Answering a Critic’s Challenge That the Ten Commandments Are Limited to the Old Covenant

This is the kind of age we live in. A lawless age. Where we're talking about their typically high crime areas or places where you would never think crime would be. Crime is everywhere. Lawlessness is everywhere. And it's right there at the height of our governments in terms of the people that have been elected to serve us. But lawlessness and bad laws are not only limited to government. Early in 1995, I was attending a ministerial conference.

I think I've related this to you in the past. I've forgotten now where the conference was. It may have been in Atlanta. I forget exactly where we were at. But those of you who were longstanding members of the church remember that back in December of 1994, we got a sermon from our headquarters, as we called it back in those days, from Pasadena, by Mr. D'Acoc and others throughout that month and months to come, telling us that we don't need to keep the Sabbath.

We don't need to keep the Holy Days. We don't need to tithe. All those things are Old Covenant. And those things are all done away. I remember in that ministerial conference, they were trying to sell us as pastors on this. So we would then go back to our local areas and sell a membership on it.

They had a long Q&A. And then after the Q&A, they gave each of us that were there, each of us ministers, a nice, big, thick workbook. And they wanted us to go through that workbook step by step. And the bottom line was, when you were done with the workbook, as you progressed through their human reasoning, by the time you were done, hey, we don't need to keep the Sabbath. We don't need to keep the Holy Days. All that stuff is done away.

Well, of course, I didn't bite on that because it just wasn't scriptural. And, of course, you've not been seduced by that either. But there's a couple of scriptures I want to read to you. Earlier in the week, somebody was having a texting debate, a member of our Ann Arbor congregation, with a family member.

The family member used to attend with us, now no longer attends with us. But they have very much come to believe that the New Covenant people don't need to keep God's law anymore. Of course, one of the things they would quote are a couple of verses I want you to look at. Let's take a look at Exodus 34. I'm going to read two verses without commentary, and then we're going to use the rest of the sermon to analyze them.

Exodus 34. Now, in that session I had at that ministerial conference, these two scriptures were kind of quoted as the icing on the cake. This doesn't get any better than this, making the point they were trying to make to us. Exodus 34. So he was there with the Lord, talking about Moses, forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water, and he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

Notice the way that's phrased. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. Okay, let's turn now to Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 13. Verse 13, so he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone. Now, Brendan, how do you... somebody came up to you and said, hey, it's really simple. It says in Exodus 34, it says in Deuteronomy 4, that the Ten Commandments are equal to the Old Covenant.

The Old Covenant is done away. Therefore, so are the Ten Commandments. How would you respond to that? Now, without a doubt, the Ten Commandments represent the heart and the core of the Old Covenant. No doubt about that. The portents and the unmediated delivery of those commandments raised them above many of the other laws that were to follow. But is it true that the Old Covenant equaled the Ten Commandments?

Is that true? If you're taking notes today, you might want to take this as a specific purpose question. It's this. Are the Ten Commandments limited to the Old Covenant? Are the Ten Commandments limited to the Old Covenant? Now, brethren, I can give you a response to the question I just asked in probably 60 seconds or less.

But I don't want to do that. I want to examine the context, not of these scriptures by themselves, I want to examine the context of God's thinking when it comes to this subject in general. I don't want to give you some sort of a spiritual sound bite that's only going to last for a couple of minutes. I want to drill down so we have a proper understanding of this issue. Because, brethren, you and I, we base our lives on understanding the answer to that question I asked. We base our lives as to when we ask our boss for time off.

We base our lives on what we'll eat, because we're talking about a whole way of life. What we eat, what we don't eat, what we do with our money, who we fellowship, who we don't fellowship with, who we're going to marry, who we're not going to marry. We base our life on this. This is a very important and grassroots discussion we need to be having. And so I want to drill down and look at the whole of the subject and then we'll answer that question. Are the Ten Commandments limited to the Old Covenant? Let's begin with something that's very basic.

I want to ask the question again and then answer it. What is God's very specific goal for mankind? What is God's specific goal for mankind? And you know something, brethren? We can find that. It's not buried someplace deep in the heart of the Bible, although you can find it in the heart of the Bible. We can find it right in the very first chapter of the first book of the Bible. Let's go to Genesis 1, verse 26. Genesis 1, verse 26.

Genesis 1, verse 26. And God said, let us make man in our image. Now, there's a tremendous layer, there's a number of layers of understanding here. Yes, Adam and Eve were going to be made physically in the image of God. But God was making us, and it's always been His intent, to make man and woman in His spiritual image. Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. And again, the deeper thought here is His spiritual likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So not only are we to be in the very image of God the Father and Jesus Christ, one of the most specific goals for mankind is that mankind is to rule. To rule. Verse 27. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created Him. Male and female He created them. You know, it wasn't Amos and Andrew here, it wasn't Sarah and Sue here, it was Adam and Eve here. He created man and woman. He did that because both sexes, each sex, the male and the female, bring something very important to the table spiritually speaking. There's a whole host of strengths that men have and that women have. And when you put them together as a husband-wife team, they make a formidable team in terms of going through life and facing the challenges of life and being able to conquer life with God's help. Verse 28. And then God blessed them and God said, then be fruitful and multiply. This is something else that God has designed for us. He wants us, He's blessed us as we follow Him, and He wants us to be fruitful. He wants us to grow. Not just in terms of having children, but in terms of growing spiritually, growing in the fruits of His Holy Spirit. This is still the earth and subdue it, and again, have dominion, have rulership. So what is God's very specific goal for mankind? God's very specific goal for mankind is a divine family of sons and daughters. A divine family of sons and daughters who develop the same righteous character that's evident in God, our Father, and Jesus Christ. That's exactly what they want. That's our goal in life. Now, let's take a look at Deuteronomy 30 for a moment, because there's another question we want. We're going to take these one step at a time to drill down, take a look at this whole question, and answer it.

Deuteronomy 30, verse 15.

Here's the question.

Why does God allow man to either opt in or opt out of this process?

Here we've got a great, loving God, a God who, you know, if there's a being in the universe that gives unconditional love, it's God the Father and Jesus Christ.

And yet, these beings who give unconditional love, if you opt out of the program, they will take you and march you to the lake of fire.

So they give us a choice. We can opt in or opt out once they give us a calling.

Deuteronomy 30, verse 15.

See, I've said before you today life and good, death and evil, and that I command you today to love the larger God, to walk in His ways, to keep His commandments and statutes and judgments.

Notice why. That you may live and multiply.

Are God's laws some horrible burden? Well, you talk to so many people in the world who are religious people, they talk about the burdensomeness of God's laws and His ways. Well, here God the Father talks about that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you.

Doesn't sound like the law is so terrible here, doesn't it?

But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear and are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish.

So not keeping the law of God actually is burdensome.

You shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth today against you that I accept for you life and death, blessing and cursing, and therefore choose life. Opt into the program that both you and your descendants may live and thrive and have vibrant lives. That you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, that you may cling to Him, for He is your life in the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which the Lord has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, to Jacob, to give to them. So, brethren, God has given us free moral agency. God doesn't want robots. God could have created robots. He wants human beings who've chosen over difficulties, over having to fight Satan, Satan's way, Satan's world, to swim upstream. God wants people who have chosen Him in His way of life. Now, in chapter 5 of Deuteronomy, we see that there's a problem.

People in the world would say, well, the problem is that law of God. It's burdensome. It shackles us. You know, we need to be made free. That's what grace is all about. Now, we'll have that discussion a little bit later on in the sermon. Here in Deuteronomy chapter 5 and verse 29, this is a chapter where the Ten Commandments are repeated again. And notice what this says here in verse 29. What God says, Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep all my commandments. Not just nine of them, all ten of them. They may all keep all my commandments and it might be well with them and with their children forever. So, where is the problem? Is the problem the law of God? No. The problem is with the people. The problem is with the people.

Brethren, it means that there is a missing dimension in our thinking. A dimension needs to be added. It needs to be filled. And it can only be filled by God's Holy Spirit. And so, what God does promise us, let's take a look at Jeremiah chapter 31. We have a flaw. We've got we've got heart problems. But God says He's going to fix that. He's going to remedy that.

Jeremiah chapter 31. God remedies this problem with the New Covenant.

In general, the New Covenant is going to be made with the peoples who are in the millennium.

The peoples in the Great White Throne Judgment period. And New Testament New Covenant Christians.

You have an opportunity to have a foretaste of what people in the millennium are going to experience. And people in the Great White Throne Judgment are going to experience.

Not many people in earth's history have had the opportunity that you now have. Jeremiah 31 verse 31. Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Now, brother, I want you to notice something as we go through these verses. God says He's going to make a New Covenant. He doesn't say He's going to use new laws. He never says that. Doesn't need to say that. I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant I made with their fathers, and day I took them out of the land to lead them out of the land of Egypt, by covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. No, it's going to be a New Covenant.

It's going to be a better covenant. It's going to have better promises. It's going to have the same laws. Verse 33. But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I'll be their God, and they shall be my people. The problem with the Old Covenant was the people, not the law.

It was the people's inability to even keep the letter of the law.

Now, God wants us to have a deeper, richer, more vibrant walk with Him.

And we can only do that by having God's Holy Spirit.

But notice here again in verse 33, God says, I will put my law in their minds. He doesn't say, I'm going to give you a new set of laws. I'm going to put those laws in your hearts. No.

Same laws, the Ten Commandments. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother say, No, the Lord. For they all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

That's why we say in general, this covenant is, in terms of numbers of people, the greatest numbers of people that will be given as covenant are in the millennium and the white throne judgment period.

Even though there are a few throughout the course of time, Old Testament, New Testament, where God has worked with them along these lines.

I will forgive their iniquity and their sin, I'll remember no more.

So, let's now look, you know, when people talk about, you know, the law being done away, this burdensome thing, which is not burdensome at all, what is the nature of God's law? What is the nature and the purpose of God's law? There are plenty of people who say, well, you know, you just can't keep the Ten Commandments. You just can't do it. In their minds, keeping God's law, keeping the commandments is an unattainable goal. Is that true? Is it impossible to keep God's commandments? Any human being is capable of not worshiping an idol. Any human being is capable of treating their parents with respect. Any parent, any human being is capable of not murdering somebody or not committing adultery. That's the letter of the law. People can do that. Now, they may not want to do that. They may be weak and fail to do that, but they can keep the letter of the law. But can they keep the spirit of the law? Well, that's something else. God the Father and Jesus Christ have given us the law, gave us the Old Covenant to teach us a powerful lesson.

And the lesson is that on our own strength, on our own strength, we are going to fail.

And another, and a corollary to that is, God wants us to have a higher level of righteousness.

Not just the righteousness that comes by keeping the letter of the law, but the kind of righteousness that comes as you and I keep the spiritual intent of the law. No more are we just going to refrain from killing somebody. Now, we don't want to hate anybody. No longer do we just say, well, I won't commit adultery with that person. Now we say, I will not lust after that person. So there's a deeper level of righteousness there. And again, that's only available through the Holy Spirit of God. And we're going to get to tie this into how this relates to the commandments in just a moment.

Second Corinthians chapter 3. Second Corinthians chapter 3. Verses 5 and 6.

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. We are sufficient because we walk in the grace of God. Verse 6.

So here we have a distinction here that Jesus Christ is pointing out. There's a higher level of righteousness that goes beyond the limited demands of the Ten Commandments. The limited demands in terms of the letter of the law of the Ten Commandments, I should say.

Matthew chapter 22. We start now narrowing our focus.

Matthew chapter 22. This is something that Jesus Christ said in my Bible. It's almost the entire obsession here is in red. Matthew chapter 22 verse 37.

Matthew 22 verse 37. Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind. That goes a lot deeper than not just setting up a physical idol. There's a deeper standard, a more rigorous standard here.

This is the first and the great commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself on these two commandments, saying all the law unto prophets.

That level of love for God and our fellow human beings exceeds what any person is capable of having or expressing without the divine help God gives us. And we need that divine help that God gives us. How does God give that to us? So many times when I'm talking to somebody, maybe it's a new person they've asked for a visit or I get a phone call, you've probably experienced the same thing. You've got somebody that maybe you knew in our former association and out there in another association. They say, you know the problem with you Church of God people is you say that you have salvation by grace, but then you say you got to do stuff. And so if it's salvation by grace, why do you have to do anything? And a lot of our people have a hard time with that argument.

Now, as I was relating earlier today in Ann Arbor, I go back to the Stone Age. I go back to 1950s TV programming, black and white TV. There used to be a show called The Millionaire. Remember The Millionaire? I think it was like a half-hour TV show. The gist of the show was that there was this guy who had lots of money, he's giving it away, and he had a person who acted on his behalf.

He would write out a check for a million dollars, stick that check for a million dollars in an envelope, and that person was sent to go to whoever, some name on the envelope. Now, The Million dollars, when you took it, was a free gift. But you had to do something to get that million dollars. You had to accept the envelope. You had to take it. The million dollars was absolutely free. You didn't earn it. You didn't deserve it. You didn't work for it. But you've got it. But there was something you had to do. Salvation's the same way. You and I can't earn our salvation. It's by grace alone. But there are things we need to do. Acts chapter 5. Let's go there.

Acts chapter 5.

Acts chapter 5 and verse 32. And we are as witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those without any stipulations whatsoever.

Is that what it says there? The Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who do what?

They've got to accept the envelope. They've got to obey Him.

Now, that obedience, again, our salvation is strictly through grace, strictly through not of our own, but their things God wants us to do. And it's for our own good that we do these things.

Remember in Acts chapter 2, I'm not going to turn over there, Deat Pentecost, very religious people there. All they knew was the Old Covenant, but the New Covenant era was being ushered in. And Peter gives an inspiring sermon, and the people there who were believers, they said, well, men and brethren, what should we do? How do we become the children of God like you're talking about here? And what did Peter say? You don't have to do anything.

Is that what Peter said? No. Peter said, you've got to repent, you've got to be baptized, you've got to have to repent, and you've got to have faith. You've got to obey. Now, it's not earning anything that's accepting the envelope. What's in the envelope is absolutely free, but you've got to accept that envelope. Now, why did God give His law? If it, you know, does it make any sense when you know who God is? He is a being of total love. That's all God is. God doesn't hate anybody. God hates things. God doesn't hate anybody. He hates sin, but He doesn't hate anybody. Now, if God is totally love, why would He shackle us with this law that's such a burden? For where He does you, He can't hardly move. But it's the Sabbath. Oh, man, it's tough. You know, it's such a burden. These holy days, they're so awful. You know, my wife finds it so interesting that at work, people will tease her at times about, you know, our beliefs. Goodness, some good-natured teasing.

But then they start talking about their beliefs. Oh, man, Christmas is coming. And, you know, they'll spend three or four thousand dollars on gifts for all of their family. But they're moaning the whole time. And you think, well, if you're moaning, why do it? You know, why do it? Let's take a look at 1 John chapter 5 and verse 3. Now, I'm not saying there are people who truly love Christmas. There are. And they don't moan about it. I don't know that I've ever heard somebody who's in the church, who's a member of the church or a real member of the church. I don't think I've ever heard anybody say, oh, that feast, the tabernacle is coming. Yuck! I've got to prepare for the feast. I don't think I've ever heard that. 1 John chapter 5 and verse 3. For this is the love of God. Now, isn't that something we should attain to? The love of God? This is the love of God that we keep as commandments. It doesn't say nine of them. Hey, there's nine of them out there you need to keep. One is kind of a pop quiz. Well, we're not going to keep that one. No. For this is the love of God that we keep as commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. His commandments are not burdensome. The next time somebody comes to you and they want to use these arguments and want you to think that there's something wrong with the law of God.

What did Paul say there in Romans chapter 7? The law is holy, just, and good. It doesn't say it's a botch. It's horrible. It's burdensome. No, it's holy, just, and good. Now, I want to read you some scriptures here. You don't need to turn there. I'm going to read them rather quickly. I'll give you the citations if you want to put them in your notes. But you can find these very easily yourself.

Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 40. Deuteronomy 4.40. You shall therefore keep the statutes and its commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, that you may prolong your days. Sounds pretty good to me. Chapter 5 and verse 33 of Deuteronomy. You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, that you may prolong your days in the land. Again, sounds pretty good. Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 17 and 18. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, his testimonies, his statutes, which he commands you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, that it may be well with you. And I can go on and on. Those are just a few that I picked there, showing the beauty of God's way and what it does for us. Now, in your notes, you might put a jot down Psalm 119. Psalm 119 is the largest, longest chapter in the Bible. In the Bible. And what is that chapter about? Praising God's law. Praising God's law. You can write down in your notes. All you do other studies as well.

The two chapters that deal with the blessings and cursings. Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28.

Very vivid, very clear. If you obey God's laws, these are the tremendous blessings. But, if you don't obey God's law, when you don't obey God's law, brethren, that's what's burdensome. And Satan wants to turn this whole argument around, having you think that being a lawful Christian is somehow a burden. God's laws were designed to bring blessings.

Not curses. They were designed to bring blessings.

Now, I may mention earlier that we were going to get into the subject of law and grace.

Let's take a look at that for a moment.

I have some relatives I dearly love. Wonderful people. But somehow, in their minds, and I've met other people that aren't my relatives, I've read other things from other people, other organizations. And it's as if, if you believe in grace, law is then knocked out of the box.

It's either or. Law or grace. For law, that means you've got to pull yourself out by your own bootstraps, and so on and so forth. But if you believe in grace, hey, that's beautiful. Don't need to do much of anything. Well, that idea that we don't use is not that you need both. That conclusion is not only inaccurate, brethren. That conclusion is diabolical. That conclusion is of Satan the devil. To be quite frank, Satan wants you to think that law and grace are at odds. They are not at odds. They are complementary. Follow the reasoning here.

Without a law, there could be no need for grace.

Without law, there would be no need for grace.

How would we know what, you know, without a law, there wouldn't be sin?

What does the Bible say sin is? Sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John 3, 4. Okay, so if sin is the transgression of the law, how do we find ourselves being forgiven?

We're forgiven by God's grace. So, but if there is, what does Romans 4.15 say? I'm not going to turn there. Romans 4.15, a very important scripture. Where there is no law, there is no sin.

So, if the law is done away, then sin is done away. And if sin is done away, we don't need grace.

So, the people will come to you and talk about, well, it's either or.

They just have the whole thing totally upset and don't understand what they're talking about. Let's take a look at 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15.

1 Corinthians 15, verse 3.

Brethren, God doesn't just dismiss our sin. God doesn't dismiss our lawless acts. He doesn't turn. He doesn't simply ignore them. What does God do? There's a mechanism God follows. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 3. For I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

The Scriptures are very clear that there needed to be, that there is sin, that sin is a transgression of the law, and that Christ died to extend grace to us as sinners.

And grace encompasses more than just forgiveness of our sin.

The Apostle Paul there in Romans chapter 5 said, talk about the grace in which he stood.

The things that you and I do, you and I as we overcome, not only sin but bad habits, character flaws, all the things we need to do, or the kind of people God wants us to be, that's done by the grace of God. By the grace of God. Yes, we need grace. But yes, we need law.

And so I would tell people this. Law and grace are utterly inseparable. It's not either or. They are inseparable. Law is necessary to define sin. To define sin, to define its consequences.

You know, if you want, as children, children need to be told what they can do and not do.

Right? And I found that children, as they're told, they can rebel against parameters, but they want parameters. It makes them feel comfortable. They know what's expected of them.

We're nothing more than God's children. We need to know what's expected of us. We need to know the parameters. God's law gives us those parameters. So we need the law of God. It's necessary. But grace is also necessary. It's necessary for us to be forgiven. It's necessary for us to grow in the fruits of God's Spirit and be the Christians God wants us to be.

So it's not just a matter of law or grace. It's a matter of law and grace.

Now, I'm hopefully narrowing the focus down. Does the New Covenant abolish the commandments of God, the Ten Commandments?

Going back to those two scriptures I started the sermon with.

Let's go over to Hebrews chapter 8 for a moment. Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 6.

But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, and as much as he also is mediator of a better covenant, which established on better promises. And notice very carefully, it doesn't say anything about a better set of laws. It's not there. Because there's no need for a better set of laws. God's laws are holy, just, and good. They're a standard of righteousness.

Now, what was the problem? Verse 8. Because finding fault with them. What, the Ten? No.

Finding fault with the people. The problem was not the law of God. The problem has always been us, human beings. Because finally fault with them, he says, Behold, the days are coming. And here you've got Jeremiah being quoted here. Days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, with the house of Jacob. Not according to the covenant I made with their fathers.

Verse 10, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws. And notice again, he's quoting the Old Testament laws. He's not saying the laws of Jesus. I remember so distinctly back in 1994, some of my peers in the ministry said, Well, what we need to teach God's people is we don't have the laws of God anymore. We've got the laws of Jesus. I said, Well, fill me in. What are the laws of Jesus?

What are the laws of Jesus? Now, again, we're talking people who grew up in a church in some cases, who knew that the God of the Old Testament was Jesus. But somehow, overnight, they forgot that.

And now there's God, who's got this dreary, some horrible, monstrous law. But then there's Jesus, though the new guy in the block, the young guy, the guy who's really with it, he'll give us the laws that really are what we need to have. Now, here you've got the Apostle Paul writing in the Book of Hebrews. And what's this book about? This book is about what stays and what goes in terms of New Testament, New Covenant Christianity. The Hebrew people said, Okay, we've got this new religion, Christianity, but it's awful a lot like our old religion, Judaism. What's the difference here? So Paul writes the book, but notice what he says. He quotes talking about, I'll put those laws in your minds. And he's quoting Old Testament. He's quoting the laws of God from the Old Testament.

The problem was not with the law, it was with the people.

The people had the issues. Now, let's look at Romans chapter 8 for a moment.

Romans chapter 8. Verse 3 and 4. Romans chapter 8 verse 3. For what the law could not do in that it was weak?

How was the law weak? Through the flesh. Nothing wrong with the law, it's only just the good. But the problem again was the people. It was weak through the people. The people were weak. Law was beautiful. God did it by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. On the account of sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. So we're getting a remedy for this here, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. So there is a requirement to be fulfilled. Who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. So the healing process here between all the new covenants is the fact that Christ came to die to give us the ability to have His Holy Spirit. And there is a righteous requirement of the law here. Now I want to take you back momentarily to... well, let's go over to Jeremiah 31 again. Jeremiah chapter 31. I quoted this earlier in the study.

As you're there, as you're getting there, I want to quote the International Critical Commentary.

Now this is in reference to what we just came from in Romans 8-4.

The International Critical Commentary says this. I quote, God's purpose in condemning sin was that His law's requirement would be fulfilled in us. That is, that His law might be established in the sense of at last being truly and sincerely obeyed. So here's an outstanding Critical Commentary that says about Romans 8-4, but now we can truly keep the law of God because of what Christ did. But notice, I want to continue with this quote here. It says, God's purpose in condemning sin was that the law's requirement might be fulfilled in us. That is, that His law might be established in the sense of at last being truly and sincerely obeyed. The fulfillment of the promises of Jeremiah 31. Now let's look at Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31 verse 33. But this is the comment I will make with the House of Israel after those days of the Lord. I will put my law in their minds. That's the same thing we read in the book of Hebrews. We're talking about the same identical law, the law of God, the Ten Commandments. That's what's been to be written in our hearts. Now I want to continue on with the quote here from the International Critical Commentary. It says in a footnote to Jeremiah 31.33. The commentary says this, quote, this section is often misunderstood as a promise of a new law to take the place of the old or else as a promise of religion without law at all.

But the new thing promised in verse 33, Jeremiah 31.33, is in fact neither a new law nor freedom from law, but a sincere inward desire and determination in the part of God's people to obey the law already given to them. Here we've got a outstanding Protestant critical commentary, and they get this. They get this. Now they don't live it for some reason, but they get the academic argument here, which so many people just don't see. And that is, when we're talking about law of the Old Covenant, law of the New Covenant, we're talking the same law. When we're talking about how in the millennium, in the Great Right of the Throne of Judgment, these laws will be written on people's hearts, it's all ten of the commandments, including number four. Now, now, what let's look at John 13, because this comes up a lot. John 13.34.

You know, we've talked about this, these commandments of Jesus. Let's take a look at it here.

John 13.34. My Bible read letters. It says, A new commandment I give to you. And some people will really pounce on this and say, see, those ten are done away. This is the law of Jesus. You know, this is after He's crucified, this is what we should do. Okay, verse 34. A new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I've loved you, that you also love one another.

Now, what's new about that? What's new about what we just read? I can go back, I'm not going to take the time where time is fleeting here. I go back and read Leviticus 19.18. In Leviticus 19.18, it says, you should love your neighbor as yourself. Love your neighbor as yourself. Leviticus 19. The book of Leviticus is a book about holiness. We are told in the book about holiness how we are to love our neighbor as ourself. What's new there in John 13.34? Well, what's new that could not have been written in Leviticus was Christ says, I want you to love your neighbor yourself the way I would do it. Now, that couldn't have been written in Leviticus because Christ hadn't come yet.

But now Christ has come and Christ says, here's the way I want you to keep the 10 commandments. You keep them in the Spirit as I would keep them. That's what makes the commandments new. Not that there's some new law, some new writing, a new decalogue. No, it's a new spirit, a new spiritual intent. That's the only thing that's new. Chapter 15 of John, talking about the intent.

John 15 verse 13. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.

The epitome of love. And, of course, Jesus Christ exemplified that. He gave his life for us.

John chapter 15 verse 10. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I've kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

All of these commandments are one and the same. We saw in the Old Testament, Jeremiah 31, we saw Paul quote Jeremiah 31 in Hebrews. Same law. Old Covenant law, New Covenant, same laws.

One has better promises, one deals with Jesus Christ, the other one doesn't, in terms of dealing with Jesus Christ in the same way. So, let's go back now to the original question I asked. Are the Ten Commandments limited to the Old Covenant? Quick answer, no.

It's about a whole hour going through and showing you. 45 minutes showing you, no.

Why then are these commandments, and let me just go back and read one of them. This is Deuteronomy 4.13. So he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments. So why did God write it that way?

Well, the bottom line, brethren, is that the Ten Commandments were, you know, the heart and core of the law. But it wasn't the whole law. It wasn't the whole law.

But did Cain, when Cain killed Abel, was sin involved? Yeah. Murder. Do you see somewhere from Genesis 1.1 to where Cain killed Abel, do you see a written form of the Ten Commandments anyplace? No. But here's what people want. Oh, well, if we don't see it in writing, it didn't exist. Really? You know, the Bible says where there's no law, there's no sin. So from Adam to Moses, there's no sin. Is that what we're saying? Is that the argument we're making? I mean, truly, when people come to you with these, is that what they're saying? Noah, you know, God had to save the whole world? Why? Because, you know, God only liked eight people on the world, you know, drowned everybody else. For, you know, the first five books of the Bible didn't come into existence for many, many generations. And what people fail to remember is that God dealt with people in an oral way for many, many generations. And finally, with Moses, it began to be written down.

Does it make any sense that a loving God would not provide His children with one of the greatest gifts He could give them? If you've got a great gift, I mean, you, right now, think about your children. Sometimes we love them to pieces. Sometimes we want to just, you know. But we love our kids. Our hearts melt, you know. And they smile, and they say some nice things, and do nice things, and, hey, mom, hey, dad, here's a present for you. You know, our heart just melts, and we're really enjoying that. Don't you want to give your children the very best? Do you think God doesn't want to give Adam and Eve the very best? Do we think that somehow God didn't instruct them on His beautiful law? So this whole concept, brethren, that somehow God's law is burdensome, and we need to jettison it, it just is not scripturally correct. Unfortunately, Satan has done a great job in seducing the whole world, deceiving the whole world, and frankly, God is not called to many people in the world right now, but God's called us. And when I see what's happening in our society, when the Supreme Court makes a decision like it does, now where do we go as a society?

A lot of people are saying polygamy is next, and some people are saying a lot worse things are coming down the road in terms of morals, and because we've got little ones in the room, I won't get into that. But, you know, we aren't very much on the slippery slope, and we need to know what we believe. I made a comment to a few people prior to services back in 1983. Oral Roberts University, I think it was Oral Roberts, refused to perform interracial marriages. Because they refused, I think it was Oral Roberts, it could have been Bob Jones, one of the two of those, because they refused to perform interracial marriages, the government took away their tax-exempt status. What that means is, send all the money you want to to those churches, you don't get a tax write-off from Uncle Sam. It may well come down to one day, they say, if United Church of God doesn't get on board with the same-sex marriage thing, send all the money you want to United Church of God, you don't get any kind of tax relief at all.

And I honestly believe, brother, that's going to be a real challenge for some of our people, and a real challenge for our work. So, things are happening. It's already in Canada, where there are certain things you can't say from the pulpit, unless you'd be considered to circle somebody who's performing a hate crime. So, we need to know what we believe and why.

That's why I go through such a basic subject like I did today.