It is hoped that the previous posts called “Is Obedience Only for the Legalistic? (Parts 1-3),” demonstrated from scripture that the law of God (10 Commandment law) is immutable. Immutable is defined simply as: “ not capable of or susceptible to change,” Merriam-Webster Dictionary
We looked at many passages and examples that demonstrated transgression of God’s moral law (10 Commandments) is the fundamental definition of sin. It is sin which brought death upon all men and is the reason for the death of Jesus i.e., payment for the penalty of sin.
If God’s 10 commandment law could simply be changed, there would be no reason for Jesus to die on a cross for our sins against God described in the 1st 4 commandments and sins against our neighbors (Last 6 commandments). These laws are grouped under two great principles:
“love God with all your soul and mind” and “love your neighbor as yourself”
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22: 39,40
The most compelling argument for the immutability of God’s 10 Commandment law comes from Jesus Himself when He said,
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:17-19
Jesus fulfilled them by obeying them and set the example for us to do the same. It is obvious we still have heaven and earth, so we still have God’s law and it is outside God’s will to teach or break even the least of the commandments.
James, the brother of Jesus confirms this years after Jesus had ascended to heaven when he said,
“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”
James 2:10
James goes on to encourage us to be obedient to God’s 10 commandments because we will be judged on “the perfect law of liberty” James 2:12
Strangely, obedience is not a popular topic with many modern ministers because the topic insinuates salvation by works if not properly understood. But, the writers of the Bible, including Jesus, conclude that grace and faith do not exclude obedience. Paul, the major proponent of God’s grace asks a powerful conclusive rhetorical question just to make sure no one thinks the law is minimized or voided by grace and faith:
“Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.”
Romans 3:31
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Many fail to connect the dots between grace, faith, and obedience to the established law . But, the connection is made simple by this statement:
We do not obey to be saved, we obey because we are saved and because God creates a new heart in us. This is the born again experience. All things have become new in Christ and it includes a change of heart regarding the will of God.
Under the new covenant, the law is not diminished but written by God on the mind and heart (Hebrews 8;10). If it is written on the mind and heart, do you think obedience will be for the right reasons?
With your new heart, you will automatically want to avoid sin and obey God’s 10 commandment law that demonstrates God’s will in your life. Both to God and your neighbor. You will find the power to obey through Christ. To attempt to obey without his power is both legalistic and futile. Obedience comes through the power of God:
“…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:13
We have all seen the work of God’s spirit on a person when Jesus writes the law their heart. The thief stops stealing, the liar stops his lying. The unfaithful spouse becomes faithful. The things the sinner once loved they now hate and vice-versa. A born again person wants to obey his Lord.
To say you love God and do not obey means you are not a follower, but are going through some hypocritical religious motion for reasons other than serving God and neighbor:
He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1 John 2:4
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Also, in the previous posts, we saw there were some laws that God gave Moses for the Children of Israel that had a purpose and those laws ended when Jesus died on the cross. These were the ceremonial and sacrificial laws. We no longer need to sacrifice a spotless lamb on the altar when we go to church.
Their purpose was to provide graphic teachings to those looking forward to the Messiah on the power of sin and upon the innocent. Those laws, contained in ordinances, demonstrated the grace of God and His willingness to make a way out of the death penalty by sending his only begotten son. Once Jesus died, the School Master was no longer needed. We had the life, death, resurrection, mediator work of Jesus to clearly and simply demonstrate the plan of salvation:
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”
Galatians 3: 24, 25
Thankfully we are no longer under the penalty of the 10 Commandment law (i.e., death) or the burdensome requirements of the sacrificial and ceremonial laws. It is by the grace of our Lord and the faith He gives us to become free of eternal death and may have right to the tree of life. Those who obey demonstrate they have been redeemed and are free from the penalty of the law.
“Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.”
Revelations 22:14
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Let’s shift gears here and talk about “the least of the commandments.” Take a look at the 10 commandments (Exodus 20) and try to determine which one is the least.
We would all agree our relationship with God would be in jeopardy if we had other gods, made idols patterned after things on the earth or in heaven and then bowed ourselves before them. We would also be kidding ourselves to say we have love for God and have salvation, but use his name in a disrespectful manner often and regularly.
Also, how can someone claim salvation when they practice adultery, lie, murder, disrespect their parents and their neighbors?
So which one can we take out and change? Has any of them been demonstrated by Jesus that they were anything other than immutable?
Can we think to change the 10 Commandment Law of God to only 9 or 8 Commandments because a couple doesn’t fit with our life style or the rest of the world’s philosophy? Is there one jot, one tittle that we can change or modify so we are more comfortable with it?
Interesting enough the enemy of God does this very thing. The little horn power of Daniel 7 that can be shown to be the Anti-Christ attempts to change God’s law and make war with God’s saints:
“And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: …”
Daniel 7:25
As shown before, the enemy a.k.a. Satan and the devil is particularly angry at a group of people in the last days that are obedient and have a testimony regarding Jesus:
“And the dragon (Satan) was wroth (angry) with the woman (church), and went to make war with the remnant of her seed (those left over from the original), which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Revelation 12:17
It is obvious that there is an attack and war on the law of God by the enemy to confuse and lead people away from the perfect will of God as expressed in these 10 great principles of love towards God and neighbor.
To demonstrate this, I have listed the 10 commandments (in summary) as described in the Catechism. This is the official book of the Catholics to teach new converts:
- I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
- Honor your father and your mother.
- You shall not kill.
- 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 wife.
- You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
Now, compare the 10 commandments as found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5:
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You shall have no other gods before Me.
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You shall not make for yourself a carved image—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 nor serve them.
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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.
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Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
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Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
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You shall not murder.
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You shall not commit adultery.
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You shall not steal.
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You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
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You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.
A careful comparative review will show that the Roman Catholic church leaders eliminated the 2nd commandment completely. Why?
That leaves 9 commandments. So to make it 10 commandments, the last commandment is split into two parts.
In addition, the Roman Catholic Church leaders changed the fourth commandment regarding the Sabbath. They changed the holiness God proclaimed for the Sabbath (7th day) to Sunday (1st Day). There is no scriptural authority for this change and no examples of the early church to warrant a change in God’s immutable law.
From the Convert’s Catechism, page 50:
Q. Which is the Sabbath day?
A. Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Q. Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
A. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea, (AD 336) transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday….
Q. Why did the Catholic Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?
A. The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday, because Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday, and the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles on a Sunday.
Q. By what authority did the Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?
A. The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the plenitude of that divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed upon her!
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This mutilation of God’s immutable law by the Roman Catholic leadership flies in the face of Jesus’ clear statement:
“I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5: 17-19
Is there any doubt that the Roman Catholic leadership teaches its converts to ignore the 2nd and 4th commandments? Does it not demonstrate that tradition (according to them) is more powerful than God’s own written word?
He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
Mark 7:9
“Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God . . .” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 97.
It is clear from God’s word that religious tradition is not equal to God’s word. God’s word always trumps church tradition.
He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
Matthew 15:3
As prophesied by God through His servant Daniel, the attempt to change the law of God would occur by the opponent and enemy of God. The one who places himself in the place of Christ as the vicar of Christ. Vicar is a Latin word meaning “instead of” Vicar of God is the title of the Pope.
“And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”
Daniel 7:25
Who thought that the deception in the last day would be easily identified? Those who study and live by the word of God can see the “angel of light” working to lead people away from the simple and plain words of God and towards false security in numbers, display, and tradition.
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So, which commandment is the least? Even if it is the least, it cannot be changed according to Christ.
If all the Protestant denominations were sitting around the table discussing the 10 commandments, we could all agree that it is God’s will to live by the 10 commandments (not to be saved, but because we are saved). We would all agree it would be outside God’s will to change even the smallest letter of God’s law. However, all agreement would stop when the 4th commandment would come up. While it is plain and simple, confusion and argument would ensue. The arguments against a Sabbath rest (7th Day) would be:
The law was eliminated.
The Sabbath was changed to Sunday when Christ arose
The disciples met on the first day of the week
Nobody knows which day is the 7th Day
It is legalistic to obey the law
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No doubt, there is a temptation and a propensity by many who want to follow God to become legalistic in their approach to the 4th commandment, but there is a blessing God has promised those who “Remember” it. It is unlike any other commandment. Here God invites us once a week on a day he blessed (7th Day-a.k.a. Saturday) to rest and enjoy the hours of the Sabbath with other worshipers and family.
It is not so much about which day one goes to church, but rather which day is honored because God instructed us. Can we make any other day holy? Only God Himself can make something holy. The blessings promised Abraham are ours according to the word of God:
“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Galatians 3:29
Here is a promise we can claim as an heir:
“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath,
From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the Lord honorable,
And shall honor Him,…Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord;
And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth”
Isaiah 58: 13 and 14
This promise is not about legalism; it is about a blessing promised for following God.
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Next time, we will explore more about the 4th commandment and dispel error being taught regarding its unlawful change. Did the disciples change it? We will look at the objections to the 4th commandment and how to obey it without becoming legalistic. Until then, blessings to you and your family.
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“The Sabbath … is God’s time, not ours; when we trespass upon it we are stealing from God… God has given us the whole of six days in which to do our work and has reserved only one to Himself. This should be a day of blessing to us—a day when we should lay aside all our secular matters and center our thoughts upon God and heaven.” In Heavenly Places, P. 152