Christians and the 10 commandments.

1. Christ Came to Fulfil the Law

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:17-20

2. Does Matthew 5:17-20 require Christians to live by the 10 Commandments?

In consideration of the question, there are a few important points to recognise:

1. At the time of the commandments being given by God, there were two people groups identified in scripture, they were the Israelites, and the Gentiles (all nations other than Israel).

2. In the New Testament period, there are generally four people groups identified:

1. The Jewish remnant (Romans 11:5).
2. Jewish and Gentile Christians. (Galatians 3:28)
3. The elect out of all tribe, tongue and nation, who haven’t yet come to salvation: ^{Revelation 7:9 2 Timothy 2:10, Heb1:14}
4. Those destined to the lake of fire: Goats ^{Matthew 25:41-46}

3. The Mosaic Law was not given to the Gentiles, it was given to the children of Israel, the Jews:

Some Gentiles have said “we’re not under the law any more”, but the Gentiles were never under the Mosaic law, it was given to the Israelites. The law of the sabbath specifically has never had application to the Gentiles, as it was instructed as a reminder to the Israelites of God’s deliverance of them from Egypt, the Gentiles didn’t depart from Egypt by the hand of God under Moses’s leadership.

And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,
and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Deuteronomy 5:15

4. Specific people groups and types are identified and taught throughout scripture, this is vital to recognise.

Matthew was written principally to Jews and Jewish Christians, they are the ones most often spoken to throughout the book, but it still has application to Gentile Christians as we’re told in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.“.
This distinction of the people being spoken to, is very important to recognise, in comprehending and applying the text of all scripture.

The Jewish nature of Matthew is seen throughout, such as in the following verses in chapter 5:21-48 where the phrase “you have heard“, is recalling what was spoken to Jews who had been taught many things in the Mosaic and subsequent Jewish law, Jesus expanded or altered these laws for application in the present period of the Churches existence, instructing Jewish Christians how to live. These instructions are also applicable to Gentile Christians, but they’re not applicable to any person as being the means to salvation.
Gentiles hadn’t been living under Jewish laws, the phrase “you have heard” didn’t apply to Gentiles, they hadn’t been given the oracles of God, as we are told in Romans 3

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 
Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.

Jesus also highlights this distinction in Matthew 5:47, where while instructing Jews through the earlier portion, He used Gentiles as examples to the Jewish listeners: “Do not even the Gentiles do the same?“. These instructions were transitional, showing the previous content and application of the law to the Jews, and the revelation of deeper content and application to all Christians.

 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgement.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
³¹ “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
³³ “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
³⁵ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹ And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ⁴² Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Matthew 5

5. The law didn’t begin with the 10 commandments in the wilderness, it started in the garden of Eden:

God has judged and directed men’s thoughts, words and actions by HIs law, from the time of the garden of Eden, and He will continue to do so through to the end of this present state of the earth, until the new heavens and earth are established.
The delivery of the Ten Commandments was not the commencement of God’s requirement that His law be obeyed. His law was always to be obeyed from the first commandment when God said “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat” ^{Genesis 2:17}. and because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience to the first commandment, they then had “knowledge of good and evil“. Cain didn’t have the written commandments, but he had God’s law “knowledge of good and evil” written in his heart from birth, which he rejected, then he killed his brother.
The people of the earth at the time of Noah were judged by God as wicked because they rebelled against God’s law written in their hearts, and they chose to live contrary to the example of this law which was exemplified by Christ in Noah through Holy Spirit ^{(1 Peter 3:19-20)}.

The following verses from Romans 2, speak of “the law”, this phrase needs to be understood subject to context, some times it’s used as referring specifically to the written Mosaic Law, and in other portions within the passage, it is used of God’s unwritten law that is in men’s hearts, which is inclusive of 9 commandments that were written on stone.

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. ¹³ For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. ¹⁴ For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵ They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them ¹⁶ on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Romans 2:12-16

6. Jesus Christ was the only one able to obey the whole law.

In the opening verses from Matthew 6, Jesus said: “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.“, through His complete obedience, we are saved from the penalty of breaking the law, and through Him we are able to fulfil all the law:

⁴ Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. ⁵ For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. ⁶ But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

Romans 7:4-6

When Christians apply the instruction to love our neighbour as ourselves, we’re fulfilling the whole law:

¹⁴ For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

Galatians 5:14

Romans 10
1  Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes.

7. The rest/Sabbath of Christ:

Even after Jesus’s death and resurrection, many Jews still attempted to gain righteousness by living by the law, and they tried to get the Galatians to join them in living under law, but righteousness can’t be gained by mans works of obedience to the law, as Romans 10:3-4 says, they needed to be told many times that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, they needed to learn to live in the rest of Christ’s work in fulfilling the law, this is an aspect of the Sabbath that applies to us, Christians rest in Christ for their righteousness. Sabbath generally means rest, we rest in Christ’s righteousness and God gives us peace through obedience, He doesn’t give us righteousness by obedience, we have righteousness through Christ, and we love to do His will, so by applying love to our neighbour we fulfil the whole law. When we obey this commandment, we’re honouring God, obeying Him, recognising there is no other god, we don’t covet our neighbours possessions, we don’t murder, we don’t steel, we don’t commit fornication, we don’t lie, we honour our Father and Mother…. We don’t live thinking “I must not break the law, I must not break the law …”, but we obey through the strength that God supplies through Christ, our eyes are fixed on Him, we’ve entered His rest!

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. ² For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 
³ For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest’”,
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” ⁵ And again in this passage he said,
“They shall not enter my rest.”
⁶ Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, ⁷ again he appoints a certain day, “Today”, saying through David so long afterwards, in the words already quoted,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. ⁹ So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, ¹⁰ for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
¹¹ Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

Hebrews 4:1-11

In Acts 15, we’re told of these people who tried to make the Gentiles live under Jewish law, the Jews couldn’t do it, but they wanted to make the Gentiles suffer and strive for righteousness through men’s work like them.

¹ But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers,
“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 
² And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 
⁴ When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. ⁵ But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
¹⁰ Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹ But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
¹² And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. ¹³ After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴ Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. ¹⁵ And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
¹⁹ Therefore my judgement is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, ²⁰ but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols,
and from sexual immorality,
and from what has been strangled,
and from blood. 

Acts 15:1-20

In Paul’s letter to the Galatians 5:1, he said “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery... ⁷ You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? ⁸ This persuasion is not from him who calls you. ⁹ A little leaven leavens the whole lump. “. Note that Paul wrote that teachers who lead people to try to gain righteousness through the law, are not teaching Gods instruction: “This persuasion is not from him who calls you.“, but the truth sets people free.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Romans 8:1-4

But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

Romans 7:6

_{A.P.Overton 13-Sep-25}

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Are Christians instructed to keep the Sabbath?