Exodus 19-20

The Ten Commandments

THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW

EXODUS 19.5-6 (ESV)

5Now 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; 6and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

THE PURPOSE

• Intimacy

EXODUS 19.5-6 (ESV)

5Now 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; 6and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

THE PURPOSE

• Intimacy

• Blessing

DEUTERONOMY 28.1-2 (ESV)

1“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.

DEUTERONOMY 28.3-4 (ESV)

3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

THE PURPOSE

• Intimacy

• Blessing

• Representation

EXODUS 19.5-6 (ESV)

5Now 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; 6and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

THE PRACTICE OF THE LAW

THE PRACTICE

Rules without relationship brings rebellion

Relationship without rules brings resentment

THE PRACTICE

• Division of the Law

– Love God: Commandments 1-4

– Love Others: Commandments 5-10

MATTHEW 22:37-40 (ESV)

37 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. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

THE PRACTICE

• Division of the Law

– Love God: Commandments 1-4

– Love Others: Commandments 5-10

THE PRACTICE

• The First Commandment: Exodus 20.3

THE PRACTICE

• The First Commandment: Exodus 20.3

– No other gods

THE PRACTICE

• The 2nd Commandment: Exodus 20.4-5

– Do not make Idols

THE PRACTICE

• The 3rd Commandment: Exodus 20.7

– Do not use the Lord’s name in vain

THE PRACTICE

• The 4th Commandment: Exodus 20.8-11

– Keep the Sabbath

THE PRACTICE

• The 5th Commandment: Exodus 20.12

– Honor your parents

THE PRACTICE

• The 6th Commandment: Exodus 20.13

– Do not kill

THE PRACTICE

• The 7th Commandment: Exodus 20.14

– Do not commit adultery

THE PRACTICE

• The 8th Commandment: Exodus 20.15

– Do not steal

THE PRACTICE

• The 9th Commandment: Exodus 20.16

– Do not bear false witness

THE PRACTICE

• The 10th Commandment: Exodus 20.17

– Do not covet

THE LIMITS OF THE LAW

THE LIMITS

The Law reveals God requirements, but does not empower obedience

THE LIMITS

Responsibilities without ability means we either, redefine the requirements or we despair

MATTHEW 23:23(ESV)

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

THE LIMITS

Responsibilities without ability means we either, redefine the requirements or we despair

ROMANS 7.7-12 (ESV)

7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.

ROMANS 7.7-12 (ESV)

9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

THE SOLUTION TO THE LAW

THE SOLUTION

• Law is Fulfilled in Christ

Matthew 5:17 (ESV)

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.

Rom 10.4 (ESV) 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

THE SOLUTION

• Law is Fulfilled in Christ

• We respond with Faith in Christ

GALATIANS 3.23-27 (ESV)

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

THE SOLUTION

• Law is Fulfilled in Christ

• We respond with Faith in Christ

• We walk by the Spirit

GALATIANS 5.18-24 (ESV)

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry… 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

APPLICATION

• Know God’s Purpose of the Law

• Know Jesus’ Fulfillment of the Law

• Read Gal 5.18-24, am I truly letting the Spirit guide my life?