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THE LAWS AND COMMANDMENTS OF GOD
Audio: by Fred R.
Coulter
Introduction
The Nature of God's Laws:
The Nature of God's Laws
The laws and
commandments of God as revealed in both Old Testament and New Testament are a
holy and perfect set of principles based on the love of God. God's laws and
commandments are designed to teach man how to love and worship God and how to
love his neighbor. God has made known His laws and commandments to the world
from the beginning and requires all mankind to keep them. The laws and
commandments of God define what sin is, and where there is no law there is no
sin. No one could be counted as a sinner, or under sin, if God did not require
all the people of the world to keep His laws and commandments. The Scriptures
show that God judges all nations according to their obedience or disobedience to
His laws, bringing blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience or sin.
Because of sin and wickedness in Noah's time, God destroyed the world with the
Flood. The men of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because they were sinners
before God. The Ninevites were a Gentile nation not in covenant with God, but
God warned them through His prophet Jonah of His impending judgment for their
sins. The inhabitants of the land of Canaan were expelled because of their
religious and sexual sins. The people of Israel, God's chosen nation, also
sinned grievously against God and were sent into captivity. Through sin and
disobedience to God's laws and commandments, the whole world has become guilty
before God. Generation after generation has yielded to the sinfulness of human
nature and has utterly failed to meet even the minimum requirements of the
letter of the law.
While God has
always required mankind to keep His laws and commandments in the letter of the
law, He desires that every human being learn to worship Him in the spirit of the
law. The full spiritual intent of God's laws is that each one learn to love God
with all the heart, mind, soul, being and strength; and to love one's neighbor
as oneself. The Scriptures reveal that obedience to God's laws in the spirit is
a condition for receiving eternal life. Only through the gift of the Holy Spirit
is this obedience made possible. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, each
Christian can have the laws and commandments of God written in his or her heart
and mind and can learn to walk daily in the spiritual obedience that God
desires. The laws and commandments of God are not contrary to grace and faith
but are truly established by faith. (See Righteousness,
Faith and Grace.)
Scriptural References:
| Gen. 3:11-13; 4:7-11 |
Gen. 6:5-13; 15:16 |
Lev. 18:5 |
| Jer. 18:7-10 |
Ezk. 20:11, 13, 21 |
Pro. 4:4 |
| Deut. 28:1-13 |
Deut. 4:1-13; 6:1-4 |
Gal. 3:11 |
| Rom. 10:5 |
Rom. 3:9-22; 4:13-16 |
Rom. 2:11-13 |
| Mat. 22:36-40 |
Psa. 19:1-7 |
Psa. 111:10 |
| John 14:15-24 |
Psa. 119 |
I John 2:4-6 |
| Mat. 4:4 |
Isa. 42:21 |
I John 3:4 |
| Mat. 5:17-20 |
I John 5:2-3 |
II Tim. 3:16 |
| Heb. 8:10-12; 10:16-22 |
Rev. 22:14 |
Rev. 12:17; 14:12 |
The Ten Commandments:
The Ten Commandments
The Ten
Commandments, spoken by God to Israel, are the foundation of all of God's laws.
They have been in effect from the beginning of mankind, over 3,000 years before
their pronouncement at Mt. Sinai. Their written form is the summation of the
spiritual laws which function at all times, whether a person is aware of them or
not. Obedience to these commandments brings blessings, and disobedience brings
curses. The Ten Commandments teach us how to express love toward God and our
fellowman. They must be obeyed as a condition for receiving eternal life. (See Faith
and Grace.)
Scriptural References:
| Ex. 20:1-17 |
Deut. 5:6-21 |
Deut. 30:15-20 |
| Mat. 19:16-22 |
Rom. 7:7-14 |
Mat. 22:36-40 |
| I John 3:22-24 |
Rom. 13:8-10 |
II John 6-10 |
Clean and Unclean Meats:
Clean and Unclean Meats
As Creator, God has provided not only plants but also animals to be
food for mankind. However, God did not create all animal flesh to be eaten by human
beings. Because God desires mankind to sustain good health, He has revealed to mankind
which animal flesh He specifically created to be eaten. This knowledge was made known from
creation, as shown in the account of Noah and the Flood. In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy
14, God clearly specifies which meats are fit for human consumption and which are not. The
classification of clean or unclean is easily identifiable by the characteristics that God
created in the animals. Any warm-blooded mammal which has split hooves and which chews the
cud is clean to eat. All other warm-blooded animals are unclean. Of the creatures that
live in the waters, only the fish with fins and scales are clean to eat; all others are
unclean. Of the fowls, God forbids eating the flesh of fowls which are scavengers. All
reptiles are unclean, as are all insects except locusts, grasshoppers and certain beetles.
Contrary to the belief of many professing Christians, the New Testament
does not nullify God's laws of clean and unclean meats. The dispute between Jesus Christ
and the Pharisees in Mark 7 did not involve the eating of clean or unclean meats. Rather,
it concerned His disciples' eating food with unwashed hands. As clearly interpreted in
Acts 10, the vision that Peter saw was given to reveal that no human is to be called
"common or unclean" and is not a divine authorization to change God's laws of
clean and unclean meats.
The apostle Paul upheld the laws of clean and unclean meats as a
requirement for Christians. He described the meats that Christians are permitted to eat as
those "meats which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which
believe [have faith in] and know the truth [the Word of God is Truth--John 17:17]" (I
Tim. 4:3). Paul was clearly showing that some meats were created to be eaten and others
were not created to be eaten. Paul continued, "For every creature of God [which was
created to be eaten] is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with
thanksgiving; for it is sanctified [set apart] by the Word of God [as revealed in the
Scriptures] and prayer" (verse 4).
Scriptural References:
| Lev. 11:1-31 |
Deut. 14:3-20 |
Mark 7:1-16 |
| Acts 10:1-28 |
I Tim. 4:3-5 |
Isa. 66:17 |
| Gen. 7:2; 8:20 |
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The Weekly Sabbath:
The Weekly Sabbath
The weekly
Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, known as Saturday today. In the
beginning, the Sabbath was created by God. He blessed and sanctified the seventh
day at creation as a special day for rest and fellowship with Him. The Sabbath
is a memorial of creation and was made for all mankind. It was the commanded day
of weekly worship for 3,000 years before the Ten Commandments were given to
Israel. The Fourth Commandment is a reminder to observe and keep holy the
Sabbath day.
As Lord God of
the Old Testament, Jesus Christ created the Sabbath by resting on the very first
seventh day and by blessing and sanctifying it. In the New Testament, Jesus
Christ proclaimed that He is Lord of the Sabbath day. During His ministry on
earth, He reaffirmed the sacredness of the Sabbath and taught its proper
observance. Jesus Christ Himself showed by example that it is right to do good
on the Sabbath day, in addition to resting from one's physical labor and secular
business. The apostles of Jesus Christ and the early New Testament church
observed the Sabbath and taught Gentile Christians to observe it.
The keeping of
the seventh-day Sabbath is a special sign of the covenant between God and His
people. God commands that it be observed from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday.
During this holy time, Christians are commanded to rest from their labor and to
assemble to worship God and to receive instruction from His Word. Observance of
the seventh-day Sabbath is essential for salvation and for true fellowship with
God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Scriptural References:
| Gen. 2:1-3 |
Mark 2:27-28 |
Ex. 20:8-10 |
| Ex. 31:13-17 |
Isa. 58:13-14 |
Isa. 56:1-7 |
| Isa. 66:23 |
Ezk. 20:12, 20 |
Lev. 23:1-3 |
| Luke 4:4 |
Acts 13:42-44 |
Acts 17:2 |
| Acts 18:4, 11 |
Acts 19:8-10 |
Heb. 4:4-10 |
The Annual Feasts and Holy Days:
The Annual Feasts and Holy Days
The Scriptures
teach that there are seven annual feasts and holy days which were ordained by
God to be observed as special commanded convocations. These feasts and holy days
portray God's plan of salvation for mankind. The observance of these holy
convocations is a sign between God and His people. God's annual feasts and holy
days were observed by His people during Old Testament times. In the New
Testament, we find that Jesus Christ's entire ministry was centered around the
spiritual meaning of these holy days. The New Testament apostolic church
faithfully observed these annual feasts and holy days. The Scriptures reveal
that they will be observed by all mankind after the return of Jesus Christ.
As the holy
days are annual Sabbath days, they may fall on any day of the week (except
Pentecost, which always falls on a Sunday). When a holy day falls on a weekly
Sabbath, the special observance of the annual holy day takes precedence. God's
feasts and holy days are to be observed from sunset to sunset in accordance with
the calculated Hebrew Calendar as preserved by the Levitical Jews. The seven
annual feasts and holy days are as follows:
Feast or Holy Day
Commanded Scriptural Date of Observance
1) Passover 14th day of the first
month*
2) Unleavened Bread (7 days)
15th through 21st days of the first month (the 15th & 21st are holy
days)
3) Pentecost Counted annually**
4) Trumpets 1st day of the
seventh month
5) Atonement 10th day of the
seventh month
6) Tabernacles (7 days) 15th
through 21st days of the seventh month (the 15th is a holy day)
7) Last Great Day 22nd day of
the seventh month (a holy day)
*Not a holy day
**Fifty days are counted,
beginning with the first day of the week during the Days of Unleavened
Bread. The feast is observed on the fiftieth day, which always falls on
the first day of the week.
Scriptural References:
| Lev. 23 |
Ex. 23:14-17; 31:13 |
Ex. 12:1-20 |
| John 7:37 |
Mat. 26:17-18 |
I Cor. 5:7-8 |
| Acts 2:1 |
Acts 18:21 |
Acts 20:16 |
| I Cor. 16:8 |
Zech. 14:16-19 |
Isa. 66:23 |
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