Gentle King
The Gospel

Guide

The Ten Commandments for a Believer

Why a forgiven Christian still keeps God’s law, how to read it, what each commandment requires and forbids, and how to use them this week.

About 4 minutes to read

Why a Believer Keeps the Law

You are not saved by keeping the commandments. Christ kept them in your place, and he bore the curse for every one you broke (Galatians 3:13). A believer is free from the law as a way to earn life.

But he is not free from the law as a rule for how to live. The Confession says the moral law binds all men forever, believers included, as a rule of life that shows them the will of God and their duty (WCF 19.5-6). The law tells a forgiven man what love looks like.

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 14:15 (KJV)

So you obey because you are loved, never to become loved. And when you fail, the law sends you back to Christ, which is one of the things it is for.

How to Read Them

The Larger Catechism gives rules for reading the commandments (Q&A 99). Four of them do most of the work.

  1. They reach the heart. The law governs thoughts and desires, not only actions. Jesus said lust is adultery in the heart and hatred is murder in the heart (Matthew 5:21-28).
  2. Every command has two sides. Where a sin is forbidden, the opposite duty is commanded. Where a duty is commanded, the opposite sin is forbidden. Thou shalt not steal also means work, and give (Ephesians 4:28).
  3. One sin stands for a whole family. Murder covers anger, contempt, and reckless driving. Adultery covers lust, pornography, and immodesty.
  4. The causes and occasions are forbidden too. Whatever leads you toward the sin is part of what the command forbids.

Each Commandment in Plain Words

The Shorter Catechism sets out what each one requires and forbids (Q&A 45-81). This is a short version.

  1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Know, worship, trust, and love the true God alone. Forbidden are atheism, false gods, and anything you love or trust more than him, money and comfort and approval included.
  2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Worship God only in the ways he has commanded in his Word. Forbidden are images of God and any worship men invent for themselves. This is where the Reformed regulative principle of worship comes from (WCF 21.1). See How God Is to Be Worshiped.
  3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Use God’s names, titles, Word, and works with reverence. Forbidden are cursing, careless use of his name, false oaths, and mocking holy things.
  4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Set apart one whole day in seven for God, now the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week. See How to Keep the Lord’s Day.
  5. Honour thy father and thy mother. Give honor and obedience to parents and to everyone God has set over you, in the home, the church, and the state, and care for those under you. Forbidden are contempt, rebellion, and abuse of authority.
  6. Thou shalt not kill. Preserve your own life and the lives of others. Forbidden are murder, abortion, suicide, unjust anger, hatred, and neglect of your body or anyone in your care.
  7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Keep yourself and others chaste in heart, speech, and behavior. Forbidden are sex outside of marriage, pornography, lustful thoughts, and immodest dress or talk.
  8. Thou shalt not steal. Get and keep goods honestly and work to provide for yourself and others. Forbidden are theft, cheating, laziness, waste, and gambling away what God gave you.
  9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Speak the truth and guard your neighbor’s good name. Forbidden are lies, slander, gossip, and flattery.
  10. Thou shalt not covet. Be content with what God gave you and glad for your neighbor’s good. Forbidden are envy, discontent, and wanting what is his.

The full text is in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21.

How to Use Them This Week

  1. Learn them. Memorize the ten, then the Shorter Catechism’s questions on each. Teach them to your children.
  2. Examine yourself by them. Take one commandment each evening for ten days. Ask what it requires and what it forbids, and where you stand. See How to Examine Yourself.
  3. Pray them. Turn each one into a request for help to obey and a confession where you have not.
  4. Run to Christ. No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God (WSC 82). When the law shows you your sin, it is pointing you to the Savior who kept it for you.

If one commandment keeps exposing the same sin, A Greater Affection is written for that fight.