For the commandments,”You shall not commit adultery, “You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. “Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:9-10)

There is a battle going on in Christianity over the ten commandments. Are they still valid? Do they apply to a Believer’s life? Do they need to be adhered to? The answer is yes! Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. How? Through love. If we truly love God, we will love our neighbor and in that love, through His grace, the commandments are kept.

We are not saved through keeping God’s commands, we are saved by grace. However if we choose to disobey the guidelines that God has set up for us, our life here on earth will not be pleasant. If we live in adultery, we pay a price in our relationships and we open up the door to sexually transmitted diseases, heartache and sorrow, which means we are operating apart from love. If we lie or steal, we lose out on what God has for us and we dishonor Him and others which means we are operating apart from love. We can go through all of the commands and see that disobeying them is operating apart from love.

There is much confusion in the church over “the Law”. First we must realize that there is the law of Moses which has attached to it all the offering rituals and priestly rituals and sacrificial rituals and all the do’s and don’ts. Secondly but more important is the Law of God. The Law of God are the commandments given that have to do with morality and relationship which include the 10 commandments. The Law of God was never done away with, it is forever. When Jesus said He fulfilled the Law, He was saying that He was the last sacrifice, that He was the Priest that would satisfy all the rules and regulations. Jesus never did away with don’t commit adultery or don’t steal or lie, nor did He do away with loving the Lord your God. Jesus kept and upheld the moral and relational commands of God and we need to keep those as a guide. The Law of Moses was fulfilled by Jesus, not to be confused with the Law of God.

Salvation is evident in our lives through how we live our lives. No law saves us but if we truly know Him, obedience in our lives to God will be seen by all who see us. Obedience is a bi product of salvation. A transformed life by God is just that, transformed. We talk different than before, we act different than before. The world needs to see the change that Jesus makes in a life that He touches. 1 John 1:6 tells us this truth, “but if we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

God is love, so when we deliberately disobey God and continue to do so, we are operating apart from Him for He is love. We are actually called to a higher standard, it is called love. When we walk in His love, we automatically will repent when/if we lie, steal or commit adultery. When we walk in His love, we will not take His name in vain or bow down to other gods without strong conviction that leads to repentance.

These things are now written on our hearts, not on stone. The reason why God’s Law was sent was to show us what displeases Him and also to show us our own sin so that we would know that we needed a Savior. God’s law was written on tablets, after Jesus was ascended into heaven the Holy Spirit was sent. He now lives in us and His law is written on our hearts. Why would God write His laws on our hearts if we didn’t need to obey them? The good news is that now we have the Helper, the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us to teach and help us keep God’s commands where as before He dwelt in a tabernacle made by man. We now are the tabernacle where His Spirit dwells that empowers us to live like Jesus did. 

Seek out a love relationship with God, and out of that love comes obedience. It is nonsense to say God’s commands are null and void for in saying so we are saying that love is null and void. Love is the fulfillment of the law.

Pastor Michael Cannatello

TMMC-The Teaching Ministry of Michael Cannatello