TOPICS LIST: http://www.eztech.com/bibletalks/topics.htm EMAIL: bibletalks@eztech.com Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The Bible Talks about THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: FOR WHOM? THE TEN COMMANDMENTS WERE THE HEART OF THE COVENANT (pact or contract) MADE WITH THE ISRAELITES AT MT. SINAI. EXODUS 34:28. "..... And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments." DEUTERONOMY 4:13 "So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone." DEUTERONOMY 9:11 ".... that the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant." THE COVENANT WAS MADE WITH THE NATION ISRAEL AND ONLY WITH THE NATION ISRAEL. NO GENTILES WERE A PARTY TO THE COVENANT. DEUTERONOMY 5:2,3. "The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive." ROMANS 9:4 "....who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;...." THE LAW OF THE COVENANT HAD SEVERAL PURPOSES FOR ISRAEL. 1. To let Israel know the kind of behavior God expected. 2. To help Israel achieve peace and health. 3. The Law served as a schoolmaster. ROMANS 7:7. "... On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." 4.. The Law was a shadow of things to come. HEBREWS 10:1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. BUT THE LAW CANNOT MAKE ANYONE RIGHT WITH GOD. ROMANS 3:20 " Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, ...." (For the Law in detail, see: EXODUS 20:3-17; EXODUS chapters 21-27;LEVITICUS chapters 1-7; 11-24, 27; NUMBERS chapters 15, 18, 19, 28-30,35; and DEUTERONOMY 5:6-21; chapters 12-26.) THE LAW CAME TO AN END WHEN JESUS FULFILLED THE LAW THAT ISRAEL COULD NOT FULFILL. MATTHEW 5:17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." ROMANS 6:14 " For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." ROMANS 7:6 " But now we have been delivered from the law, ...." ROMANS 10:4 "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." EPHESIANS 2:14,15. "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,...." IF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS NO LONGER EXIST FOR THE JEW, AND NEVER HAD BEEN FOR THE GENTILE, WHAT STANDARD ARE WE TO FOLLOW FOR BEHAVIOR TODAY? (The answer is in Matthew 22:37-39 and repeated in Mark 12:29-31). MATTHEW 22:37 " Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." MATTHEW 22:38 "This is the first and great commandment." MATTHEW 22:39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself." THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS GO BEYOND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AT MT. SINAI. THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS COVER EVERY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD AND MAN AND BETWEEN MAN AND MAN. CONCLUSIONS: The ten commandments were the heart of a covenant between God and Israel. Gentiles have never been a party to this covenant. The Law (Covenant) was a wall between Jew and Gentile. Christ fulfilled the Law, thereby removing the wall. With the Law fulfilled and the wall removed, Jew and Gentile are one in Christ. WHEN WE LOVE GOD AND OUR NEIGHBOR WE ARE FULFILLING THE DEMANDS OF THE NEW COMMANDMENT. In order to receive a particular Bible Talks, go to: http://www.eztech.com/bibletalks/topics.htm to select a Bible Talks by topic. Click on the topic you want and print or read on the screen.