The Two Laws by Gertrude Battle (Used by permission)

l. Two Whole Laws

A. What is the Ten Commandment Law called? James 2:10

A whole law. (See verse 11 margin, "or the law that said,...") We know by this that it is referring to the Ten Commandment Law.

B. Where do we find another whole law? Gal. 5:3

There is nothing about circumcision in the Ten Commandment Law. This is another whole law. Paul was telling them that if they required the new converts to be circumcised they should require them to do the whole law.

C. Why were they not required to be circumcised? 1 Cor. 7:19

Because the law of which circumcision was a part had been done away with. It was no longer in force. But the keeping of the commandments is the important thing.

D. What two laws are mentioned in the Old Testament? Neh. 9:13, 14 ; 2 Kings 21:8

Divide these two texts into two colors, blue for the one that God wrote and red for the one that Moses wrote.

II. The Ten Commandment Law

A. Who spoke and wrote the Ten Commandment Law? Deut. 4:12, 13 ; Ex. 32:15, 16

They were both spoken and written by God Himself. This is the only thing God did not entrust to man to write but chose to write it Himself on tables of stone.

B. Have we any right to change or alter them in any way? Deut. 4:2 ; Ps. 89:34 ; Eccl. 3:14 ; Rev. 22:18, 19 ; Pro. 30:5, 6 ; Ps. 119:89

When a thing is perfect it needs no alteration. Man should fear to tamper in any way with this sacred Law. Ps. 19:7

C. What did Jesus say about the Law? Matt. 5:17-19

He did not come to destroy or change it in any way. He came to fulfill it. What does the word 'fulfill' mean? See Matt. 3:13-15 ; Col. 1:25, margin

D. What was Paul's attitude toward the Law? Rom. 7:12 , Rom. 7:14 , Rom. 7:7 ; See Acts 24:14 ; Acts 25:8 ; Acts 28:23.

Paul preached from morning till night from the Old Testament Scriptures which included the Law. He had nothing else from which to preach. The New Testament, as we have it today, was not compiled until about 100 years after Christ.

E. What is the Bible definition of the word sin'? 1 John 3:4

It is the transgression of God's Law.

F. After Moses had broken the first tables of stone, what did God tell him to do?

Moses was told to hew two new tables of stone and bring them before the Lord. Deut. 10:1-5

G. Who wrote the words on these tables?

God did.

H. Where were they placed?

In the ark, in the most Holy Place of the sanctuary.

III. The Law Written by Moses in a Book

A. Who wrote the other law and where was it placed? Deut. 31:24-26

Moses wrote this law in a book, and it was placed in the side of the ark.

B. What law was blotted out at the Col. 2:14

The law contained in ordinances.' There are no ordinances in the Ten Commandment Law. An ordinance is either a memorial of something that has already passed or a type of something in the future.

C. What are the things we are not judged by today? Col. 2:16, 17

The law which was a shadow of things to come.

D. What did He mean by the sabbaths which were a shadow of things to come'? Lev. 23:2-6 , 24 , 27 , 34 , 37, 38

The annual sabbaths which came on certain days of the month. Notice the third verse. It was the seventh-day Sabbath of the Lord that was keptevery week. All the other sabbaths were observed once a year on a certain day of the month, and were to be kept beside the Sabbaths of the Lord at which time they brought their regular weekly offerings. (See Living Bible for this whole chapter, also the NIV.)

IV. Obedience to the Ten Commandment Law Still Required

A. What is a token of our love to God? John 14:15 ; 15:10

If we love God we are going to obey Him, even as Jesus obeyed His Father's commandments.

B. If we say we love God, shouldn't we walk even as Jesus walked? 1 John 2:3-6 ; See Amos 3:3

C. God did not give us a new law. 1 John 2:7 It is the same law that was given in the beginning. Deut. 32:46, 47 To obey or disobey that law was a matter of life or death. Jesus verified this in John 12:49-50. I know that My Father's commandment is life everlasting. He and His Father always worked together.

D. And yet we are told in 1 John 2:8 that He has given us a new law. In what way is it a new law? The Jews had been taught for many years that the Gentiles had no hope of salvation. During the years of Christ's ministry He showed in every way that the Father loves every people, Jew or Gentile, poor or rich, sinner or saint. They never entirely learned this lesson until after He had gone back to Heaven. One way Peter learned was through his experience with Cornelius. See Acts 10:1-28 It is a new law only in the sense that they had never experienced it.

Love stories are as old as the world, but when you fell in love, that was a new experience for you.

E. What is our passport into the Kingdom of God? Rev. 22:14

When aliens come to this country and want to become citizens they have to learn the Constitution and promise to obey its precepts and laws. So it is in the Kingdom of God. The Ten Commandment Law is God's great Constitution.

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Updated 7/26/2006 by Kim Rollins