God's Law
Pastor Matt Bell
Sermon Summary
In this expositional sermon on Exodus 20:1-17, Pastor Matt addresses the believer’s relationship to the Ten Commandments, definitively arguing that while Christians are not saved by the law, they remain obligated to obey it under the new covenant. Structuring his argument around four primary theological points, he clarifies that salvation has always been by grace through faith rather than works, demonstrating this through the sequence of the Exodus narrative where God's sovereign deliverance preceded the giving of the law. He further explains that the law's ongoing purpose is to reveal sin and accurately define true, self-sacrificing love, countering antinomian objections and modern culture's romanticized redefinitions of the concept. Ultimately, believers are called to walk in the Spirit, relying wholly on Christ's grace, imputed righteousness, and inner transformation, using God's law not as a means of justification, but as the divine standard for holy living.
Sermon Transcript
Reading of the Word
Before you take your seats, why don't we read our scripture this morning? So if you have your Bible, just go ahead and open to Exodus 20. We're going to look at Exodus 20, looking here at verses 1 through 17:
And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
"You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."
This is the word of God. Amen? You may be seated this morning.
The Context of the Ten Commandments
We're in this series right now, this year, called the Year of the Bible. At the beginning of the year, we produced a Bible reading plan for everyone, and we're encouraging everyone to read through God's Word together as a church. Each Sunday, what we're going to do is take a passage of scripture that we read the previous week and use that passage for our text in our sermon. This past week, we've been reading through the book of Exodus.
In the book of Exodus, we see that God's people, the children of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, found themselves enslaved to Egypt. God brought them out of Egypt, set them free, delivered them. But before they can move into the land that He had promised to give to Abraham, He had to enter into relationship with them, into covenant with them. Part of entering into that covenant, that relationship with His people at the foot of Mount Sinai, was to give God's people His law, to teach them how to live, to show them when they entered into this land that He promised to give them what it would look like to be His people.
This morning's sermon is going to be a sermon on God's law, on the Ten Commandments. There are some sermons that are milk sermons, and there are some sermons that are meat sermons. You'll be very happy to know that I brought you some meat today. At least two of you over here were. My assumption was that you were not going to brave the perilous journey that you had to go through to get here—fighting the elements, fighting this blizzard, this act of God, this torrential snowstorm to make it here at 2 p.m.—to hear some little sermonette that I would just send you on your way. That's not my assumption. My assumption is that you came here because you wanted some meat. So, we're going to have some meat.
Pastor Josh was joking with me before church and he said, "Man, I don't know what this post-church meal situation is going to be. It's not quite lunch. It's not quite dinner." I said, "Well, just wait and see how long I go, and we'll see if it's dinner time or not by the time service is over." He didn't laugh either, so you don't have to laugh. That's fine. It wasn't funny the first time I said it; I don't know why I thought it would be funny the second time.
The Two Tables of the Law
Let's put the Ten Commandments here on the screen, all ten of them. Let's look at them closely:
Number 1: No other gods before me.
Number 2: You shall not have any idols.
Number 3: Do not take the name of the Lord in vain.
Number 4: Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
Number 5: Honor your father and mother.
Number 6: Do not murder.
Number 7: Do not commit adultery.
Number 8: Do not steal.
Number 9: Do not bear false witness.
Number 10: Do not covet.
Aren't these just remarkably straightforward? There's really not a whole lot of ambiguity here. There's really not a whole lot of question, "Oh, I wonder what it means not to murder somebody." It's abundantly straightforward and clear and simple. We're actually told multiple times in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy that God wrote the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone with His very own finger. The original Ten Commandments on the two tablets were written by the finger of God. As we read the story, Moses is going to get angry with the people, and he's actually going to destroy the tablets, and God's going to make Moses carve another Ten Commandments onto tablets of stone. But the original Ten Commandments were carved with the very finger of God.
As we continue to read God's law in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, there are going to be more laws, more commandments than these ten. It's traditionally understood that there are 613 commandments in the law of God. But the important thing to understand is that all the rest of the commandments are simply teaching how to apply these Ten Commandments. So the other 603 are just application. "What does it look like to live these out in my daily life?" That's what the 613 commandments are.
The first five commandments are in relation to God. No other gods before me, no idols, don't take the Lord's name in vain, remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, and then to honor your father and mother. Some people put that in relation to neighbor. I put that in relation to God because God is the one who puts our father and mother in our life as an authority, and as we submit to the authority of our parents, in turn, we're submitting our lives to God. So the first five deal with our relationship to God. That's called the first table of the law. Then these second five—do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not covet—that's our relationship to our fellow man. That's the second table of the law.
Are Christians Obligated to Keep the Law?
Now, what I want to do for us this morning is I want to answer this question: Are Christians obligated to keep the Ten Commandments? Don't answer out loud. Just think about it. Are Christians—you and I, new covenant believers—required to obey God's law? This might sound like a trick question, but I'm not trying to trick you or trip you up at all. There are many Christians today who argue that the Ten Commandments were part of the old covenant, and we now, in Christ, are part of the new covenant; therefore, God's law does not apply to us, and we have no obligation to keep the Ten Commandments.
I'm going to lay my cards on the table up front for you. I'm not going to keep you in suspense the whole sermon wondering where it is that I'm going. I'm going to tell you up front: I believe that Christians, new covenant believers, are absolutely obligated to keep the Ten Commandments. Okay? Thank you very much. That affirms me so much, you have no idea. That's a joke, but anyway. Let me explain. The rest of this sermon is going to be the defense of that position. I'm going to defend for you from the word of God why we as Christians should keep the Ten Commandments and should obey God's law.
You might be asking, "Why does this matter?" Because what we believe about God's law and our obligation to it greatly affects and influences our view of what sin is. It influences how we view sin in our life, and it influences how we pursue holiness and righteousness. You might say, "Well, I already believe we should keep the Ten Commandments. So can I just go to Denny's or whatever?" Well, let me ask you, are you able to defend that position against Christians who say we shouldn't? Let me equip you a little bit this morning. I have four points for us this morning.
1. We Are Not Saved by Keeping the Law
The first one is by far the longest. So don't be freaking out when I'm still on the first point and you're like, "Oh my goodness, he was not joking about this being long." I believe we are obligated to keep the Ten Commandments, but not as a means of salvation. We are not saved by keeping the law. We are not saved by our good works. We are only saved by the grace of God. The Bible is so clear on this. Romans 3:20 says:
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
In Galatians 2:16, Paul puts it a different way:
Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
We are not saved by our law-keeping, by our rule-keeping. We are not saved by being good people. None of us are good people. We've all sinned and fallen short of God's glory. We've all broken the commandments. But that is not only true of us as new covenant believers; this truth is also accurate when talking about the believers in the Old Testament. The Old Testament Israelites were also not saved by keeping the law. How do I know that? Because none of them kept the law. Did one of the Israelites ever keep God's law perfectly? No, not even Moses. Remember, God got angry with Moses on several occasions because of his rebellion and disobedience. But were there believers in the Old Testament who were saved? Yes. So they were not saved by keeping the law. If anyone is ever saved, both Old and New Testament, hear this: they are saved by God's grace. We are saved by God's grace through faith in the new covenant, and so it was in the old covenant.
Think back for a moment to the story of Exodus. I want you to think back to where in the story the law was introduced. Did God have Moses take His law to them while they were in bondage in Egypt? Did Moses come and say, "Here's God's law. If you keep this and obey this, God will deliver you from Egypt"? Is that how the story goes? No. They were in bondage in Egypt, which is a type of the world. And God, through His own sovereign power, delivered them and set them free. Through His mighty outstretched arm, He delivers them from Egypt. He sets them free from slavery, which is a picture of sin and bondage. He does this through the Passover lamb—those whose house was covered in the blood, they were delivered from the judgment of God. And they were led through the Red Sea, a picture of water baptism, signifying that there was no going back to Egypt, no going back to the world.
Now, because they are God's people—they're God's people because He chose them, not because they chose God—then and only then, after they are saved, washed in the blood, taken through the waters of baptism, does God deliver to them His law to teach them: "This is how you live as my people that I have chosen." The law is not a means of becoming God's people. It's given because they were already God's people. And so it is with us. We do not choose God; God chooses us. God saves us. We are just as unable to save ourselves as the Israelites were unable to deliver themselves from Egypt. We need God to work a very powerful salvation on our behalf, which He has done through the blood of the Lamb, through Christ.
The question that the law is answering is this: How should God's people live? The law was never intended to be a means of works-based salvation, which is a common misunderstanding. People think God tried this works-based salvation thing in the Old Testament, it didn't go well, so He scrapped it and went to Plan B with Jesus and grace. That is not what happened. From the beginning, God knew His people would not be able to keep His law. That's why when He gave them the law, He also gave them the priesthood and the sacrificial system, a means by which they could have their sins atoned for. This sacrificial system was always temporary until the fullness of time when God would bring forth His Son, the perfect and final sacrifice.
There are common objections to the idea that Christians are obligated to keep God's law. Probably one of the biggest ones is that Jesus abolished the law. "Jesus did away with the law through his death and resurrection, there's no more law, now we're under grace." Matthew 5:17-19 addresses this. Listen to what Jesus says:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
It's funny to me that Jesus says, "I have not come to abolish the law, I've come to fulfill the law," and then many Christians say, "Well, what does that mean? It means he abolished it." Whatever fulfill means, it can't mean abolish. Until heaven and earth pass away, His laws will not pass away. Jesus says this in the Sermon on the Mount, and what He ends up doing in the rest of His sermon is taking God's law and applying it. He says, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." He in no way relaxes the law; He shows that God's law is not just about outward actions, but inward thoughts and desires. He raises the standard.
What does Jesus say in the Great Commission in Matthew 28? "Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you." What does He say in Matthew 6:33? "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." How does a king reign? Through his word and his law. The law is still in effect for those of us who are part of the kingdom of God. Jesus didn't come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it—meaning He came to bring it to its full and final purpose, so that these Ten Commandments aren't just on tablets of stone, but are to be written on our hearts as part of the new covenant.
2. God's Law Reveals Sin
Moving to number two: God's law reveals sin. We're not saved by keeping God's law; we're given God's law because we are saved. Part of the role of the law is that it reveals sin to us, that it might point us to Christ for salvation, but also so that we might know what sin is in order to live in holiness. Here's a really basic question: What is sin? If you had a five-year-old ask, "What is sin?", what do you tell them? Let me point you to 1 John 3:4:
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
What is sin? It is lawlessness. It is breaking God's commandments. Sin is setting aside the law of God to go our own way, to be a law unto ourselves. The law shows us our need for a Savior, and now that I am saved, am I free to live in sin? No. Because the law reveals sin, it also reveals what is righteous.
Another common objection is, "Well, Jesus taught us that the most important commandments are to love God and to love our neighbor. I'm only obligated to love, not to keep the law." To that, I say yes and amen. Loving God and loving neighbor is the best summary of the law. But wait a second—whose standard of love are we going to use? Many people who want to continue in sin will leave love undefined, or worse, they will redefine their sin as love. We live in a culture that has redefined sin and called it love. By what standard do we get our definition of love? The word of God does not allow us to redefine what love is. We must use God's standard, which is His law.
3. Love is the Fulfillment of God's Law
That leads us to our third point: Love is the fulfillment of God's law. What is love? Love is keeping the commandments. Look at Romans 13:8:
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
That's where a lot of people want to stop. They take our culture's view of love, which is this romantic ideal, and they think love is just ooey-gooey feelings. But when Jesus tells us to love our enemies, is He saying I need to stir up romantic, goose-bumpy feelings towards someone trying to kill me? No. Paul continues in verse 9:
For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Paul explicitly quotes the Ten Commandments. Love is not feelings by God's standard; love is action. Mothers, do you always feel like serving your family when your baby wakes up vomiting in the middle of the night? No. Love is a self-sacrificing commitment to another person's good. The commandments show us what that looks like. Do not steal, do not lie, do not murder. It is a predetermined course of action to put another person's well-being before our own. The law of God is like training wheels for our hearts.
As soon as you define love for God and neighbor this way, you will be accused of being a legalist. Hear this: Legalism is not seeking to please God by keeping His commandments. Legalism is one of two things: it is works-based righteousness (believing you can earn your righteousness), or it is calling something sin that God's law does not call sin (forcing others to live by personal convictions not stipulated in Scripture). I'm advocating that we keep God's commandments that are clearly stipulated in His word.
Another objection is, "We're not under the law, we're under grace." Yes and amen. We are absolutely under grace. But people follow that by saying, "Therefore, we're not obligated to keep the law." Look at Romans 6. Verse 1 says, "Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!" Verse 11 says, "Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." Verse 14 says, "For sin will not have dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." Verse 18 says, "Having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness."
Where do I find out what righteousness is? It's the law of God. What does it mean that I'm not under the law? It means I'm not under the penalty of judgment that the law demands for my sins. Jesus took my penalty on the cross. We have been brought from death to life, delivered from Egypt. Do we now turn back to living in the thing we were bound to? Grace is not freedom to live in sin; God's grace is freedom from sin.
4. We Cannot Keep God's Law in Our Own Strength
Finally, number four: We cannot keep God's law in our own strength. If you try, you will fail every time. This is part of what makes the new covenant better than the old covenant. We don't have to live in our own strength; we have the power of God inside of us. Romans 8:3-4 says:
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
When I live by the Spirit of God, I am able to live a righteous life. Yes, we should keep the Ten Commandments. We should seek to understand their deeper meaning. If Christ is our King, does He have expectations for His people? Of course He does. He expects that we would, through the power of His Spirit, put sin to death in our mortal bodies.
If this highlights anything, it should show us just how deep our need and dependence upon Christ is. Who among us can say we ever make it through one day without violating God's law? Oh, how we need Christ. We need His shed blood applied to our lives, and we need His imputed righteousness because even the best of our righteousness is filthy rags. He is now writing His law on our hearts, so that we have a desire to do what is right. Before He saved us, all the laws were imposed from outside pressure, but now we have this new desire to please Him. And when we fall and fail, the Holy Spirit draws us back to the Lord.
We should be like the psalmist in Psalm 1. Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by streams of living water. May we meditate on God's law and seek to apply it daily, not in our own strength, but by the power of the Spirit. Yes, we need the grace of God, but let us never think we can use God's grace as a license for sin. May we keep His law and teach others to do likewise. Amen.