How Relevant are the Ten Commandments?

By Khen Lim



Image Source: fisheaters.com

Many feel that God’s Ten Commandments are so outdated and therefore they are unrealistic and inapplicable to current society. They view them as archaic and full of inflammatory language that doesn’t sit well with today’s obligatory political correctness. Even Christians wrongly believe that the Ten Commandments have already been abolished by the Son of God when He made a new covenant between us and the Father with His own death and resurrection.

The problem in thinking that Jesus came to abolish the Ten Commandments is that He never claimed to want to do so. Instead Matthew 5:17-18 (NASB) records Jesus as saying, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish them but to fulfil. For I truly say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

In these two verses, Jesus offers a distinct view that the Ten Commandments are to be followed for every generation including today and until He returns for the second time.

So what does all this mean to us and how do we apply the Ten Commandments today?

God’s Ten Commandments remain valid and realistic because Jesus said so. We are still called by God to honour them and obey what they call us to fulfil. Jesus also said that by obeying the Law or the Ten Commandments is not just a superficial act but one that upholds the essence of the law into our thoughts and hearts.

Jesus proclaimed that if we think something that is contrary to any of the Ten Commandments, we are deemed to have carried out the act as if physically. If we think there’s nothing wrong to slandering or gossiping about our neighbours, it would be no different to breaking the Ninth Commandment. And if we’re married but lust after someone else’s spouse in our thoughts, that’s as good as flouting the Seventh Commandment.

As Christians, we should not think that since Paul had said, “we are set free from the law,” that the Ten Commandments no longer are applicable. Rather Paul is telling us that because we are now in a relationship with Christ, we are forgiven of our indiscretions when it comes to adhering to the Ten Commandments. We are, however, still called in the New Testament to obey all of them.

The Ten Commandments are also no less applicable to unbelievers because in the very end, they too will be judged by the essence of the law including these moral codes. In other words it means that if they are guilty of breaking even just one of the commandments, if they were disrespectful or irreverent towards God, they will be considered guilty of breaking all the commandments.

Today God’s Ten Commandments remain the gold standard by which each and every one of us strive to live our lives. They are not some outdated laws that require upgrading and neither are they only meant for that time and place by that one person whose name is Moses.

God meant the Ten Commandments to be a permanent reference by which we are still to follow in order to have a more meaningful relationship with God and with one another as long as we live.