It isn’t wrong to say that nine of the Ten Commandments constitute God’s will for us since they are moral norms, but we see that they constitute God’s will from reading the whole covenantal storyline of Scripture and from placing them in their proper covenantal context. As Christians, we can’t simply cherry-pick the Ten Commandments from their old-covenant context and claim that they are mandatory for us today.

If most Christians were asked if they should keep the Ten Commandments, they would answer, “Of course!”

Fundamentally, that answer is correct and reflects the wisdom of the ages, the wisdom that has been passed on from the early church to our own day. And yet the question is more complex than it appears at first glance. As the subtitle of this article implies, the Ten Commandments (literally the “Ten Words” in Hebrew) must be understood in light of the covenant in which they were given. The Ten Commandments must be read in context, and that means they must be read in a covenantal context.

God’s Covenants with His People

The Ten Commandments were given to Israel on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:1–17), when Yahweh instituted a covenant with the people of Israel after delivering them from Egypt. These commands were repeated again in Deuteronomy 5 before they were about to enter the Promised Land.

The Ten Words were given to Israel in a gracious context since Yahweh had borne them “on eagles’ wings” and freed them from Egyptian slavery (Exodus 19:4; 20:2). First came grace, then demand, and the demands weren’t a ladder to establish a relationship with the Lord but an expression of their devotion to Yahweh for his wondrous love.

When we read particular texts in the Scriptures, we must always read them in light of the overall story of redemption. The unfolding story is one where God progressively unveils his person, his ways, and his will to his people. The progressive nature of revelation has often been compared to an acorn and an oak tree, where we begin with the acorn that grows into a mighty oak. The illustration is helpful because there is an organic relationship among the various covenants.

Scholars dispute about how many major covenants exist in the Scriptures, but there is good evidence for the following covenants: the creation covenant, the covenant with Noah, the covenant with Abraham, the covenant with Israel (Mosaic), the covenant with David, and the new covenant.

There is an organic relationship among the covenants, but it doesn’t follow from this that the covenants are all the same or that the same regulations are mandated in all the covenants. As the story of redemption progresses, we find that there is both continuity and discontinuity among the covenants. Tracing out where the continuity and discontinuity lies isn’t easy, which explains why believers who love God’s word differ on how to “put the Bible together,” so to speak. Therefore, we have dispensationalists, covenant theologians, and progressive covenantalists, some of them Baptist or Presbyterian, others Lutheran or Mennonite.

Coming of a New Covenant

To return to the question before us, the Ten Words belong to the corporate covenant made with Israel. The covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai, however, is the old covenant, and Jeremiah declares that God will make “a new covenant” with his people (Jeremiah 31:31 CSB — and hereafter), and the covenant won’t be “like the covenant I made with their ancestors” (Jeremiah 31:32). The Lord will write his law on the hearts of his people and forgive their sins (Jeremiah 31:33–34). The Lord promises in Ezekiel that he will place his Spirit within his people and that they will keep his statutes and ordinances (Ezekiel 36:26–27).

Jesus instituted the new covenant with his death and resurrection (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25), and Paul designates himself as a minister of the “new covenant” (2 Corinthians 3:6). The coming of the new covenant means that believers are no longer under “the old covenant” (2 Corinthians 3:14).

The old covenant was made with Israel as a people, and Israel was a theocracy, a kind of state-church where the Lord reigned over his people. It was both a civil and a religious entity. In the new covenant, the people of the Lord are not limited to Israel, but in fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham, all peoples are now included (Genesis 12:3). In the new covenant, people from “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9) are members of God’s household (Ephesians 2:19). The church isn’t identified with any particular nation but consists of people from every nation.

Old Covenant as Guardian

To recap, the inauguration of the new covenant means that the old covenant has passed away. Hebrews 8:13 makes this very clear: “By saying a new covenant, he has declared that the first is obsolete.” Paul teaches the same truth in Galatians. The reason the Galatians don’t need to be circumcised is that they are no longer under the old covenant, and thus the stipulations of that covenant don’t apply to them.

The promise and covenant with Abraham were fundamental, and the law given to Israel was a subsidiary and interim covenant, never intended to be in force forever (Galatians 3:15–18). The law that represents the covenant with Israel lasted only until the promised offspring — Jesus — arrived (Galatians 3:19).

That law-covenant was our pedagogue, our babysitter, our guardian until the coming of Christ (Galatians 3:24). Now that “faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian” (Galatians 3:25). The law, which was integral to the covenant with Israel, has passed away with its commands and regulations (Ephesians 2:15). Believers have died to the law since they have died with Christ (Romans 7:4).

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