WORDS TO LIVE BY: A FRESH LOOK AT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

The Ten Commandments, spoken directly by God, embody His will for human life as fully as any teaching in all of Scripture. The whole Bible reveals the meaning of the commandments and informs us how to live, act, and think in light of them.

It’s important to know that those first given these words were already God’s people. They represent God’s way for God’s people. As believers today, we have been liberated to live these words, not to remain a Christian, but to live a life of faith active in love. To know and obey these words from the heart is to be who we were created to be.

Several of the commandments are negatively stated. This has led to a great misunderstanding as to their meaning and purpose. These words open up life rather than shut it down. They focus on the outer limits of conduct rather than on specific behaviors, and must be interpreted and discussed accordingly. The purpose of this series is to discover their meaning as foundational principles for us to live by today.