The Ten Commandments

Grace Comes First

Before a single command, a declaration: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (20:2). The order is the gospel's order — redeemed first, then commanded. Israel wasn't saved by keeping the law; the law was given to a people already rescued. Obedience is response, never entry fee.

Two Tables of Love

Jesus summarised the ten as two loves (Matthew 22:37-40):

Love God (1-4): no other gods; no images of Him; His name not carried in vain; Sabbath rest kept. Love neighbour (5-10): honour parents; no murder, adultery, theft, false witness — and no coveting, the tenth command reaching past the hand into the heart, indicting desires no court can see.

Deeper Than Behaviour

The Sermon on the Mount unpacks what the tenth commandment hints: anger is murder's root, lust adultery's seed (Matthew 5:21-30). The commandments were always aimed at the heart — which is why they diagnose everyone. "Through the law comes knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20); it is the mirror that shows the dirt, not the water that washes it.

The Christian and the Law

The Reformers spoke of three uses of the law: a curb restraining evil in society, a mirror driving us to Christ, and a guide shaping grateful obedience. Christ fulfilled the law perfectly (Matthew 5:17) and bore its curse (Galatians 3:13); those in Him are no longer under it for standing, yet find it written on the heart by the Spirit — exactly as the new covenant promised.

Kingdom Connection

The Decalogue is the constitution of a redeemed people under their King — freedom's fence, not slavery's return. The King who gave the law at Sinai kept it at Nazareth, satisfied it at Calvary, and now writes it inside His citizens.