Ep.878: The Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule – Why Bother?
Biblical living principles vs. subjective morality
CHAPTERS
Theme Scripture: Matthew 7:12
So often when people think about the Bible, they think of an ancient book full of rules given by a God who was jealous and angry in the Old Testament, and they think about Jesus as a representation of love and kindness in the New Testament. Our present social culture has decided that any necessary rules and guidelines can simply come from within each of us and that we don’t need any ancient book telling us here in this age of knowledge and reason what to do! Well, is the ancient wisdom right or are we? This podcast is all about the Ten Commandments.
The first four Commandments teach us to put God first. Without that as a basis, the other six can easily become subjective, as each of them needs the "God First" foundation to be able to guide our behavior. Not putting God first is the beginning of the downfall of any civilization. This can be subtle at first, happening in your mind, like Lucifer back in the Garden of Eden.
Some of the Commandments are "internal" instructions vs. "eternal." Some guide our relationship with our human family. Some have fulfillments that can be seen, but others are fulfilled within our heart and mind. Studying the Ten Commandments might seem like we are going back to basics, but there are layers and layers of vital lessons that make it worth the time to dive back in!
Keep the golden rule, reject the rest.
Thank you for writing, Ella. The problem is, Jesus never presented the Golden Rule as a replacement. He said it is a summary of “the Law and the Prophets.” A summary only works if the foundation underneath it still matters. We can’t toss out the structure and pretend the summary stands on its own.
Jesus himself made this really clear. When the rich young ruler asked how to inherit eternal life, Jesus didn’t give him a vague “just be nice” answer. He pointed straight to the Commandments — don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your parents. Jesus affirmed the Law. He didn’t discard it.
I the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said outright: “I did not come to abolish the Law.” He even warned that anyone who tries to cancel the Commandments is doing the exact opposite of what he taught (Matthew 5:17-19). Instead of throwing them out, Jesus actually raised the bar. He took the external rules and showed the deeper heart-level meaning behind them – anger becomes murder in the heart; lust becomes adultery in the heart. He intensified the Commandments.
The Ten Commandments give us the “what” of right and wrong. Jesus gives us the “why.” Together they form the backbone of how we love God and love our neighbor. When Jesus summarized the whole Law into two great commandments, he said everything else hangs on those two. They’re simply the practical details of what love looks like in real life.
So, tossing out the Ten Commandments while keeping the Golden Rule doesn’t work. It contradicts Jesus’ own teaching, ignores the structure he affirmed, and strips the Golden Rule of the very principles it’s built on. For more, we invite you to listen to our Ten Commandments Series. Perhaps surprisingly, they affect our modern life more than you might imagine. – Christian Questions