Bible Questions and Answers

A visitor writes,

"What are the God's laws"

Thank you for asking a question on This is your Bible.

There are two covenants.

The first made through Moses with the nation of Israel at Sinai.From this the Old Testament (covenant) gets its name.The most well known part of this covenant is the 10 commandments.It is recorded in Exodus 20 when given to those who came out of Egypt and again 40 years later in Deuteronomy 5:6-21 to those about to enter the promised land.

Exodus 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying,

(1)     2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.³ Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

(2)     4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: ⁵ Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; ⁶ And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

(3)     7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

(4)     8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: ¹⁰ But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: ¹¹ For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

(5)     12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

(6)     13 Thou shalt not kill.

(7)     14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

(8)     15 Thou shalt not steal.

(9)     16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

(10) 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

These 10 commandments are actually reducible to just 2 commandments which if kept would result in all 10 being observed.

Matthew 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.38 This is the first and great commandment.39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

As Paul points out:

Romans 13:8... for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

James calls it the ‘royal law’.

James 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

The second covenant made through Christ with those who believe the gospel and are baptised into him consists of these 2 commandments.From this covenant the New Testament gets its name.

The commandment which is not enjoined upon Christians and forms no part of the new covenant is that of keeping the Sabbath day.The reason is a practical one.The first covenant was a national ceremonial one for observation by a nation.

The second covenant is an individual one for observation by people belonging to different nations.The restrictions placed upon Israel in order to observe the Sabbath are only practical as part of a national law and are ceremonial rather than moral.

There is a further and more important difference between the 2 covenants.Just one failure in observing the Law given through Moses brought condemnation.

Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Romans 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

 

The first Covenant convicts all men and women of sin because they cannot keep it. Further it provides no way of escape from the condemnation.

The second covenant in Christ provides remission for sin and the justification which the first could not.

Acts 13:39 And by him (Christ) all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

The justification is possible through Christ because he kept the Law of Moses perfectly without sin.

In doing so he fulfilled the Law and took it out of the way.

Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Those in Christ can have his righteousness imputed to them.

In Christ the Law is that of love.

Love for God and love for our fellow man.

If we love others and forgive their sins against us then God will love us and forgive our sins.

Luke 11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us...

Christ’s sacrifice is efficacious for those who keep his commandments.

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

The Bible tells us what his commandments are:

We are to Believe, repent of our old way of life, be baptised and to live the rest of our lives following Christ’s example of obedience to God and self-sacrifice towards our fellow man.

If we do these things our sins confessed will be forgiven and we will be raised from the dead to eternal life in the kingdom of God when Christ returns.

To recap: God’s laws for Christians are:

Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;

Matthew 22:37... Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind... 39... Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Our neighbour includes our enemies.

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:

 

If you want to come to grips with what the Bible really teaches, why not take the free online Bible study course available on our website, www.thisisyourbible.com? This course will give you a background in the major themes of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. As with everything we offer, there is no cost to you other than your time and effort... You will also have a personal tutor to whom you may pose questions either from the course itself or those questions which come to you as you read the Bible.

I hope this helps.

Glenn Smith