Do the 10 Commandments Still Apply Today?

The commandments that God gave Moses were not to be only followed by the people of Israel, but they are commandments for all people. They not only applied to those that lived before Jesus (Old Testament covenant) but also apply to us who came after Jesus’ Life on earth (New Testament covenant).

Here are the 10 commandments that God gave to Moses:

• Do not have other gods before God. God is the one that created us. We were made in His likeness and His image. We were created by God for God. He will not share us with any other gods.
• Do not make idols. God tells us not to make carved images to serve or worship. We need to search our houses for idols and throw out anything that man has built for the purpose of serving or worshiping.
• Don’t take the name of God in vain. God tells us not to use his name in anyway that would bring dishonor to Him. That includes using His name in cursing or misusing His name in any way. Instead His name is to be used in admiration and worship to bring Him Glory and Honor.
• Keep the sabbath day Holy. There is great debate over this one. The sabbath day is actually Saturday and not Sunday which is a whole study in itself. Never the less we are to rest from our work for 1 day out of the week.
• Honor your parents. Honor is an act of respect. We are to perform acts that bring respect to our parents. God goes on to say that if we honor our parents we will live long on the earth.
• Do not murder. This one people have no problem in understanding. It means we are not to take someone else’s life.
• Do not commit adultery. A married man or woman is not to have sexual relationships outside of their marriage.
• Do not steal. Do not take anything that is not yours. This means anything that you do not own or was not given to you. We are guilty of claiming things that are not ours based on the assumption that we deserve it or have earned it. Example taking office supplies from our place of work. If you have problems taking something while others are looking and have to wait till there is no one around then it is a good chance that you don’t own it.
• Do not bear false witness against your neighbor. This means not to say something that is not true about other people.
• Do not covet your neighbor’s possessions. Covet means to desire. We are not to desire anything that other people own. You can see that desiring someone else’s possessions could even cause you to hate, steal from, or go as far as to murder your neighbor because of a desire for their possessions.

When Jesus was asked in Matthew 22, what was the greatest commandment he told them they were to Love the Lord their God with all of their being and the second greatest was to love their neighbor as themselves.

37  And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.   38  This is the great and first commandment.   39  And a second like [unto it] is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.   40  On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets. (Matthew 22: 37-40)

Certain people have taking these 4 verses from Matthew and have said that the 10 commandments no longer apply to us since we are under the New Testament covenant and God has replaced them with these 2 commandments.  Jesus was not saying in verse 40 that we don’t have to obey the 10 commandments but that the whole law of Moses and the prophets were built on the 2 foundational commandments of love to God and love towards people.

You see by loving God and loving people we will be keeping all of the 10 commandments that God gave Moses. If we truly loved God with all of our being we would obey all of his commandments. Anyone that loved God would not steal, lie, commit adultery, etc.

About the Author:
Dwayne McLean is the editor, publisher and author of various Christian Articles on the People Get Ready website.