Defining Commandments The Ten Commandments, or ten words are principles of Gods law. They are the word of God by which man is commanded to live (Matthew 4:4). God is the creator and His word is law. Gods law is perfect (Psalm 19:7). It is holy, just and good (Romans 7:12). It is eternal (Psalm 111:7-8). Gods law is an expression of His divine nature which can be summarized by the word love. Fulfilling the law is love (Romans 13:10). Love is separated into two great commandments from which the rest proceed - love God and love your neighbor (Matthew 22:35-40). The first four commandments define how man is to love God and the remaining six define how man is to love his/her neighbor. Defining Statutes A statute defines how principles of Gods law are enacted in given situations. At Mount Sinai God provided the Israelites with Commandments and statutes. The statues explained how the commandments were to be applied in their circumstances and were modified in Deuteronomy to fit changing circumstances as they left their nomadic life to become settled on the land. Defining Judgments Judgments interpret commandments, or statutes, when circumstances are not clearly defined by those commandments, or statutes. They are given by someone in authority. Moses for example sat in judgment over matters where an interpretation of Gods Law was necessary (Exodus 18:13-16). Defining Covenants A Covenant is an agreement between parties. One party may agree to do something in return for something from the other party. In Exodus 20, God agreed to be provider and protector of the Israelites on the condition they worshipped Him alone and kept His law. A covenant was drawn up and ratified to formalise the agreement. The covenant was a separate legal entity to the law - it could be terminated without the law being terminated
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 02:00:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015