I’ve heard it said repeatedly, and it was taught to me as a child, that Jesus canceled the old laws of Moses and instituted only two commandments. That is simply not the case.
Jesus said:
Matthew 5:17
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
That shows that Jesus did not come to cancel any old laws. Do not be led by false teachers into believing that the old laws no longer exist.
The two laws that people speak of are:
Matthew 22:37-39
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
If you look at them closely, those two laws cover the original ten completely. Here are the original ten.
Exodus 20:1-17
And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “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; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “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.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 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.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “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.”
Matthew 22:37 covers Exodus 20:2-8 which are the commandments to worship and glorify God.
Matthew 22:39 covers Exodus 20:12-17 which are the commandments on how we should treat others.
If you love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, it will be quite easy for you to worship and glorify Him in all things.
If you love others as you love yourself, you will not murder, steal, commit adultery, etc. as those things do not show love.
However, we are only human and God knows we are going to fail. That is where His grace and mercy come in.
Romans 5:8-9
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Praise Jesus!
