Mungo
Member
Are the Ten Commandments valid for Christians today?
The simple answer is No. They were part of the Mosaic Law given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai (also called Horeb - Dt 5). They were never given to Gentiles, or even to the Israelites before the Mosaic Covenant.
"The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive this day." (Dt 5:2-3 -RSV).
When the Old Covenant was abolish/ made obsolete/ abrogated (whatever word you like to apply) the associated Covenant Law was abolished a well.
The more complex answer is that the Ten Commandments fulfilled two roles:
1. They were the Covenant Law for the Old (Mosaic) Covenant. And as a legal code they are not for us - as explained above.
But
2. They also act as a summary (for the most part) of God’s eternal moral laws; laws that existed from the beginning.
For example "Thou shalt not kill" (murder). God's law against murder was a moral command from the beginning. That is why Cain knew he had done wrong by killing Abel (Gen 4).
Therefore as part of the legal code for the Israelites that command is abolished.
But as a statement of God's eternal moral law it is still valid for us all.
So when considering how the Ten Commandments apply to us were need to distinguish between the moral content (valid for everyone, for all time) and that which is not and thus applicable only to the Israelites.
I believe there are two parts of the Ten Commandments that are not moral commands, and therefore not valid for us today:
1. Seventh day Sabbath keeping; though I think there is a moral obligation to regularly set time aside to worship God as a congregation. just as God ordered the Israelites to do. (Lev 23:3)
2. The making of images (Ex 20:4 &Dt 5:8); God himself ordered the making of the serpent (Num 21:8) and God does not act immorally.
The simple answer is No. They were part of the Mosaic Law given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai (also called Horeb - Dt 5). They were never given to Gentiles, or even to the Israelites before the Mosaic Covenant.
"The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive this day." (Dt 5:2-3 -RSV).
When the Old Covenant was abolish/ made obsolete/ abrogated (whatever word you like to apply) the associated Covenant Law was abolished a well.
The more complex answer is that the Ten Commandments fulfilled two roles:
1. They were the Covenant Law for the Old (Mosaic) Covenant. And as a legal code they are not for us - as explained above.
But
2. They also act as a summary (for the most part) of God’s eternal moral laws; laws that existed from the beginning.
For example "Thou shalt not kill" (murder). God's law against murder was a moral command from the beginning. That is why Cain knew he had done wrong by killing Abel (Gen 4).
Therefore as part of the legal code for the Israelites that command is abolished.
But as a statement of God's eternal moral law it is still valid for us all.
So when considering how the Ten Commandments apply to us were need to distinguish between the moral content (valid for everyone, for all time) and that which is not and thus applicable only to the Israelites.
I believe there are two parts of the Ten Commandments that are not moral commands, and therefore not valid for us today:
1. Seventh day Sabbath keeping; though I think there is a moral obligation to regularly set time aside to worship God as a congregation. just as God ordered the Israelites to do. (Lev 23:3)
2. The making of images (Ex 20:4 &Dt 5:8); God himself ordered the making of the serpent (Num 21:8) and God does not act immorally.