The Ten Commandments

1. What are the commandments of God?
2. What is the origin of the Ten Commandments?
3. Are the Ten Commandments still relevant?
4. Is it acceptable to keep most, but not all of the commandments?
5. Is it true that the Ten Commandments are written on our hearts?
6. Can the Ten Commandments of God be observed?
7. How are the Ten Commandments divided?
8. What does St. Paul say about the Ten Commandments? 
9. How did Jesus sum up the Ten Commandments?

1.  What are the commandments of God?
The commandments of God are these ten:

I am the Lord your God:

1. You shall not have other gods besides me.
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord's day.
4. Honor your father and your mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods (cf. Ex 20:1-17).
    

2. What is the origin of the Ten Commandments?
The Ten Commandments are introduced as the Decalogue ("ten words") in the Books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. The Lord gave them to Moses to bring to the people as the pledge of the covenant. (2056-2061)

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb (Dt 5:2).

3. Are the Ten Commandments still relevant?
Yes. Jesus stressed their importance to his followers, for they express how we are to behave as God's children. Keeping them is our response to God's constant love for us. (2062, 2064-2068)

If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments (Mt 19:17).

4. Is it acceptable to keep most, but not all of the commandments?
We cannot choose to observe only some of the commandments. All of them are equally words of God which he revealed to us for our good. They have a unity; to refuse to observe even one is to offend against all of them. (2069)

For whoever keeps the whole Torah but stumbles with regard to one commandment has become guilty of all of it (Jas 2:10).

5.  Is it true that the Ten Commandments are written on our hearts?
Yes, the Ten Commandments are written on our hearts. They clearly state the rights and duties we have toward God and one another, which our consciences recognize naturally. (2070-2071)

6.  Can the Ten Commandments of God be observed?
Even though the Ten Commandments involve serious obligations and we may face strong temptations against them, the grace to observe them is always available to the sincere of heart. (2072)

If you will, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice (Sir 15:15).

7. How are the Ten Commandments divided?
The first three show us the way to love God; the other seven, how to love our neighbor.

8. What does St. Paul say about the Ten Commandments?
St. Paul says this:

See that you owe nothing, except for your obligation to love one another, for whoever loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Torah.... The commandments can be summed up in one sentence-you shall love your neighbor as yourself (Rom 13:8-9).

9. How did Jesus sum up the Ten Commandments?
When asked which of the commandments was the most important, Jesus summed them up in these words:

"You shall love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your understanding"; this is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." All the Torah and the prophets rests on these two commandments (Mt 22:37-40).