The Second Great Commandment.

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The last six of the Ten Commandments instruct man on how to love his fellow man. “Honour your father and your mother…You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. You shall not covet…” (Ex. 20:12-17).

Centuries later, Christ said that anyone who wants to enter eternal life must keep these same commandments: “You shall do no murder [SIXTH COMMANDMENT], You shall not commit adultery [SEVENTH COMMANDMENT], You shall not steal [EIGHTH COMMANDMENT], You shall not bear false witness [NINTH COMMANDMENT], Honour your father and your mother [FIFTH COMMANDMENT]” (Matt. 19:18-19). Christ summarized these as “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” the second greatest commandment (Matt. 22:39).

Years after Christ’s sacrifice (which most religious leaders claim does away with the law), Paul taught these same commandments to Gentile converts in Rome: “For this, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Rom. 13:9).

In Ephesians 6:2, Paul commanded Christians to obey the Fifth Commandment by honouring their parents. (Eph. 6:2). He commanded them to obey the Ninth Commandment: “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour” (Eph. 4:25). He observed the Tenth Commandment, saying, “I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, You shall not covet” (Rom. 7:7).

The apostle James also warned about the dangers of breaking the Tenth Commandment: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death” (James. 1:14-15).

He continued in chapter 4: “From where come wars and fighting's among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not. You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts” (Jame 4:1-3).

As you can see, all of the Ten Commandments were preached throughout the New Testament. No wonder the apostle John wrote, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous” (I John 5:2-3).

A New Commandment?

After examining all these biblical proofs, some will still believe that the Ten Commandments were abolished, refusing to give up what they have always assumed. They may even claim that the Ten Commandments were “replaced” by the “new commandment” Christ and John had taught. But what is this “new commandment”? Does it supercede the Ten Commandments?

In John 13:34-35, Christ said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one to another.”

In Matthew 22:37-39, Christ said we must love our neighbours as ourselves. But in John 13, Christ gives a new and higher standard—to love others as Christ loves us. Only those with God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in them can love people the way Christ does. “Because the carnal mind is enmity [hostile] against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his…For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:7-9, 14). This is talking about true Christians—GOD’S CHURCH!

When Christ said, “love one another, as I have loved you,” He was talking to His disciples. Later on, they were baptized and received the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:1-47), becoming the New Testament Church. Only true Christians—those with the Spirit of God in their minds—can hope to love others as Christ does. Carnal man cannot. But what about the “new commandment” in I John 2:8? “Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in Him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shines.” What is it that is both “true in Christ” and “in” Christians?

The answer is in John 16:13-15, where Christ encouraged His disciples on the eve of His crucifixion: “Howbeit when [it], the Spirit of truth, is come, [it] will guide you into all truth: for [it] shall not speak of [itself]; but whatsoever [it] shall hear, that shall [it] speak: and [it] will show you things to come. [It] shall glorify Me: for [it] shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father has are Mine: therefore said I, that [it] shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you.”

It is the Holy Spirit—the “Spirit of truth”—that is “true in Christ,” and in His servants, members of His Church. This same spirit sets God’s people apart from the world, converting their minds into the mind of Christ. The Holy Spirit empowers a Christian’s mind, enabling him to love the way Christ and God the Father do. Without it, no human being can perfectly fulfil I Corinthians 13:1-13 “Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not; love vaunts not itself, is not puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (I Cor 13:4-8).

In II John 5-6, John wrote, “And now I beseech you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto you, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after His commandments. This is the commandment, That, as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.” This scripture does not replace or do away with the Ten Commandments. Instead, it reinforces them.

The Ten Commandments existed before Moses from the time of Creation. All ten were taught throughout the New Testament. They are still in effect today.

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