If you brought a Bible with you this evening, Exodus chapter 20 is where we'll be. Exodus chapter 20, it's a familiar place in our Bibles, for it's the place where God spoke and gave his law to Israel. Exodus 20 is the place where we find the Ten Commandments or the Decalogue. I presented an introduction and overview of the Ten Commandments by borrowing from what Dr. L. Mohler and R. Kent Hughes have written. I won't rehearse those things for you here this evening, but rather refer you to our previous study. This evening, I want to address the nagging question that accompanies any contemporary study of the Ten Commandments. And that question, I printed for you there at the top of your notes, what role do the Ten Commandments play in the lives of New Testament Christians today? After all, according to the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 6, verse number 14, we are no longer under the law, but under grace. Paul's letter to the Galatians makes it clear that we are no longer bound to the law. We are no longer under its curse. We would all affirm that salvation is not, in fact, it's never been by keeping the law. Romans 3 verse 20 says, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. And so to be clear this evening, the purpose of the law is to show us that we are in fact law breakers. We are sinful and we are in need of a savior. It points us to Christ, Galatians 3 verse 24, okay? But does that then mean that there are no imperatives, there are no commandments in the Bible that apply to us as New Testament Christians? Do we then become antinomian or anti-law? And the answer is no. If all scripture is profitable, 2 Timothy 3 verse 16, and if the things that were written before were written for our learning, Romans chapter 15 verse four, what do we do with the 10 commandments? And that's the query or the question of our evening this evening. Let me go to the Lord in prayer and then we'll study together. God in heaven, we thank you for the once for all sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ who paid it all, washing our sins white as snow. We thank you, Lord, that we are no longer under the law, the obligation to it, the curse of it, but, Lord, we're thankful for it. We're thankful that it's pointed us to Christ. I ask that you give us insight and understanding as we proceed this evening. In Jesus' name, amen. There is a great little booklet that I would commend to you titled Law and Grace by Elva J. McClain of Grace Theological Seminary back in the day. There's another book by the very same title I would also commend to you, the title Law and Grace, that book being written by Dr. Myron Houghton, long-time professor at Faith Baptist Bible College and Seminary. And however, while I would commend both of those men to you and both of their books to you, I want to present a slightly different angle and approach to the query of our conversation this evening. And I think after the service, I'll be justly rebuked by Dr. Roy Beecham. But I'm gonna do my best here to thread the needle and to walk the fine line and accurately present, I think, a position where I'm at. To answer the question, what do we do with the Ten Commandments? Is it even worth our time this evening as they are embedded deep into the Old Testament scripture? And I'd like to even broaden the question, what role do the Ten Commandments play in the lives of New Testament Christians? I'd like to broaden the question beyond the Ten Commandments and ask what role does the Old Testament law in general play in the lives of New Testament Christians today? Over the years, Jewish rabbis have have identified 613 laws in the five books of Moses or the Pentateuch, that's Genesis through Deuteronomy. And the rabbis then divided those 613 laws into two different groups, positive and negative laws. They counted and they classified God's laws as being 248 positive laws, they claim one for every part of the human body, evidently according to them, and 365 negative laws, one for every day of the year. That's how the Jewish rabbis have classified and categorized the law. Other scholars, primarily in reformed circles, have since separated God's law into three separate categories to distinguish some differences and to nuance their usefulness and application of those laws today. And here is what they propose, and this is what I'm presenting initially here this evening in your notes, the civil law. They've identified the civil law as those laws that govern Israel as a nation under God. The civil law included instructions and regulations about the legalities of government. The civil law is not binding on New Testament believers today for the civil law was given to govern Israel as a theocracy for a time. Since that time, of course, other authorities have dictated different laws. There's the famous Hammurabi's Code, and others in the New Testament. Jesus recognized the authority of Caesar. We're able to recognize authorities that God has ordained over us today, Romans chapter 13. So scholars have suggested some of the laws we could say are civil laws. Others, number two, are ceremonial. laws. The ceremonial laws they would identify as ordering the celebration of religious sacrifices and celebrations for the worship of Yahweh. The ceremonial law is not binding on believers today for its rules and regulations pointed forward to and in fulfillment of Jesus Christ. Colossians 2 verse 17, Hebrews 10 verse number one, teach us that those things were a shadow of the things to come, but they're substances of Christ. Now that Jesus Christ has offered himself once for all, an atonement for sin, no further sacrifice or ceremony is necessary. Of course, I would point you to the book of Hebrews. One example of the ceremonial law might be the rules that dictated Israel's diet, all of the dietary laws. But you might remember in Acts chapters 10 and 11 how that Peter received a vision of a sheet descending from heaven, and in that sheet were all sorts of clean and unclean animals in it. Peter was commanded to kill and eat those animals, but he objected, for they were not kosher. They were not in accordance with those ceremonial dietary laws, but God then explained a new Christian liberty to Peter from those ceremonial laws. Peter was not only permitted to eat the unclean animals, but he then went to the house of an unclean Gentile named Cornelius, who then trusted in Christ as the gospel went to the Gentiles. He was gloriously saved. So both the ceremonial and civil laws, if you would find that categorization, they were types, they were figures pointing forward to Jesus Christ on the cross. But then there's a third category that some would suggest, the moral law. Number three, the moral law were those commandments that served as a moral standard for our relationship with God and with man, and we'll talk more of that in a moment. Now, the three divisions of God's law that I've just presented are man-made categories and classifications. However, I think their distinctions might be somewhat helpful for us this evening as we consider the Decalogue of the Ten Commandments. The moral laws are different from the civil or ceremonial laws because as we observe them now, They are not so much a matter of management. but rather of the moral character of God. They reflect God's character, they're unique in that way. And they present for us a standard by which we might pursue a right relationship with God and man. And again, we're gonna talk more of that in just a moment. How do I know that the Ten Commandments or the moral law reflect the moral character of God? Well, consider this, God's character predates the giving of the law. I hope you understand that. Of course, God as being eternal, God's moral character predated the giving of the law, and then God's law predated the giving of the law as well. I hope you caught that. His character predates the giving of the law, and his law predates the giving of the law. How so? Think of this. Moses violated the sixth commandment before there was a sixth commandment. That is, Moses committed murder before there was a commandment, you shall not murder. At the burning bush, God taught Moses the third commandment before there was a third commandment, to honor his name. The 10 plagues that God issued on Egypt were a direct punishment for Egypt violating the first and second commandments before there were first and second commandments. that is, idolatry. God revealed the Sabbath principle of the fourth commandment by giving manna six days out of seven. And so the existence of God's law was presupposed and it predated the codifying of the law given at Sinai. In fact, If you read through the book of Genesis, there are many occasions, many records of people breaking God's law before there was God's law, if you're following. Noah's son Ham was cursed for dishonoring his father. Cain was condemned as a murderer. The Sodomites as adulterers. Rachel as a thief. Abraham as a liar. Lot's wife was a covetous woman. We could go all the way back to the Garden of Eden, taking the forbidden fruit was a theft, stimulated by a covetous desire, based on a lie about God's character. Eating it was an expression of having another God. And so people have always been dealt with on the basis of law, even if the law was written nowhere else. It was written on the tablets of man's heart from the beginning, Romans chapter two tells us. So God's moral law, written in stone, codified in the Decalogue, reflects the eternal character of God. And subsequently, I submit that it's useful for us to read this evening and to study this evening. It was then in Psalm 119, David said, oh, how I love your law. is my meditation all the day. You, through your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep your precepts. I've restrained my feet from every evil way that I may keep your word. I've not departed from your judgments, for you yourself have taught me how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. And so as we move beyond any counting or classifying or categorizing of God's law, We ask the question, how can we value God's law? Valuing the Old Testament law, and I have two answers for you. First, as has already been mentioned, we can value God's law in that it reflects God's character. It reflects God's character, his eternal, enduring, moral character. God's law is not random and arbitrary, but it's a reflection of who he is. Secondly, we value the Old Testament law, specifically the Ten Commandments this evening, as Christians today, for they are restated or they are recast in the New Testament. God's law is restated or recast in the New Testament. Number one, it reflects God's character. His enduring, eternal enduring character. Number two, it's restated or it's recast in the New Testament. And this is where I want us to work through Exodus 20 and identify the 10 commandments and then think about how they are restated or recast for us in the New Testament. Look at the first commandment. In Exodus chapter 20, your Bibles are open there. Verse number three, you shall have no other gods before me. Why? Because God is the one, only true God. He has exclusive claims to deity. So in the New Testament, in Matthew 4, verse number 10, Jesus rebuked Satan, referencing the Old Testament law, saying, away with you, Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. How about the second commandment? Look at verses four and five, Exodus 20, verse number four. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth, you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. This commandment is about worshiping the right God the right way. And one of the problems with idolatry is it confuses the creation and the creator. In the New Testament, 1 John 5, 21, the Bible says, little children, keep yourselves from idols. There's a third commandment, look at verse number seven, Exodus 20 verse seven, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. The commandment's about honoring God's name, for God deserves the respect and the reverence and honor that is due him. His name is not to be a cliche, is not to be a careless comment or a curse. What did Jesus command in the New Testament in Matthew 6? Jesus taught us to pray, hallowed be your name. The fourth commandment, verse number eight, remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, do all your work, but on the seventh is the Sabbath to the Lord your God, in it you shall do no work. Now, God established a pattern of work and rest in his creation pre-law. In the New Testament, we're told that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. And this may be the exception as not being fully restated or recast. I don't believe, I'm not a Sabbatarian, where I believe that we are compelled in this dispensation to observe the Sabbath, but the principles there for the principle even predated the giving of the law. It's valuable for us to understand. These first four commandments govern one's vertical relationship to God. Now the last six commandments govern one's horizontal relationship with man. Another way to classify or categorize the 10 commandments. The fifth commandment is in verse number 12. Look there, honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God has given you. God is our authority as Heavenly Father, and we are to mirror that right relationship with Him in our relationships with our earthly fathers. And of course, in the New Testament, Paul repeated this command in Ephesians chapter six, one and two. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother. Verse 13, this is the sixth commandment, if you're keeping track. You shall not murder because God is a life-giving God. He forbids the taking of innocent life, life that is created in his image. In the New Testament, Jesus clarified, you've heard it said of those of old, you shall not murder, but I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother without cause is to be in danger of the judgment. The seventh commandment. Verse number 14, you shall not commit adultery. God is a God of purity and faithfulness. God is one who keeps his covenant. And in the New Testament, Jesus extended the seventh commandment just as he did the sixth in Matthew chapter five. You've heard it said you shall not commit adultery. Jesus said I'm actually going to add to that you shouldn't lust after a woman in your heart for that you commit adultery with her in your heart. The eighth commandment, verse number 15, you shall not steal. Everything belongs to God. We do not have a right to take what he has given to someone else. So think about the New Testament, Ephesians four, verse 28. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor. The ninth commandment, verse 16, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Now why would that be a commandment? You shall not bear false witness. You shall not lie. Because God is a God of truth. That's why. This reflects his character. Colossians 3, verse number nine, do not lie to one another, we're commanded. The 10th commandment, verse 17, you shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey. His car, his boat, it's all in there, right? Anything that is your neighbor's covetousness is a desire for what God has not given us. It's an objection to God's sufficiency and his provision for us. In the New Testament, James wrote, you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your lusts. And so, folks, as each of these Ten Commandments, or the Decalogue, is recast, restated, reframed, referenced in the New Testament, we find that it's valuable to us. On the back of your notes, I've given you a chart that captures some of this very comparison, the Old Testament law of God, the New Testament law of Christ, and therefore, I submit to you that because God's law predated the giving of the law at Sinai, It is reiterated for us in the New Testament after the giving of the Law at Sinai, I submit that there is value in hearing and heeding these things. Qualifier, not for salvation, but in reflection of the character of God. But there's actually something more. I think the greatest, most compelling answer to our question this evening, what's the role, what's the value of the Ten Commandments to the New Testament Christian today? I would invite you to turn with me now from Exodus 20 to Matthew 22. Matthew chapter 22. I'd like to pick up in Matthew 22, let's pick up in verse number 15, just quickly, then the Pharisees went, Matthew 22, verse 15, the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Jesus in his talk, and they sent to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God in truth, nor do you care about anyone, for you do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Now the Pharisees are hoping to test Jesus, trick him in a political trap over taxes, so they sent their disciples and the Herodians to question Jesus. And really the question was intended to be a lose-lose proposition. If Jesus answered that it was right to pay taxes to Caesar, he would be siding with the Romans against Israel, and most of the Jews, including the Pharisees, they would consider him a traitor. On the other hand, if Jesus said taxes should not be paid to Rome, then he would be accused of being a rebel who opposed the authority of Rome and the Herodians would be against him. But Jesus didn't stoop to their pettiness and he didn't get caught in their trap. Rather, he explained a higher principle, namely one can be in subjection to God and government at the same time. There are spheres of authority that belong to God, Render to God what is God's. There are spheres of authority that belong to man. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Following that trick or trap, the Sadducees then wanted a turn, hoping to trick and trap Jesus as well, not in a political issue, but a doctrinal issue, the debate over the resurrection. And the Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection. That's why they were sad, you see, right? You've heard that. They didn't believe in a resurrection. And so the Sadducees presented a hypothetical scenario to Jesus in which a widow woman married her husband's seven brothers Each in turn following the lever-right practice from Deuteronomy 25. And as each brother died, she married the next successive brother in line. Look at verse 23, Matthew 22, verse 23. The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying, Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, Having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. So again, they're reaching back to the Old Testament law. They're leveraging the law. What does the law say? Verse 25, now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise, the second also, and the third even to the seventh. Last of all, the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? for they all had her. And so how does the law apply in this case is what the Sadducees are asking, trying to trick and trap Jesus. But once again, Jesus didn't indulge their manipulation because he knew they wanted to make the resurrection appear ridiculous. Rather, he didn't answer regarding the resurrection, he answered regarding marriage and explained to them that marriage is not forever. Marriage is for life only. There is no marriage in heaven. Marriages until death do us part. And I know Hallmark and all the romantic clichés that we use that we're gonna be, you know, best friends, soulmates forever. Not forever, actually. Just for life. But finally we get to verse 34. This is where we're going, verse 34. But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him, saying, Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Now, understand that while all of these interactions were to discredit Jesus, regarding the law. They also revealed the differences between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and in this case, the Pharisees considered the whole Old Testament to be authoritative. The Sadducees, on the other hand, only considered the first five books of the Pentateuch, the books of Moses, the law, to be authoritative. However, they both agreed that Moses was the greatest figure of the Old Testament because God had spoken to him face to face, had given him the law. And so there was dispute and debate between the Sadducees and the Pharisees, and now they are trying to pit Jesus one against the other. They debated and disputed these things. Remember, I told you they had counted 613 laws, classified them into 248 positive laws, 365 negative laws. They also divided God's laws into heavy and light laws. See, the categorization and the classification of God's law is not a unique thing to modernity. They've always been doing this, and they argue there are heavy laws and there are light laws. The heavy laws are absolutely binding. The light laws are, well, maybe there's a situational ethic. They're less binding. There had never been unanimity as to which laws were heavy and which ones were light. And so the rabbis and the scribes, they spent countless hours proudly debating the merits of their particular divisions and the rankings of the laws within their divisions. And as it were, they were debating exactly what we debate today. What is the application of the Old Testament law to us today? Look at verse 36. Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? How would you classify? How would you categorize? How do you apply? Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Folks, Jesus' citation in verse 37, you see it there, verse 37? It's from Deuteronomy 6, verse five. Jesus' citation in verse 39 is from Leviticus 19, verse 18. Jesus responded without referencing the great Ten Commandments or the great Decalogue in Exodus 20. Jesus answered not with civil or ceremonial or moral, not with positive or negative laws, not with heavy or light laws, Jesus circumvented their trick and their trap. He said, never mind all of those distinctions. The best answer to our query this evening as New Testament believers, as the church in this dispensation no longer under the law. The best answer is how Jesus summed up the specifics of the Decalogue by reducing it to two other laws, big ideas. Number one, summarizing the Old Testament law. Number one, love God. And number two, love others. Love God and love others. And so this would be my charge to us as a church I'll conclude as I began. As New Testament Christians, we are free from the law. It shows us that we're lawbreakers, it points us to Christ, but we are not an obligation to it. However, the law is still good, for it shows us our need for a savior, it instructs us in how we might be in right relationship before God and before others. If you have a copy of the Ten Commandments or the Decalogue perhaps hanging in your home in some picturesque way, ornate way, that's not inappropriate at all. I think there's great value to that. And I think we can go from this place saying thank you, Lord, for Jesus Christ, and for his work on the cross that puts all of that to rest. However, thank you, Lord, for also making that useful for us and teaching us so that we can be believers who trust and obey. Let me pray. God in heaven, thank you for your law. Lord, we know that by the keeping of the law, no one is justified. Unless our righteousnesses exceeded the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, we'd by no means see the kingdom of heaven. But Lord, as we As we use human devices to classify or categorize different laws, we recognize that they do reflect your character. And God, in so much as we want to be God-like, may we be New Testament believers that live in obedience to you in every way. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.