The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue, are a set of divine laws given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, as recorded in the Book of Exodus (Exodus 20:1-17) and reiterated in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 5:6-21). These commandments form the foundation of moral and ethical conduct in Judeo-Christian tradition. They are divided into two tablets: the first concerning duties to God, and the second concerning duties to fellow humans.

Christ's Summation of the Law

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ provides a profound summation of the Ten Commandments, encapsulating them into two overarching principles. When questioned by a Pharisee about the greatest commandment, Jesus responds:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

Here, Christ emphasizes that the essence of the Ten Commandments is love—love for God and love for others. This summation reflects the dual nature of the Decalogue, where the first four commandments focus on one's relationship with God, and the last six address interpersonal relationships.

The First Tablet: Love for God

1. No Other Gods: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3)
2. No Idols: “You shall not make for yourself an idol.” (Exodus 20:4)
3. God’s Name in Vain: “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
4. Sabbath Day: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” (Exodus 20:8)

These commandments underscore the exclusive worship and reverence due to God, highlighting His sovereignty and holiness. Christ's call to love God with all one's heart, soul, and mind encapsulates these directives, urging believers to prioritize their relationship with the Creator above all else.

The Second Tablet: Love for Others

5. Honor Parents: “Honor your father and your mother.” (Exodus 20:12)
6. No Murder: “You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13)
7. No Adultery: “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14)
8. No Stealing: “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)
9. No False Witness: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16)
10. No Coveting: “You shall not covet.” (Exodus 20:17)

These commandments govern human relationships, promoting respect, fidelity, honesty, and contentment. Christ's directive to love one's neighbor as oneself encapsulates these principles, urging believers to treat others with the same care and respect they desire.

Fulfillment in Christ

Jesus not only summarizes the Ten Commandments but also fulfills them. In His life and teachings, He exemplifies perfect obedience to God's law. As stated in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” Through His sacrificial death and resurrection, Christ provides the means for believers to live out these commandments, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle Paul echoes this summation in Romans 13:9-10, “The commandments... are summed up in this one decree: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” This reinforces the idea that love, as demonstrated and taught by Christ, is the ultimate fulfillment of the law.Matthew 22:35-40
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Shewing Wherein all Saving Grace Does Summarily Consist"
... us that all our duty is summed up in love ... when by the Law is meant the Ten Commandments :
Rom.13:8 ... law" ; and, therefore, several of these commandments are there ...
/.../edwards/treatise on grace/shewing wherein all saving grace.htm

Controversy
... thy strength: this is the first commandment." The second is like the first, said
Christ; for it ... The first four of the Ten Commandments are summed up in the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/white/the desire of ages/chapter 66 controversy.htm

The Sermon on the Mount - the Kingdom of Christ and Rabbinic ...
... [2512] The ten Beatitudes have ... proposes to judge the Gentiles by the Noachic
commandments, although it ... the words in which the Law is thus summed up are really ...
/.../the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter xviii the sermon on.htm

The Sin of Omission.
... The outward observance of the ten commandments was right and ... breach of any of those
commandments which he ... law, according to Christ, is summed up and contained ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/shedd/sermons to the natural man/the sin of omission.htm

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
... him; all this, even though the body should die ten deaths and ... For Christ laid aside
his divinity and took upon himself the ... ALL COMMANDMENTS SUMMED UP IN LOVE. ...
/.../luther/epistle sermons vol ii/fourth sunday after epiphany.htm

The Negative Side
... Is not all the Law summed up in these two ... an end, and in not submitting to Christ,
the Jews ... v.13) are regarded as alluding to the Ten Commandments "written and ...
//christianbookshelf.org/pink/the law and the saint/the negative side.htm

The Obedience of Faith
... hast and delayed not to keep thy commandments." I give ... love, and justice; and they
offer ten thousand rivers of ... His whole life may be thus summed up: "By faith ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 37 1891/the obedience of faith.htm

Rom. x. 1
... or cross a great sea, and then receive the commandments, but things ... two or four thousand,
or if you will, even ten thousand to ... "is summed up," anakephalaioutai ...
/.../chrysostom/homilies on acts and romans/homily xvii rom x 1.htm

The Knowledge that God Is, Combined with the Knowledge that He is ...
... go apart; shut the door behind thee, saith Christ. ... that they make use of the ten
commandments, and creed ... They summed up all their religion in some ceremonial ...
/.../binning/the works of the rev hugh binning/lecture xi the knowledge that.htm

John and the Gospel of Love.
... in John the Baptist, who summed up in himself ... the whole truth (hodegesei humas eis
ten aletheian pasan ... manifests itself in the keeping of God's commandments. ...
/.../history of the christian church volume i/section72 john and the gospel.htm

Are the Ten Commandments repeated in the New Testament? | GotQuestions.org

What are the Ten Commandments? What is the Decalogue? | GotQuestions.org

What are the 613 commandments in the Old Testament Law? | GotQuestions.org

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