Christian men, he made up his mind, as he knew nothing about it, to read the Bible and get some idea of its contents. After he had reached the Ten Commandments, he said to a friend:

"I will tell you what I used to think. I supposed that Moses was the leader of a horde of bandits; that, having a strong mind, he acquired great influence over a superstitious people; and that on Mount Sinai he played off some sort of fireworks to the amazement of his ignorant followers, who imagined in their fear and superstition that the exhibition was supernatural. I have been looking into the nature of that law. I have been trying to see whether I could add anything to it, or take anything from it, so as to make it better. Sir, I cannot! It is perfect!

"The first commandment directs us to make the Creator the object of our supreme love and reverence. That is right. If He be our Creator, Preserver, and Supreme Benefactor, we ought to treat Him, and none other, as such. The second forbids idolatry. That certainly is right. The third forbids profanity. The fourth fixes a time for religious worship. If there be a God, He ought surely to be worshiped. It is suitable that there should be an outward homage significant of our inward regard. If God be worshiped, it is proper that some time should be set apart for that purpose, when all may worship Him harmoniously, and without interruption. One day in seven is certainly not too much, and I do not know that it is too little.

"The fifth commandment defines the peculiar duties arising from family relations. Injuries to our neighbor are then classified by the moral law. They are divided into offenses against life, chastity, property, and character; and I notice that the greatest offense in each class is expressly forbidden. Thus the greatest injury to life is murder; to chastity, adultery; to property, theft; to character, perjury. Now the greatest offense must include the least of the same kind. Murder must include the least of the same kind. Murder must include every injury to life; adultery every injury to purity, and so of the rest. And the moral code is closed and perfected by a command forbidding every improper desire in regard to our neighbors.

"I have been thinking. Where did Moses get that law? I have read history. The Egyptians and the adjacent nations were idolaters; so were the Greeks and Romans; and the wisest or best Greeks or Romans never gave a code of morals like this. Where did Moses obtain that law, which surpasses the wisdom and philosophy of the most enlightened ages? He lived at a period comparatively barbarous; but he has given a law in which the learning and sagacity of all subsequent time can detect no flaw. Where did he obtain it? He could not have soared so far above his age as to have devised it himself. I am satisfied where he obtained it. It came down from heaven. It has convinced me of the truth of the religion of the Bible."

The former infidel remained to his death a firm believer in the truth of Christianity.

http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/Moody.Ten.Commandments.html

Very true! People complain that the Bible or the Law does not deal with certain issues such as smoking, illegal drugs, etc. But obviously they are mistaken.

Every possible sin must be covered by the law, otherwise it wouldn't be a perfect law.

So then, as shown in this post, isn’t the quasi-codified system of Capitalism and all that is involved in making it thrive, a direct assault on the perfect Law of God?? As I Biblically see it, it is ‘the clever/perfect (pre-Shaking) “snare” to make void the law of God.’ (= EW 266-269)

You call it "capitalism" (with a negative tone) and I call it free enterprise.

Of course... that way it sounds better, more attractive and much less harmful. It is still 'the same "snare" by any name!' You should really read what the SOP has to say about what fuels this system, namely “covetousness.

People who are concern with helping all those in need will not be saddened by not being to engage in the self-centered “free enterprise” and all that is involved in that unbiblical notion of “freedom”. Indeed much more can be done, and for more people, and that faster and more efficiently, by coordinate enterprise than by this ‘fend for yourself, cut-throat competitive, pyramid scheming’ which is “free enterprise”. People have been brainwashed to think otherwise and the aberration of Soviet-styled Communism served to anchor this deception. My model is what the Spirit-led Apostolic did and were able to achieve in their time of great collective need and marginalization, a similar condition that no only exists in the world today with more than half of the world, but also, as seen in the GC 2000 Global Denominations goals set by President Jan Paulsen as e.g, “Quality of Life of Church Members”, also, parallelling the world, within the Global SDA Church itself. And that in turn is also Spiritually seen in the Church. Case in point, you should see the scarcity of SDA materials available in my local ABC store in French. You’d think you were in a Third World country yet it is in the NAD!! That is all the result of allowing worldly systems, tenet and principles to guide and conduct the work of God. There is an inevitable price to pay for this and it is indeed being greatly paid today in various loss opportunities. (Hos 4:6; cf. Isa 5:13).

There is a most urgent cause today for collaborative/coordinated enterprise and those who really want to do something towards meeting those needs will not mind sacrificing their “freedom” for even the least of these other ones. Only fully obey God’s Law by rejecting the snares and unbiblical systems will provide true, sin-less (i.e., 1 John 3:4; Matt 7:21-23) freedom. These indeed Christlike ones will form the Church Triumphant.

And we have been over this in this thread....

If the Ten Commandments are so perfect as stated by Dwight Moody, who I understand was a Baptist, (correct me if I am wrong), then why do the Baptists and others say that such a perfect Ten Commandments were done away?

As I have witnessed, people will quasi-knee-jerkedly say just about anything, however self-contradictory it is, to avoid obeying, particularly a Biblical Truth. Then there is always the issue of deception, where the deceived person doesn’t think or know that they are deceived.

In what sense do they say it was done away? Do they believe we are free to sin? The ones I've talked to say we are no longer obligated to obey the law in order to be saved. For some reason they think God required obedience in the OT to secure salvation. Of course that isn't true.

The 10 commandments reveal the character of Christ it is a transcript of character of God. So when we look at each commandment we need to ask, what does this teach about the character of God?

Do the 613 laws in the Law of Moses also reflect the character of God?

Psalms 19:7
(7) The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Matthew 5:48
(48) Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Psalms 119:86
(86) All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.
Deuteronomy 7:9
(9) Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

Proverbs 6:23
(23) For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
1 John 1:5
(5) This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Peter, are you responding to my last post? If so, please explain why you posted the passages above. Thank you.

It is just a few texts to show that the law is a transcript of the character of God.

God Bless

Amen!

Since sin is by definition the transgression of the law, this is a tautology. With such a definition, an imperfect law could still cover every possible sin, since anything not covered by the law would, by definition, not be a sin. So to make a statement like this, there would need to be available an alternative definition of sin to compare against.

Do the 613 laws in the Law of Moses also reflect the character of God?

One thing about the Law of Moses


This is the handwriting mentioned in Colossians

Peter, good point. But do you think all 613 laws were nailed to the cross? If so, are we free to disregard them? Also, in what sense were they "against us" and "contrary to us"? Ellen wrote:


She said the 613 laws of Moses "were only the principles of the Ten Commandments amplified". Since it is so, can we disobey or disregard all of them? Or, are some them still binding today? If so, how do we know which ones?

Colossians 2:14
(14) Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Colossians 2:16
(16) Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

Notice that the text says ordinances and holy days, so it is the ceremonial laws that are done away with.

Thank you.

I know that. But many say that the law says nothing about things that are considered wrong, like, for instance, slavery and polygamy.

There are three definitions of sin:

1. "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23).

2. "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin" (James 4:17).

3. "Sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4).

The three mean the same thing, for when you transgress the law you are not acting in faith, nor are you doing good.

True. Eight out of ten commandments begin with "Thou shalt not". According to Rom 14:23 it is possible to do the right thing for the wrong reasons. As such, doing the right thing is a sin. Which commandment accommodates this kind of sin?

It depends, but any kind of sin is at least a transgression of the 1st an the 10th commandments. If you do the right thing in order to achieve a selfish purpose, you are coveting, and you are putting your will above God's will.

Good point. James wrote, "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."

Hence, the commandments have more to do with WHY one does something than WHAT one does.

It is interesting to note that coveting is purely internal; you cannot "do" something to show others that you are or are not coveting.

Yes, which also shows that the wrong desire is sin.

Yes. Hence, our sinful passions and desires must be crucified, and not just our sinful actions. (Galatians 5:24)

Paul also tells us in Romans 7:7 that it was the 10th commandment that helped him realize the true nature of sin and of the commandments.

Is it possible to live without sinning this side of heaven? Or, is everything we think, say, and do stained with sin and selfishness?

We are to surrender our lives to him everyday and we become servants of righteousness


When we surrender our lives to Him Christ lives in us

Are the results of abiding in Jesus and partaking of the divine nature "righteousness and true holiness" (Eph 4:24) or are they selfish and sin-stained?