I was pointed to this yesterday, and thought it was rather cool. "Jesus is not only a perfect law-keeper (according to his humanity), but that according to his deity he is the one we honor and worship when we keep the law." Here are (slightly modified) versions of John Frame's comments on how Christ fulfils the 10 Commandments interspersed with the actual commandments (Exodus 20, NIV).
You shall have no other gods before me.
The first commandment teaches us to worship Jesus as the one and only Lord, Savior, and mediator (Acts 4:12, 1 Tim. 2:5).
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
In the second commandment, Jesus is the one perfect image of God (Col. 1:15, Heb. 1:3). Our devotion to him precludes worship of any other image.
You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
In the third commandment, Jesus is the name of God, that name to which every knee shall bow (Phil. 2:10-11; cf. Is. 45:23).
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
In the fourth commandment, Jesus is our Sabbath rest. In his presence, we cease our daily duties and hear his voice (Luke 10:38-42).
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
In the fifth commandment, we honor Jesus who has brought us to be adopted as sons of the true Father (Rom 8:23).
You shall not murder.
In the sixth commandment, we honor him as the life (John 10:10, 14:6, Gal. 2:20, Col. 3:4) Lord of life (Acts 3:15, the one who gave his life that we might live (Mk. 10:45).
You shall not commit adultery.
In the seventh commandment, we honor him as our bridegroom who gave himself to cleanse us, to make us his pure, spotless bride (Eph. 5:22-33). We love him as no other.
You shall not steal.
In the eighth commandment, we honor Jesus as our inheritance (Eph. 1:11) and as the one who provides all the needs for his people in this world and beyond.
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
In the ninth commandment, we honor him as God’s truth (John 1:17, 14:6), in whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen (2 Cor. 1:20).
You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
In the tenth commandment, we honor him as our complete sufficiency (2 Cor. 3:5, 12:9) to meet both our external needs and the renewed desires of our hearts.
I'm not at all saying it exhausts the meaning of the 10 Commandments for us today. But it's kind of nice...
5 comments:
Hello John, You have a very interesting blog here! You may also appreciate the many testimonies of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at http://wetestifyofchrist.blogspot.com. God bless.
I should probably say that I'm not a great advocate of Mormonism. It is true that there are some great things in it, and while I may well vote for a Mormon at the forthcoming General Election and while I think it's much better for someone to be a Mormon than (say) a pagan, and one of my favourite writers is a Mormon, the whole thing strikes me as a little heretical.
I don't think God as depicted in Mormonism is quite great enough - and that's quite apart from the fact that Mormonism is one of the few religions which makes historical truth claims which have been pretty much proved to be false.
Maybe you should do a separate blog post on Mormonism, Custard?
Not right now, Daniel.
I think Christ's active righteousness in the keeping the law for us is as important as his passive righteousness in dying for us. Both are imputed to us.
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