Topic Video: The Primacy of the Ten Commandments

Although some theologians treat the Ten Commandments as if they were just another portion of the Mosaic law, the Bible indicates that the Ten Commandments have a special primacy over Scripture’s other commandments.
For more videos like this, visit our channel: / thirdmillvideos
To find out more about our content or view transcripts for this video, visit our website:
Website: thirdmill.org
Follow us on social media:
Facebook: / thirdmillennium
Instagram: / thirdmill
X: x.com/thirdmill
LinkedIn: / third-millennium-minis...
The Ten Commandments are listed in Exodus 20 and in Deuteronomy 5. Although some theologians treat the Ten Commandments as if they were just another portion of the Mosaic law, the Bible indicates that the Ten Commandments have a special primacy over Scripture’s other commandments
The primacy of the Ten Commandments is both historical and theological. Their historical primacy depends on the fact that, to our knowledge, these laws were the first written legal code that was received by the nation of Israel.
Paul called special attention to this fact in Galatians 3:17, where he wrote these words:
The law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God.
God’s covenant with Abraham included many explicit and implicit laws.
But it wasn’t until Moses that Israel possessed God’s fully codified, written law.
Of course, God’s people had many commandments prior to Moses’ time. We see very clearly in the flood of Noah’s day that God had a number of standards that he expected people to follow. And when the people failed to obey, he destroyed the planet with the floodwaters.
Now, the Ten Commandments were not the only laws that God gave to Israel as they camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. But they did serve as the preliminary and summary statement for the other laws that Israel received at that time.
In addition to having a historical primacy, the Ten Commandments also had theological or ideological primacy.
As we read in Exodus 24:12:
The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.”
By carving the Ten Commandments himself, God demonstrated that the Ten Commandments were special among his laws, that they deserved special attention and notice. They were, in some sense, the most important of his commandments.
The theological primacy of the Ten Commandments is also indicated by the special occasion on which Israel received them. Thunder and lightning, smoke, clouds and heavenly trumpets attended the giving of the Law. And during this time, God allowed himself to be viewed not only by Moses, but also by Joshua, Aaron, and the seventy elders of Israel.
Beyond this, in Matthew 19:17-19, we read the following discussion between Jesus and a man who asked him how to inherit eternal life:
Jesus said … “If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The laws that Jesus listed were all from the Ten Commandments, except for the instruction on loving neighbors. And, as Jesus explained in Matthew 22:40, it summarizes the laws Jesus mentioned from the Ten Commandments.
Jesus indicated that by obeying the Ten Commandments, a person can earn eternal life. Of course, Jesus also taught that no one is good enough to obey these commandments fully. But Jesus confirmed the importance of the Ten Commandments in a very remarkable way. Even in the New Testament, the Ten Commandments were still spoken of in terms that reflected their theological primacy.
In short, this portion of God’s law holds a special primacy over Scripture’s other ethical instructions.

[@cnault3244]

"The Ten Commandments are listed in Exodus 20 and in Deuteronomy 5." Wrong. The Bible has a total of 613 commandments. The ones the scripture calls "the ten commandments" are not listed until Exodus 34. The first time a list of commandments is called "the ten commandments" is in this verse: Exodus 34:28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

[@truthgiver8286]

Thou shalt have no other god before me because I am omnipotent yet still very insecure and get jealous. 😂

[@interxyz]

The 10 cmds written on stone were given to Israel, therefore the person in Mat 19;17-19 should obey these, as a OT Jew. Christians after the cross have the spiritual Royal Law of Christ which is written in the New Testament for us, and revealed by the Holy Spirit, Who also gives us power to remember & keep those 1400+ commandments (imperative moods of the NT) No longer on stone, but the fleshy tables of our hearts! (2Co 3;3)