The Ten Commandments

1. The Golden Rule

The Old Testament of the Bible tells about God making a covenant with the Israelites.

"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.' Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments" (Exodus 34:27-28, NIV).

Later in the Old Testament of the Bible, God revealed that He had even greater plans for His law, and that He was going to make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. God prophesied about what He would do with His law in the future. This prophecy was given around the time that the house of Judah (the southern kingdom) went into Babylonian captivity. The house of Israel (the northern kingdom) had already previously gone into Assyrian captivity.

"'The time is coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,' declares the LORD. 'This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,' declares the LORD. 'I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people'" (Jeremiah 31:31-33, NIV).

Many people today think that Jesus did away with the law, even though Jesus said not to think that. In the New Testament of the Bible, Jesus is quoted as saying,

"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 5:17, NIV).

Jesus made the law a matter that involved not just a persons outward actions, but also their inward thoughts.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart' (Matthew 5:27-28, NIV).

The New Testament of the Bible records an example of Jesus explaining to the Pharisees that the law was all about loving God and neighbor.

"One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments'" (Matthew 22:35-40, NIV).

The apostle Paul explained this same thing in his writings to the Romans.

"The commandments, 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not covet,' and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law" (Romans 13:9-18, NIV).

2. "Love" without the laws of God

In many churches, including the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) now, it is fashionable to reject the laws of God as being bad for people, and to babble senselessly about having "love" instead. Since the WCG has brought up this matter, let us explore this concept a little bit further.

One pot-smoking fornicator who likes the Worldwide Church of God's changes away from the laws of God is a typical example of where such ideas lead to. He says, "I think that we all just need to love each other." But, what he calls "love" is actually just plain selfish, evil behavior.

One of his recent girlfriends that he picked up from outside the church tried to talk her way out of having sex with him by telling him that her mother thought it was best for her to remain a virgin until after she got married. One might have thought that it would be those from outside the church who would want to fool around and that those from the WCG would be the ones resisting it. But, it seems to be the other way around. He had no respect or concern for either the girl or her mother. He deliberately ignored her wishes and pressured her into having sex with him while she was visiting at his place, far away from her own home. The next day, he pretended that he thought she had wanted him to do it, and said that he had done it for her. What thoughtful, considerate guys the WCG is producing with its new teachings! Soon after date-raping her, he lost interest in the girl and decided to dump her. So, he told her about how they had nothing in common and that she could now go find a more suitable person for herself. Again, he pretended to be doing it for her. His "love" for other people goes on and on. He has a long history of pressuring other people into bad things. He even tries to get others involved with the bad things that he could do by himself. In fact, he becomes angry when people don't go along with the bad things that he wants to get them into. As the Bible says, "For they cannot sleep till they do evil; they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall" (Proverbs 4:16, NIV). Knowing their motivation helps one to understand why they are so gleeful when bad things happen to good people.

The dope-head just can't seem to "make a commitment" and marry any of the women that he fools around with. To get away with this behavior, he talks about how we shouldn't judge other people, which is the way sinful people like to talk these days. Like other such talkers, he himself does not refrain from judging others. When someone in the WCG once refused to commit to being used by him and taken to a Rolling Stones rock concert that wasn't fit to listen to, he went on for years complaining about how that person was "unable to make a commitment."

So, why do people reject the laws of God? Well, it is not because they are full of love. It is because they don't care about other people, and want to do evil to them.

3. What does God say in the Bible?

Reproduced below is a copy of the Ten Commandments that God gave as recorded in Exodus 20, 3-17, NIV. The Bible discusses these laws in other places too. All people on earth would be well advised to learn, and to obey, these instructions that were given by God Himself. A printable list of the Ten Commandments can be found at The Ten Commandments.