When Did God Give The Ten Commandments?

What key concepts does Luther's Small Catechism teach regarding the Ten Commandments?

* God originally put the Ten Commandments in the hearts of Adam and Eve at creation. In their holy state--without any sin--they were able to perfectly know, understand and follow the Ten Commandments.
 

* God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. Moses, in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 repeated the necessity for God's people to follow the Ten Commandments.
 

* Jesus also taught the Ten Commandments. In Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus taught that the purpose of the Ten Commandments was to show us how to love God with all our heart, soul and mind...and how to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Why did God give the Ten Commandments?

God gave the Ten Commandments because He loves us. He wants His people to love Him as He loved us. He wants us to follow the Ten Commandments as a way to demonstrate our daily desire to follow His will.

God didn't give them to punish us. He gave them out of love to show us how to love Him and love others. Of course, those who don't believe in the saving grace of Jesus Christ are punished for their unbelief to the "third and fourth generation" of those who continue to sin against God without remorse, regret and repentance.

The Ten Commandments Identify Sin

But what is sin? Very simply, sin is defying God's will. This is done in at least three ways. We sin by...

1) Ignorance: Just because you didn't know something was a sin doesn't make you innocent. God holds every sinner accountable for every sin committed in thought, word and deed.

2) Disobedience: In his meaning to "The Close To The Commandments," Luther wrote that we sin whenever we act contrary to God's will.

3) Defiance: Defiance is not merely disbelief. Defiance is a stubborn, callous, indifference refusal to follow God's will.

The Bible describes sin very graphically. Some of the words for sin denote ignorance, rebellion, missing the bull's-eye of a target and trespassing ("crossing the line").

Can We Break Just One?

Do you sin? How often? Do you break just one or two sins or all of them?

Jesus' disciple James wrote,
           "If you keep all of the Law, but stumbles at just little part of it,
            you are guilty of breaking all of it."    James 2:10

If you hit a piece of glass just one time with a hammer, it will break. That's the way it is with the Ten Commandments. Break one commandment and all Ten Commandments are shattered.

What Does God Do With Our Dissilience?

God took care of our breaking the Ten Commandments. He sent Jesus, who never broke a single commandment, to perfectly keep the Ten Commandments in our place. As our Substitute, God, the Father, accepted His perfect obedience in our place. By dying on the cross, Jesus forgave all our sins.

All this means is that we keep the Ten Commandments because we are thankful to God. We are thankful for His undeserved loving grace in Jesus Christ. Luther's calling to "fear and love God" is simply our response of love to God with "all our heart, mind and soul."

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