What Are the 10 Commandments?
1. Definition of the 10 Commandments
The 10 commandments are divine laws given by God to Israel after their deliverance from Egypt. They appear in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. These commands are not mere cultural guidelines but the very voice of God, revealing His holy will for His covenant people. The commandments serve as both a moral foundation and a covenant marker. They express how God’s people are to live in relationship to Him and to one another.
2. Historical Context
The 10 commandments were given at Mount Sinai shortly after the Exodus. God introduced the law with a preface: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2). This introduction is essential, for it grounds obedience not in human effort but in God’s redeeming grace. The law was given within the covenant relationship, not as a way of achieving salvation but as a response to the salvation already accomplished.
3. Structure of the Commandments
The 10 commandments can be grouped into two sections:
The First Table (Commands 1–4): Concerning duties to God.
The Second Table (Commands 5–10): Concerning duties to neighbor.
This division reflects Jesus’ summary of the law: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart… and you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39). Some traditions divide the commandments slightly differently, but the essence remains consistent: total devotion to God and just treatment of others.
4. The First Four Commandments (Love for God)
The first four commands establish the worship and honor due to God alone:
No other gods: Exclusive devotion to the Lord (Exodus 20:3).
No graven images: Worship God as He has revealed Himself, not through idols (Exodus 20:4–6).
Do not take God’s name in vain: Honor His name in speech and action (Exodus 20:7).
Keep the Sabbath holy: Rest in God’s provision and dedicate the day to Him (Exodus 20:8–11).
These commands emphasize God’s sovereignty and call His people to covenant loyalty.
5. The Last Six Commandments (Love for Neighbor)
The remaining commands regulate relationships among people:
Honor father and mother: Respect authority within the family (Exodus 20:12).
Do not murder: Protect the sanctity of life (Exodus 20:13).
Do not commit adultery: Preserve the purity of marriage (Exodus 20:14).
Do not steal: Respect others’ property and livelihood (Exodus 20:15).
Do not bear false witness: Uphold truth and justice (Exodus 20:16).
Do not covet: Guard against envy and desire for what belongs to another (Exodus 20:17).
Together these commands show God’s concern for justice, truth, and faithfulness within His people.
6. Covenant Purpose
The 10 commandments were given as covenant stipulations. Just as ancient treaties included laws between a ruler and his people, God gave Israel His covenant law to shape their identity. The preface to the commandments (Exodus 20:2) shows that obedience flows from redemption. Israel’s freedom from Egypt was the foundation for their responsibility to live as God’s holy nation (Exodus 19:5–6).
The commandments were thus never meant as a way of salvation. They function as a covenant guide, directing redeemed people to live in fellowship with the God who saved them.
7. The Commandments and Human Sin
The 10 commandments reveal God’s holiness, but they also expose human failure. Paul teaches that “through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). Israel repeatedly broke the commandments, and so does every generation after them.
Examples of transgression:
Golden calf idolatry (Exodus 32).
Israel’s disregard of the Sabbath (Ezekiel 20:13).
Adultery and injustice throughout the prophets (Jeremiah 7; Hosea 4).
The commandments show not only what God requires but also why humanity needs redemption.
8. Christ and the Commandments
Jesus affirms the 10 commandments but also reveals their deeper intent. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), He intensifies the law’s reach:
Anger equals murder in the heart.
Lust equals adultery in the heart.
Oaths must reflect truth at all times.
Jesus fulfills the law (Matthew 5:17) by perfectly obeying it and embodying its true meaning. His obedience secures righteousness for His people, while His Spirit enables believers to walk in new obedience (Romans 8:3–4).
9. The Gospel and the Commandments
The commandments continue to teach Christians today, but they are no longer a covenant of works. Instead, they serve three purposes:
Reveal Sin: They show humanity’s need for a Savior (Romans 7:7).
Guide Obedience: They instruct believers how to live in gratitude for grace (John 14:15).
Protect Society: They restrain evil by setting moral standards.
The Gospel is bigger than the commandments. While the law condemns, the Gospel declares justification in Christ. Yet the commandments are not abolished; they are fulfilled in love (Romans 13:8–10).
10. The Commandments and the Kingdom of God
In the new creation, the commandments will be written perfectly on the hearts of God’s people (Jeremiah 31:33). The law will no longer condemn, but God’s people will live in perfect obedience under Christ’s eternal reign.
Until then, the 10 commandments remind us that God’s rule is both present and future. They anticipate the day when every tongue will confess Jesus as Lord and every heart will delight in His law.
Bible Verses about the 10 Commandments
Exodus 20:1–3 – “And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.’”
Deuteronomy 5:6–7 – “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”
Exodus 19:5–6 – “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
Psalm 19:7 – “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”
Jeremiah 31:33 – “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Matthew 5:17 – “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
Matthew 22:37–40 – “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’”
Romans 3:20 – “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
Romans 13:9–10 – “For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
Galatians 3:24 – “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”
