The 10 Commandments & Obedience

Introduction

Maybe you’re like me. Throughout this sermon series on the 10 Commandments, I have found myself having my eyes opened to the size and scope of these words to the Israelites and ultimately to us. Maybe you’re like me and thought that the meaning and application of this law was pretty straightforward and—dare I say—obvious. And maybe you’re like me and have felt yourself pinned to the ground and feeling like you’ve had a mirror held in front of you. It can be an uncomfortable feeling.

As a church, we gladly and unashamedly identify ourselves within the Reformed tradition. Now, that can mean a lot of things, but at its simplest, it means that we are heirs to the great Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. And at the center of that reformation was a rediscovery of the five solas—with sola fide (faith alone) being one of its shiniest jewels. We are saved by faith alone and NOT by works (so that no man may boast). For those of us who experience the uncomfortable feeling of failure and guilt when contemplating the 10 Commandments, sola fide is a welcome balm. Thank you, Paul!

But what is the purpose of the 10 Commandments? How are they meant to function in our daily lives? Do we need to obey them? Isn’t that impossible? Didn’t Jesus obey so that I don’t have to? Didn’t you just say that we are not saved by our works by grace? What gives? All these questions are important and vital. My aim in this short post is to persuade you that not only must you obey the commandments, but by God’s grace, you can.

Covenantal Foundations

It’s vital to remember that the primary means that God has always seen fit to relate to his people is through covenants. One of my beloved, former professors defined God’s covenant with his people this way:

“Covenants are a divinely established and formally structured relationship of life-giving union and communion between God and his people maintained in the bonds of mutual love and faithfulness.” 

– Dr. Ian Hewitson

First and foremost, these covenants are initiated and established by God. We saw this in Exodus 6:7 when the Lord declared, “I will take you as my own people and I will be your God.” And because he is the sovereign Lord, he gets to set the terms of this relationship—enter the 10 commandments. In essence, God is saying in these 10 words, “I have set my love and affection on you—now here is how you love me in return.” 

But notice what is also the goal of the covenantal structure. The aim of the law is not to place a burden on the people of God, but for life-giving union and communion with God. The goal of the law is to be in fellowship with God himself. Look at how Moses puts it in his last sermon to the people of God in Deuteronomy 6:20–25:

“When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.’

– Deuteronomy 6:20–25 (emphasis mine)

God has displayed his love for his people by saving them, drawing them out of Egypt and to himself. And at Sinai, the Sovereign Lord formalizes this relationship. Like a wedding ceremony, it’s not enough to just say you love one another, vows must be made and obeyed. That is what’s going down on the Mountain of the Lord.

What did Jesus change?

As New Testament Christians, we are constantly translating the Old Testament through the lens of Christ. And one cannot help but feel like the Old Testament law is impossible to keep—but thankfully we have Christ who obeyed for us! Isn’t that the meaning of being saved by grace?

Well…yes and no. All covenants (including the Mosaic and New covenant) are conditional. All of these covenants required the recipients (the people of God) to believe God and his promises (cf. Rom 4:20–21). The initiation of the covenants were wholly gracious—God did NOT have to do what he did, and the people of God did not meet any pre-condition to merit any salvation on their own (Deut 7:7–10). But at Mt. Sinai, God really did expect the people to believe him and obey his commands. So the question is, what changed with Christ?

Christ’s law-keeping life is vital to our doctrine of justification. We could not and could never keep the law perfectly and thus, needed a new righteousness. And thanks be to God that we have been given that in Christ (cf. Rom 7:24–25, 2 Cor 5:21)! But it would be an oversimplification to say that Christ obeyed so now we don’t have to. Throughout the New Testament, obedience to God’s commands is consistently commanded and even seen as the way we actually love God himself. Jesus himself says it in John 14:

‘Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him’ … Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.’

– John 14:21, 23

John later writes in 1 John 2:

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

– 1 John 2:3–6

Christ’s saving work in the gospel clearly did not negate obedience to his commands. Like the covenant made at Mt. Sinai, God’s ways are best and for our good. And unlike in the old covenant, in Christ we are now able to obey. And those good works are the direct result of God’s grace to us in Christ. John Barclay says it well:

Strikingly the divine work affects both the will and the action of believers: if even the will to act is attributed to God (whether as sole or as collaborative agent), the believers’ agency is entangled with divine agency from the roots up.

– John Barclay

So, by grace through faith, we are saved. And as James says, that faith is dead unless it produces works (James 2:17). A common analogy for the biblical writers for good works is walking. In fact, at the heart of the Old Testament promise of what is going to be new about this new covenant is that we will be able to walk (i.e. obey).

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” 

– Ezekiel 26–28 (emphasis mine)

Don’t miss who the main actor is in that Ezekiel passage. We do not give ourselves a new spirit or heart and we do not cause ourselves to walk (i.e. obey) in the statues of God to make us acceptable before him. No, God and God alone is the accomplisher of that miracle. And notice the effect—fellowship with God. Like the covenant with Israel, the goal is union and communion with God.

Look at how Paul riffs on this theme in the famous Ephesians 2 passage:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

– Ephesians 2:8–10 (emphasis mine)

Marvel at Paul’s gospel-logic—we are certainly saved by amazing grace through faith. He takes pains to show that your salvation was not because of anything in you or your works…and yet, you have been created in Christ FOR good works, that you should walk in them! Because of Christ, we receive his Spirit and are now able to obey—and given what we’ve seen above, we are now actually able to love God as he has commanded. Thanks be to God for Christ!

Keep Steady Our Steps

So now what? Our job is to heed the words of Paul in Philippians 2:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

– Philippians 2:12–13 (emphasis mine)

We obey, yet it is God who is first working in us so that we can obey! David, in his long poem celebrating God’s law, recognizes he is helpless to obey unless God works in him. So he pleads with God in 119:133…

Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.

– Psalm 119:133

May that be our prayer as we finish our study on the 10 commandments and continue through the Law. May we celebrate and praise God for all that we have received in Christ, and may our steps be kept steady as we seek to walk in obedience to him and his righteous commands.