Unfortunately keeping commandments within Christianity appears to be taboo. For some strange uninformed reason Christians seems to believe that having a relationship with Christ, just consists of having happy thoughts.
It’s very unfortunate that Christians feel that they don’t have to do any work to gain salvation. That being said I hope this explanation makes things more apparent
What Did Christ Say About the commandments?
Since Christianity is named in reference to the believers who followed Christ, it only makes sense we examine his words. We find the concept of a Christian in Antioch (Which is in modern day Turkey today).
Acts 11:26
26 and when he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. For an entire year they met [with others] in the church and instructed large numbers; and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.
It should also be noted that Christians were not named this by other Christans but by unbelievers. All that being said, the focus here is Christ and whether he endorsed the keeping of the Commandments, specifically the 10 Commandments.
Where did Jesus teach the Ten Commandments?
A popular question from some believers is where did Christ teach the commandments, unfortunately this is often inspired by a desire to be free of keeping commandments. Let’s ;look at what Christ said about commandments and why he came.
Matthew 5:17-18
17 “Do not think that I came to do away with or undo the Law [of Moses] or the [writings of the] Prophets; I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
18 For I assure you and most solemnly say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [of the pen] will pass from the Law until all things [which it foreshadows] are accomplished.
Here Christ is teaching us that he is a fulfillment of the law, a topic that is always overlooked within Christianity. Christ also tells us that the book foretells his arrival. We find a teaching that Christ delivers in the Synagogue in which he openly says that by him being there he is fulfilling prophecy in the book of Isaiah 61:1.
Luke 4:17-21
17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (the Messiah), Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy),
19 to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the favor of God abound greatly].”
20 Then He rolled up the scroll [having stopped in the middle of the verse], gave it back to the attendant and sat down [to teach]; and the eyes of all those in the synagogue were [attentively] fixed on Him.
21 He began speaking to them: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and in your presence.”
So these verses tell us exactly what Christ came for, as follows:
To preach the good news (Gospel) to the poor (meek, humble)
To tell people there will be forgiveness.
Recovery of sight to the blind i.e. to open people's eyes spiritually to the truth of him being their salvation
And also to set you free if you have suffered any oppression.
Within all this we see all the spiritual healing we can look forward to. But nowhere within this is a command to abandon any of the commandments, but this appears to be the general consensus among Christians when they say we are not under law, a statement which is true, more specifically regarding the sacrificial laws, who we see in Daniel 9:27.
And we also know that without acknowledgement of Christ coming and dying for our sins, it is futile to keep the moral laws which are most specifically the laws that govern our conscience.
What are the commandments of Jesus Christ?
When Christ walked the earth he told believers that if we loved him we would keep his commandments (John 14:15-31). The laziest interpretation of this is we just love christ, but a more studious look at this will present the 10 Commandments and countless other moral laws that Christians love to ignore.
It is clear with study that Christ and the Father are one but not the same person, something Christ reiterates throughout scriptures (John 10:30)
John 14:15-17
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Christ makes it clear in the above verses that he will pray to the Father on our behalf if we keep his commandments, who will then send us the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit.
I say all this to emphasize that the 10 commandments and many other moral commandments were given to Moses by Christ. Christ confirms this when he says before Abraham “I AM”,
John 8:58
58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
“I AM” Is the name given to Moses by the Most High. This is congruent with scriptures, because Christ says him and the Father (Most High) are one…
John 10:30
30 I and the Father are One [in essence and nature].”
and we read in Hebrews that the Most High gave Christ the power to create the world.
1 God, having spoken to the fathers long ago in [the voices and writings of] the prophets in many separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the truth], and in many ways,
2 has in these last days spoken [with finality] to us in [the person of One who is by His character and nature] His Son [namely Jesus], whom He appointed heir and lawful owner of all things, through whom also He created the universe [that is, the universe as a space-time-matter continuum].
All of this shows that It is Christ that gave us the commandments, the same commandments that he has fulfilled and not done away with.
What did Jesus teach us in the great commandment?
The great commandment taught by Christ on first hearing may seem to be a new commandment, but we know that is not true because Christ said he came to fulfill the commandments. Here’s a look at both commandments:
Matthew 22:34-40
34 Now when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced (muzzled) the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 One of them, a lawyer [an expert in Mosaic Law], asked Jesus a question, to test Him:
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 And Jesus replied to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’
40 The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
On analysis of the great commandment and the second great commandment, they can quite clearly be seen as a summary of the 10 commandments. The first 4 commandments fulfill the great commandment, and the last 6 commandments fulfill the second commandment.
Here’s a look at those commandments below:
First let’s look at the first 4 of the 10 Commandments:
Exodus 20:3-8
(1) 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
(2) 4 “You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [as an object to worship]. 5 You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [[a]demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing graciousness and steadfast lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
(3) 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the Lord will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who [b]takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].
(4) 8 “Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God). 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].
Here it can be seen that these 4 commandments give us the direction on how to keep the greatest commandment, which is, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
It is made clear that the god we are to love is the God of Israel (Yah). This is made apparent from the very first commandment, “which is to have no other gods before me”. Without this understanding a person may mistakenly believe that the Islamic, Hindu or Buddhist God should be loved, so it’s important we have clarity about which God we are loving with heart, soul and mind.
In the 3rd commandment we are told which god were are to love, as it says “The LORD”, the word LORD here is a translation of the 4 Hebrew letters which are the God of Israel’s actual name, which is YHWH (I AM, HE WILL BE), pronounced Yahua, found in Exodus 3:14
So from these two commandments we begin to see how we love God which proves that these commandments are not done away with as Christ said in Matthew 5:17.
The 2nd commandment makes it clear that were are no to worship idols, which rules out Buddha statues the Kaaba stone or any other thing men may bow to and claim to be Yah…
And the 4th commandment speaks about keeping the sabbath holy, which is the 7th day of the week, which is Saturday as Sunday is the first day of the week. The command was to rest on the 7th day just as Yah did after he created the world in the 6 days.
We know that Christ created the world on Yah’s behalf and so he presents a fulfillment of this law when he says “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath”.
Mark 2:27-28
27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
Here we see a fulfilment of the sabbath, in that Israel no longer having authority over the sabbath are granted grace from Christ if it can’t be fulfilled.
The emphasis here is not that we change the Sabbath day to Sunday like many in the Christian church have, but that we acknowledge the Sabbath and keep it if we can, as there is no sin in keeping Gods commandments when we are in Christ.
Next let's look at the remaining six commandments, which are the directions for the second greatest commandment. Which is that ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’.
Exodus 20:12-17
(5) 12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
(6) 13 Thou shalt not kill.
(7) 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
(8) 15 Thou shalt not steal.
(9) 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
(10) 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
A good look at the last 6 Commandments from the 10 give us the divine direction about how to love our neighbour as ourselves.
Without these commandments one might relate love of their neighbour through their own idea of love and we know that God has told us that ‘his ways are not our ways, nor this thoughts our thoughts’ (Isaiah 55:8-9).
For example, if we look at adultery Christ tells us that marrying another woman after divorcing your wife is adultery. Christ himself makes this apparent, but today it’s believed that a divorce for any reason means a person is free to marry again, without consequences.
So breaking this commandment of Adultery would be to cause your neighbour to commit sin, the opposite of love.
When we read all 6 of the last 10 commandments they all show us how we are to treat out neighbour.
Where are the 10 commandments located in the New Testament?
Often there is a false notion that the 10 commandments are located nowhere in the New Testament, but if we read it we see Christ himself making reference to them.
In one such incident a rich man asks Christs what he needs to do to receive salvation, at which Christ quotes from the 10 commandments as follows:
Matthew 19:16-22
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, (1)Thou shalt do no murder, (2)Thou shalt not commit adultery, (3)Thou shalt not steal, (4)Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 (5) Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Here we clearly see Christ quote 5 of the last commandments and we find out that the one that the man is lacking is covetousness, by putting his riches over the salvation of Christ, because after Christ tells him to sell his riches to the poor and follow him the man is unable and leaves sad because he is very rich (Matthew 19:22).
The point here is that the commandments are the best guide for showing us how to love God and our Neighbours and the Holy Spirit will inevitably confirm this to us, because the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one.
Where are the 10 Commandments in Order?
I have presented the 10 commandments in halves so here is a look at all the commandments in order so you can look at them and see what is required of us.
Exodus 20:3-17
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
It’s also important that it is understood there are also other commandments that we as believers should be keeping. Some may think they’re obvious, but they’re not. There are those that believe that Christ accepts us regardless of our sexuality and dress code, but this is not true and here are some commandments that make that clear.
Leviticus 18:22
22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Here we are told that a man is not to have sex with a man the same way that he has sex with a woman. In short same sex relationships are not acceptable to God and Christ.
We get further understanding about why this occurs when reading scriptures. We are told that God allows men to partake in same sex activities because they refuse to acknowledge him as God (Romans 1:28).
Romans 1:21-27
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
So here we can see that those that engage in same sex relations are people that do not know God, or do not want to know God. If there is anybody reading this, there is no condemnation, you can repent and accept Christ as your saviour who died and resurrected for the sins of Israel and the world, If you do this you are forgiven.
In regards to crossdressing we can also find a commandment that addresses this:
Deuteronomy 22:5
5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.
Here we see that a man putting on a dress is not behaviour condoned by God, so when we see this kind of behaviour on our TV screens, we can be certain that Satan is pushing this agenda to minimize how serious it is.
We also have women wearing men's jeans, a phenomenon which was not the norm in Western and Eastern Europe before the 1934’s when Levi launched the first exclusively female jeans. Elsewhere in the middle east we can still see many women wearing dresses, or long clothing covering their jeans. Although some also wear jeans too.
If we look deeper at this we see the corruption of gender norms with the acceptance of cross-dressing. Scriptures tell us that an effeminate man can not enter the kingdom of God, and we can see how the feminisation of men will result from men cross-dressing and having same sex relations.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
These are just some of the many commandments that show us how important the law is in our modern times.
Where are the 10 commandments first given?
We see the 10 commandments first given to Israel on mount Sinai, when the Most high came down on the mountain and spoke to them all his commandments.
Exodus 19:18-20
18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
20 And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
Then when you continue to read into Exodus 20, we see the Most High himself giving Israel the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:1-17).
Exodus 20:18-20
18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
Above you see that the Most high came is such power and authority that the Israel were afraid and did not want him to speak to them any more. The point here is that the 10 commandments were given to us by the Most High, so they will forever be timeless, contrary to popular belief.
There are those Christians that will say we should keep, know or have a feeling of the 10 commandments, yes I know it's confusing. I deliberately said that, because the truth is, generally Christians have no idea where or what the 10 commandments are or where to locate them in the bible, and if they know of them, they certainly don’t know that Christ himself mentioned them, as I highlighted previously (Matthew 19:16-22).
Conclusion
I hope that you can see clearly that Christ was an advocate of the 10 commandments contrary to what we are told within Christianity. The 2 greatest commandments can literally be seen as a summary of the 10 commandments.
Christ himself tells us that he did not come to do away with the law but fulfil it (Matthew 5:17) and we see evidence of this when he references them (Matthew 19:16-22). This is important because the commandments are perfect.
When we read deeper we see prophecies that foretold Christs coming and what he would do, which is to put an end to sacrifices and offering Daniel 9:27, Hebrews 10:1-10. This fulfilment of the law now means that animal sacrifices or offerings are no longer a requirement to atone or pardon us from our sins (wrong doings against God).
I’ll leave you with a conclusion of Christ fulfilments below from the book of Hebrews:
Hebrews 10:1-10
1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Above we see that there was always an intention to remove the sacrificing of animals for the atonement of sins (Daniel 9:27). It is clearly stated that the continual need to sacrifice animals yearly, itself proves that sin was never completely forgiven.
So, what did Jesus (Yahusha) say about the commandments..?
But Christ's sacrifice is the one single sacrifice that atones for our sins when we believe in his death and resurrection. All this being said it is clear that Christ taught the commandments and also that believing in him is required (John 14:6) to be forgiven for our sins by God.
Shalom, Don’t forget to share this with someone that needs it.