Introduction
Moses Descending Mount Sinai, Gustav Dor, 1866
Preaching on The Ten Commandments opens up a host of theological questions and angles to understand their application of which cannot obviously be explored in one sermon. This post will help give you additional insight into how and why we have The Ten Commandments as an ethical framework for Christian discipleship. There will also be some resources attached throughout if you are interested in further study of the historical and contemporary issues surrounding this. As we said from the pulpit, we will also provide a link to the archives where there is the sermon series on all Ten Commandments made available to you for additional devotion and study.
The Threefold Use
As a local church we largely draw our doctrinal influences from the Protestant Reformation in 16th century Europe, including figures such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Hulrich Zwingli. This is information that we go into far more detail about if you take our covenant membership class and get to know more of our infrastructure. By and large though, the Protestant heritage we draw from has a helpful interpretive lens for looking at and applying the law. What parts of it apply to us (if they do at all) and what stays within the boundaries of the Old Covenant? Reformed theologians like the aforementioned John Calvin call this the “threefold distinction.” It takes all 613 laws articulated through the Old Testament, including The Ten Commandments and categorizes them into three sections - moral, ceremonial, and civil. There are several Protestant confessional documents that are staples in Presbyterian, Reformed, Lutheran, and other Baptist churches which have articles dedicated to this form.
Westminster Confession of Faith (Presbyterian)
The Scot’s Confession (Old Presbyterian and Episcopal churches in the British Isles)
Belgic Confession (Dutch Reformed, part of the “Three Forms of Unity”)
Augsburg Confession (Lutheran)
London Baptist Confession (Baptist…)
In this framework, the moral laws that discuss basic human ethics and social interaction are forever binding, which means we’re obligated to obey them. The ceremonial laws that include the variegate offerings brought to the priests, the different washings, what is declared clean, and unclean, those are laws that are fulfilled in and through Jesus Christ - which means according to Hebrews chapter 9, we’re liberated from them in the New Covenant. Lastly, the civil laws. Ordinances that read strangely to our modern sensibilities, those are done away along with the old commonwealth of theocratic Israel. They were divinely mandated specifically for Israel’s civil management, but the moral principles underneath those laws still have lasting relevance for other nations as they architect their own common law.
Historical Examples of the Moral Law Applied
European and American history are replete with examples of their legislative application, but in contemporary debates there are all kinds of proposed ways in which the state ought to enforce the second table of the law. Some of them include (and not in any order):
Some of these examples historically include Anglican Britain, Luther’s Germany, and Calvin’s Geneva.
Think Poland and Italy, where the ecclesial infrastructure of the Catholic Church is webbed tightly into the civil sphere, highly influencing things like blasphemy laws.
19-21st century North America, influenced by John Locke and Adam Smith emphasizing personal responsibility and freedom & no imposition or promotion of one specific organized religion.
19th and 20th century political project in the Netherlands that brought ancient, magisterial principles and tenants to bear on modern economics, secularism, and burgeoning globalization. Sphere sovereignty is the crucial concept.
A proposed correction to the aberrances of Classic Liberalism that comes out of Westminster Seminary in Escondido. Their influences are figures like Abraham Kuyper who was Prime Minister of the Netherlands in the early 20th century.
Anabaptist Separationism (aka Radical Reformation)
The furthest end of the Protestant Reformation in 16th century Western Europe that emphasized personal conversion, credobaptism, and generally disagreed about Christians participating in the civic sphere (pacifism). E.g. Mennonites, Quakers, Amish.
No matter your persuasion of the aforementioned positions (and there are grey areas within them all) the overarching point is that the moral law is indeed binding on us… and the centerpiece of the moral law is, The Ten Commandments. On this side of redemptive history we can eat shellfish, we can wear clothing made with two different fabrics, and eat bacon (thank goodness), but to no one’s surprise, we still can’t kill people or commit adultery. But more than that, we are still lovingly obligated to revere and exclusively worship the one true God. We are to be committed to honor our elders; to kindness; to chastity; integrity; and contentment… that includes within our own personal discipleship to Jesus; within our families, within our churches, and within civil society at large.
