by Valerie Williams

Created on: March 10, 2009

In a world without laws, without rules, without consequences for breaking the laws, chaos, anarchy, and lawlessness would prevail. Every society has rules that we all must live by, and in our society in particular, in America, we are even accountable for laws on the books that we may not even know exist.

There are some religious denominations that believe that the laws of the Old Testament have been nailed to the cross, fulfilled by Jesus Christ. However, the Messiah says, in Matthew chapter 5, verses 17 and 18: "Think not that I have come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled". The Messiah is clearly communicating the fact that he did not come to destroy the law; however, he did come to fulfill only one law in particular, which were the sacrificial laws required for atonement of sins under the law of animal sacrifice. The Ten Commandments encompasses all of the laws of the Old Testament. The first four commandments tell us how to be holy unto the Most High God and the remaining six tell us how to live in peace and harmony with our neighbor.

If one believes that sin still exists, then one has to believe that the laws promulgated on Mt. Sinai are still relevant. The apostle John tells us: "Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law". (1 John 3:4, KJV). What laws would John be referring to if not the laws established on Mt. Sinai, keeping in mind that John wrote this letter in 90 A.D., 57 years after the death of the Messiah? Not just the Ten Commandments, but all of the laws that the Most High God spoke. One of the Ten Commandments states "thou shall not murder". If one commits murder, then what is the penalty? What is the judgment? Another of the Ten Commandments tells us "thou shall not steal". What happens if this law is broken? We know that if we break these similar laws in the system in which we live, we would face penalties and judgments in the form of our judiciary system. However, the Ten Commandments does not address the penalty phase of laws that have been transgressed; does this mean that the Most High does not have a system of judgments in place for laws broken? Definitely not. The Most High God not only has laws, but has also attached penalties and judgments to these laws, all of which can be found throughout the first five book of the bible; all of which are law, all of which were established because the Most High God is a God of order, not a God of disorder; a God of peace and uprightness, not a God of disharmony and lawlessness.

Man has patterned his laws after the laws of the Most High God. We have laws regarding murder, theft, embezzlement; numerous laws that were created in order to protect the citizens of our society and to establish and maintain order. No one wants to live in a system in which lawlessness is championed, where chaos reigns. If man has chosen to institute laws to create a system of tenets by which man must obey, how much more the statutes and ordinances that have been disseminated by the Most High God?

The Ten Commandments merely gives us an overview of what the Most High God requires of those who wish to be obedient to his will. He established a system of laws and ordinances, of statutes and judgments. Why?

"And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us." (Deuteronomy 6:25, KJV).

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