10 commandments or 2?

[hiddekel]

How come God gives Moses 10 commandments in Exodus, and then later in the NT Jesus says that there are really only 2 commandments?

 

[Chad]

Luke 10:27

27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

Jesus is saying that if you can do the first two commandments you've already done the rest.

 

[Fellowservant]

Amen: i totally agree with Chad...Hi hiddekel Welcome to Talk Jesus!


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[hiddekel]

Chad,

ok, I hear what you are saying, and understand that he is saying this, but if we do a strict comparison, the first 2 commandments in Moses' time were:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images

I do not see "love thy neighbor as thyself" anywhere in those first two, or
'love God...."

So,

1. How do you reconcile this?

 

[Chad]

This has nothing to do with order of commandments given. Its simple and straightforward:

1. Love GOD
2. Love your neighbor

The REST are taken care of if you can do the above two. There is nothing difficult about this

 

[Jesuslovesu]

Mat 22:34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
Mat 22:35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment. Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.


I think this answers your question... What I found so cool is the word in green .... tempting....sorda like this thread... seems alittle tempting for someone .... maybe trying to push them to an arguement....hmmm... justa' thought.

 

[hiddekel]

First let me thank chad, fellowservant, and jesusloesu for taking notice of this thread and responding. I am doing a little piece of writing on this subject and so this is why I am asking the question. It does perhaps sound as though I am trying to push it to an arguement, but I assure that this is not my intention. I would like to continue asking some questions, if you are willing to continue along, knowing that this is for the sake of exploration, and not to try to get anyone on the defensive or to dispute their thoughts on the matter as true or false.

Chad, when you wrote "Jesus is saying that if you can do the first two commandments", I thought you were making a direct one to one comparision to the 1st and 2nd commandments in Exodus, hence my question to you.
Additionally, I understand that Jesus is saying if you keep the two that he mentions, you are keeping the rest.

Keep in mind that I am a fellow Christian and do not feel that there is any contradiction in the 10 commandments that Moses receives and the 2 that Jesus mentions.

Lets say I am a non-believer and I come up to you and say, "If Moses received 10 commandments, and then Jesus comes along later and says that it is much simpler if you just keep these 2, why did Moses receive 10 in the first place? Why not just 2 like Jesus says? Why the need for the 10 back in Moses' time? And, isnt this all sort of contradictory?

Now, how would you respond?

 

[Chad]

That's a great question brother. I will respond properly and patiently with wisdom from GOD after prayer and research. I can do it now in simple words but I'd rather give you an answer more precise and full. Be back shortly on this.

God bless you.

(note: the answer may in fact be rather incredibly simple and well, short but I'll research/pray first instead)

 

[hiddekel]

Chad,

Great! I appreciate your considering this question and look forward to your response.

God bless you as well

 

[Nigh]

Why the need for the 10 back in Moses' time? And, isnt this all sort of contradictory?

Hello brother, and welcome.

As for this above question, I would answer as follows.

This could be reconciled simply by substituting a single word in the question, with a single word for the answer. A single word. Yet so important.
The two words...
"contradictory" replace with "complimentary".

Isn't this all sort of complimentary? Yes.

Jesus isn't making new commandments to replace the old, but rather summing up the 10 into 2. Think of this..if you Love God wouldn't you know him? And then would you create a graven image? Of course not. Would you honor thy mother and father knowing that God wants you to? If you love him, yes. In reality, Jesus could have just said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. And left it at that. For if you love the Lord, then you would follow ALL of his commandments. Or should I say, give it a good try.

God bless,
Nigh

 

[Jesuslovesu]

Welcome! Glad to see that you dont mean any problems (Smile) ...this is my why I think (my human understanding )


There were alot of rules (comandments) because there was the need for them more so because Grace had not been given yet...Because of the "stuck on the rules" thoughts Jesus was showing that love was what was going to help you live a life for God not following a preset set of rules.

I could be wrong (dont think I am ) I love the chance to learn.. I look forward to more questions

Joyfully ~ Jlu

 

[peeps]

copy from another thread

Think about this:
The 10 commandments are not only "rules" they are "offers for a functioning life" "life-offers"
If we accept those in our lives and apply them . . .you will notice how great life can work :star:
The difference to seeing them as life-offers:
They are written by our loving Almighty Father in Heaven, who created by only one thought for us
if you abide in Him, He abides in you if you obey these given commandments, you will find an eternal home, shelter, love, encouragement, guidance and comfort . .. and lots more :star:
You find the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20
Exodus 20
The Ten Commandments
1 And God spoke all these words:
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before [a] me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
13 "You shall not murder.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
15 "You shall not steal.
16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
ok . . now what I thought is really cool about the Bible:
Jesus helped me out in the New Testament where He said what the "Greatest Commandment" is . . .if you obey the "Greatest Commandment" you cant fail to forget one of the 10
its in Matthew 22
The Greatest Commandment
34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[c] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
sooooooooooo . . .
you see. . .
The first 4 of the 10 commandments belong to the first part of the "Greatest Commandment"
1 And God spoke all these words:
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before [a] me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
=
37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment.
and the last 6 of the 10 commandments go to the second part of the "Greatest Commandment"
12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
13 "You shall not murder.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
15 "You shall not steal.
16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
=
39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.''
I know this got kinda long I hope it will be a little helpful . . . I hope you will fight your way through this looong post God bless you and keep you protected . . .

 

[Paphnutius]

Hi, I know I am new to the forum, but I would like to help out here if possible.

It would help to shed light on this if were remember Jesus' relation to the law. We see this in Matthew 5:17 ""Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." So Chad and the others hit the nail right on the head. Christ came to fulfill the law, and if you follow the two "great commandments" you will inturn fulfill the others for they are encompassing of all commandments. For you see the Decalogue can be split into two sections:

1) the first 4 apply to loving God with all your heart, soul, and strength.

2) the remaining apply to loving your neighbor for it sets rules of conduct that one who loves their neighbor would never do.

Remember what Paul tells us in 1 Cor 13:4ff...Love is kind...Love is the fulfillment of the Law. But does this contradict the Ten Commandments? Not in the least.

The giving of the Commandments was not to set down some harsh Law, or impose a rule on the Israelites. No. It was an act of love on behalf of God. The Ten Commandments were given to act as a guide to morality for the Israelites. It is true that they would be judged by them, but they rejoiced at the giving of the Law for they had been wandering in the desert for some time. So it is not that more Commandments were needed at the time of Israel, it is that God chose to give His people the guidance which was then summarized and fulfilled by Christ as we are discussing. It all clicks if we remember that Christ came to fulfill the Law, not abolish it.

Great posts everyone!

 

[hiddekel]

Wonderful Peeps and Pap! Thanks!

 

[Princess487]

Jesus said, I didn't come to change the law, i came to fullfill it. Jesus fulfilled it. there's no way that we as humans could have done it. We could only fullfill it with Jesus. without Jesus, who is in us, we cant do anything. So Jesus said I have fullfilled it, and since we are in Him and He is in us, we have also fullfilled it in Him. Now, as the above have mentioned, love is the biggest thing, and who was it that said that if you have love, everything else you have fullfilled. and that's right. God is love and love is the most important thing. well i hope this kind of helped out...i just got to blabbing but God bless you, hope you get something out of it. blessings, ur sis, Tanya

 

[Paphnutius]

Jesus said, I didn't come to change the law, i came to fullfill it. Jesus fulfilled it. there's no way that we as humans could have done it. We could only fullfill it with Jesus. without Jesus, who is in us, we cant do anything. So Jesus said I have fullfilled it, and since we are in Him and He is in us, we have also fullfilled it in Him. Now, as the above have mentioned, love is the biggest thing, and who was it that said that if you have love, everything else you have fullfilled. and that's right. God is love and love is the most important thing. well i hope this kind of helped out...i just got to blabbing but God bless you, hope you get something out of it. blessings, ur sis, Tanya

Well said Tanya! Christ came to fulfill the Law for us because we as humans always fall short. We miss the target. So with these two commandments Christ fulfilled the Law for us. We have now to only believe and follow Him with all love.