Dear Rev. The Old Testament seems to be about the Law and the Ten Commandments. The New Testament seems to be about Christ and how he came to fulfill the Law. Jesus said, “It is written; love thy God with all thy heart and mind and soul and thy neighbor as thyself, on these two hang all the law”. My question is, do these sayings from Jesus erase the Ten Commandments and start a New Testament with the two commandments above? To me the New Testament law makes more sense than the old one. Is the old law condensed into these two laws that Christ stated?
Thank you for your question. Jesus said, “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 hang on these two commandments” – Matthew 22:37-40.
What Jesus was saying is that if a person loves God with all their heart, soul, and mind they will fulfill all the commandments concerning God. And if a person loves their neighbor as themselves, they will fulfill the rest of the commandments concerning man. For example, if a person loves God with all their heart, soul, and mind they will have fulfilled the first commandment which is – “You shall have no other gods before me”- Exodus 20:3. In the same way if a person loves their neighbor as themselves they will not covet another man’s wife. This is how the whole Law hangs on these two commandments. Jesus wasn’t introducing a new set of laws, he was revealing God’s ultimate standard for man contained in these two commandments. Therefore, the two laws Jesus spoke of don’t erase the 10 Commandments.
However, no one is saved by keeping the Ten Commandments. Obviously, no one has ever kept all the commandments of God perfectly (except Jesus). For example, if anyone thinks they love God with all their mind, what other things do they think about? Also, using God’s name as a cuss word is a violation of the third commandment. The truth is, we are all guilty of breaking God’s commandments and that’s why we need a Savior from sin. Otherwise we’ll be guilty on judgment day and hell will be our destiny. However, Jesus Christ died on the cross so that we could be forgiven. We can receive a pardon for our sins if we repent. Once we’ve received God’s forgiveness then we have the privilege of knowing God in a personal way and heaven to look forward to. So have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior from sin?
