The Commandments of
God
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Welcome to this new Bible lesson! Let's pray together:
Our Father,
To understand Your prophetic Word, we must properly fill our toolbox, which now contains
the faith of Jesus.
Should we also add Your commandments to it?
Please enlighten us on this subject. In Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
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Revelation 12:17
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to
make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 14:12
Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who
keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Bible prophecy often mentions the importance of the commandments of God, the
law of God.
Why are they so essential?
Let's see together.
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Ezekiel 7:26
Disaster will come upon disaster, and rumor will be upon
rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet; but the law will perish from the
priest, and counsel from the elders.
Lamentations 2:9
The Law is no more, and her prophets find no vision from
the Lord.
The understanding of Bible prophecy is closely linked to obedience to God's
law.
When this law is neglected, or entirely set aside, then it is impossible to unveil the
secrets of Bible prophecy.
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Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no revelation, the people cast off
restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law.
John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who
loves Me.
And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to
him.
On the other hand, God will allow the student who keeps His law, who obeys His
commandments, to succeed in understanding Bible prophecy.
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Genesis 2:16,17
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying,
«Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.»
From the very beginning, man received from God precise instructions about the
things to do and not to do.
The aim of these laws was not to oppress man, but rather to show him the only way to
happiness.
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Romans 5:12
Through one man sin entered the world.
1 John 3:4
Sin is lawlessness.
Romans 4:15
For where there is no law there is no transgression.
Choosing to disobey God's law, Adam became a sinner, thus separating himself
from God.
If there had been no law in Adam's time, he could not have been judged as a sinner, in
other words, a transgressor of God's law.
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Genesis 26:5
[The Lord said,]
«Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.»
Kept by Adam and Eve, the commandments of God were thereafter taught from
generation to generation.
We can see that, centuries later, Abraham knew these commandments well, and obeyed them.
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Exodus 1:13,14
So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with
rigor.
And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage - in mortar, in brick, and in all
manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with
rigor.
Exodus 12:40
Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in
Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.
Thereafter, the Israelites were reduced to slavery for more than four
centuries.
After their liberation from bondage to the Egyptians, God considered it advisable to give
them His law once again, solemnly...
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Exodus 19:16,18
There were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud
on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who
were in the camp trembled. (...)
Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire.
Hebrews 12:21
So terrifying was the sight that Moses said, «I am
exceedingly afraid and trembling.»
The proclamation of the law was an unforgettable demonstration of power.
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Exodus 34:28
[The Lord] wrote on the tablets the words of the
covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Deuteronomy 4:13
[The Lord] declared to you His covenant which He
commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets
of stone.
The text of the law, that is, the Ten Commandments, was written on two tablets
of stone.
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Exodus 31:18
And when [the Lord] had made an end of speaking with him
on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with
the finger of God.
Exodus 32:16
Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was
the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
The Ten Commandments were of such a great importance in the eyes of God that He
decided to write them Himself, with His own finger!
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Matthew 22:36-40
«Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?»
Jesus said to him,
«"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and 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.»
Obedience to the first four commandments demonstrates our love for God.
Obedience to the last six commandments demonstrates our love for our neighbor.
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John 14:15
[Jesus said,] «If you love Me, keep My commandments.»
1 John 5:3,4
For this is the love of God, that we keep His
commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.
God wants to give us the power we need to keep His commandments.
If we love Him, we will let Him work within us: and soon, keeping His commandments will be
for us a delight, and no longer a burden.
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Psalm 119 teaches us that following God's
law brings happiness :
«Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your
law.» (PSALM 119:18)
«Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it.» (PSALM 119:35)
«I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love.» (PSALM 119:47)
«Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.» (PSALM 119:97)
«Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, yet Your commandments are my delights.» (PSALM
119:143)
«Great peace have those who love Your law.» (PSALM 119:165)
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Deuteronomy 4:2
You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor
take anything from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I
command you.
Job 23:12
I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I
have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
As we will see in a future lesson, men have often tried to modify the text of
the Ten Commandments, a move strictly forbidden by God.
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Matthew 5:18,19
For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass
away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall
be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus has made it clear: no one has the right to change a single commandment in
order to adapt the text of God's law to the customs of society!
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1 Thessalonians 5:21
Test all things; hold fast what is good.
When confronted with God's Ten Commandments, some people claim that they were
changed, that they were given only to the Jews, or that they were abolished a long time
ago.
Nevertheless, the Ten Commandments possess all the qualities which belong to God: in fact,
they perfectly reflect the character of the Creator.
So, let's be careful before saying that the law has been changed or abolished... We walk
on holy ground!
Let's look together at the following table, showing that both God and His law display the
same character.
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Romans 6:14
You are not under law but under grace.
If the Ten Commandments have not been abolished, then what does this
declaration from the apostle Paul mean?
What does he want to express by the words «not under law but under
grace»?
Does he mean that the Christian, being under grace, is not required to obey the law of
God?
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Galatians 4:4,5
God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the
law, to redeem those who were under the law.
Galatians 3:13
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are
in Christ Jesus.
First, what does it mean to be «under the law»?
According to these verses, to be under the law simply means to be under the condemnation
of the law.
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Romans 6:14,15
You are not under law but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!
We often stop reading after the words «You are not under
law but under grace.»
Yet, the next verse clearly shows that the expression «not under
law but under grace» does not allow the Christian to live as if the law was no
longer in existence!
Indeed, sin is the transgression of the law, and the apostle Paul declares that we should
not sin, even if we are under grace... and especially since we are under grace!
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Galatians 5:13
For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do
not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh.
If a policeman arrests you for speeding, warns you and lets you go without a
fine, you are then «under the grace» of this policeman.
Does this grant you the right to transgress the highway code? Of course not! If you
reoffend, the policeman will stop you again, and this time for good!
Likewise, the grace of God forgives us, but that certainly doesn't give us the right to
transgress His law.
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Romans 3:31
Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly
not!
On the contrary, we establish the law.
Let's take again the example of the policeman: what would be the best way to
show him your gratitude, when he let you go without giving you a fine?
It would be to do your best from now on to keep the highway code, wouldn't it?
Likewise, if we are truly grateful toward God for His grace, we will seek to better keep
His commandments, day after day, through His power working within us.
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Hebrews 5:9
[Christ] became the author of eternal salvation to all
who obey Him.
Acts 5:32
We are [God's] witnesses to these things, and so also is
the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.
God expects us to obey Him.
Through His power in our hearts, we will be able to keep His law, not to be saved, but
rather to show the sincerity of our repentance and our conversion.
We repeat this important point: we keep God's law, not to be saved, but because we are
saved.
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God asks us to do His will, which is expressed in His law :
«I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is
within my heart.» (PSALM 40:8)
«Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.» (MATTHEW 7:21)
«You have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive
the promise.» (HEBREWS 10:36)
«He who does the will of God abides forever.» (1 JOHN 2:17)
«Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for
this is the whole duty of man.» (ECCLESIASTES 12:13)
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Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me.
We cannot keep God's commandments on our own.
But by accepting Jesus as our personal Savior, we obtain not only the forgiveness of our
past sins, but also the power to do the will of God, from that time onward, by the
presence of Christ living within us through the Holy Spirit.
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John 15:5
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for
without Me you can do nothing.
Galatians 5:22,23
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law.
If Jesus dwells within us, we will spontaneously bear good fruit, as a tree
bears fruit without effort.
Let's note that the law is not against this fruit.
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Ezekiel 36:27
I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in
My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Hebrews 8:10
I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their
hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
God can accomplish these wonderful promises within us, if we sincerely ask Him.
Indeed, God greatly desires to give us His Holy Spirit, so that we may keep His
commandments which show us the way to happiness!
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Psalm 119:47
I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love.
Romans 7:22
For I delight in the law of God according to the inward
man.
1 Corinthians 7:19
Keeping the commandments of God is what matters.
The man who is truly converted will not try to lessen the importance of the
commandments of God.
On the contrary, he will take great delight in keeping them, knowing that God has given
him the power he needs to do it.
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Deuteronomy 5:29
Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would
fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with
their children forever!
Ecclesiastes 12:13,14
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God
and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is
good or whether it is evil.
God's law shows us the only way to happiness.
The choice to obey is ours, knowing that, one day, we will all reap the consequences of
our choices.
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Dear friends, let's pray together:
Our Lord,
What a great message You have given us today! Now we know that You expect us to do Your
will, which is clearly expressed in Your Ten Commandments.
But alone, we can do nothing: this is why we turn to You to ask, according to Your
promise, that You grant us Your Holy Spirit, in order that we may learn to better keep
Your law day after day.
We thank You, in Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Source of the Pictures of this Lesson
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Screen 28: Picture Collection «Corel Gallery Magic» by Corel, 1997, CD #8,
Photo Library 4, 802084.PCD. Screen 29: In: «Adventist Review» (May
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«Corel Gallery Magic» by Corel, 1997, CD #7, Photo Library 1, 178012.PCD.
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The test of Lesson 10 is waiting for you!