The Ten Commandments are a ministry of the Holy Spirit in your heart. They are a state of being, not just doing. Example:
When the commandment, THOU SHALT NOT KILL, is given in the Old Testament, most look at that and reason that it is wrong to kill so they refrain from killing to be obediant to God. In the New Testament, because of the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart, the commandment now becomes descriptive of those "born of the Spirit" instead of a declaration to them! So why doesn't the Christian desire to kill now? Because we fight a spiritual battle now and the weapons of our warefare are not carnal. We do not wrestle with flesh and blood thus fulfilling this commandment (2 Corinthians 10:3,4)!
When the commandment THOU SHALT NOT STEAL is given in the Old Testament, most look at that and reason that it is wrong to steal so they refrain from stealing to be obediant to God. In the New Testament because of the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart, the commandment now becomes descriptive of those "born of the Spirit" instead of a declaration to them. So why doesn't the Christian desire to steal? Because we have been given all things in Jesus Christ (I Timothy 6:17)!
Paul was describing the futility of trying to keep the commandments without the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 7:14-25. In describing the powerlessness of the natural man Paul said: "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin" (Romans 7:14). But after the spiritual newbirth, those "born of the Spirit" are considered spiritual (Romans 8:9)(Galatians 6:1) and bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23)! A natural man cannot keep a spiritual law............
In His Service,
Franklin Whittenburg
The Old Testament Key to the Ten Commandments
Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God (Ezekiel 36:22-28).
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (2 Corinthians 6:14-16).
The New Testament Key to the Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments are the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Christian’s heart
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone (Ten Commandments), but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:2-18).
The verses that I use in unlocking the spiritual side of Ten Commandments are just what came to memory while I was writing. There may be other New Testament scriptures that fit each commandment even better, but you can get the gist of the idea with these verses.
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law (Romans 3:31).
Thou shalt have no other God’s before me. WHY? because..............
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him (1 Corinthians 8:4-6).
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images. WHY? because...........
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device (Acts 17:28,29).
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain. WHY? because...........
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. WHY? because.............
Jesus Christ is our Sabbath and our eternal “holiness” comes from the indwelling Holy Spirit!
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works (Hebrews 4:2-4).
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: (Colossians 1:21,22).
Honor thy father and mother. WHY? because..........
For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her (Proverbs 4:3-8).
Thou shalt not kill. WHY? because...............
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)(2 Corinthians 10:3,4)
And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village (Luke 9:54-56).
Thou shalt not commit adultry. WHY? because.............
Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God (Romans 7:1-4).
Thou shall not steal. WHY? because...........
Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; (1 Timothy 6:17).
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ (Philippians 3:7).
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. WHY? because............
The Christian bears true witness through the indwelling Holy Spirit (Spirit of Truth).
A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies (Proverbs 14:25).
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true (John 5:30-32).
And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith (Acts 15:8,9).
It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me (John 8,17,18).
And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son (1 John 5:8-10).
Thou shalt not covet. WHY? because.............
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: (Colossians 2:9,10).
But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1:2-4).
I think that what I just shared was possably what Moses may have saw also that made him cover his face for seeing hidden in the Ten Commandments the glory of what the Holy Spirit would do in the life of the believer in Jesus Christ.
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