10 Commandments?

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Dear Brothers and Sisters, Need your Help. What do you think the purpose of the Ten commandments are? Im learning how to evangelize more effectivally. Thanks for your answers in advance. God Bless. P/s Moderators if you need to move this over somewhere else please do.Thanks.
 
As a former Pentecostal we used them as a starting point for cold calling (one on one street evangelism). Everyone knows about the Ten Commandments. We then pointed out that sometime in their life they broke them all or just one and were in need of forgiveness. That forgiveness can only be given by the creator of the commandments which they acknowledged existed. A common denominator (the commandments) that we could use as a starting point. It’s an effective and proven method and so simple. Hope that’s sort of what you were looking for. Peace, Mike
 
the 10 commandments rock. they pretty much simplify every law God ever laid down for us into 10. for example, if you love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself then why would you ever want to murder, steal, or not do what God says?
 
Jesus simplied matters even further when He said:

*But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. *
**
*And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” *

***And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” ***
 
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SPOKENWORD:
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Need your Help. What do you think the purpose of the Ten commandments are? Im learning how to evangelize more effectivally. Thanks for your answers in advance. God Bless. P/s Moderators if you need to move this over somewhere else please do.Thanks.
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Hey Spoken!

Good to see you! I think the best way to start evangelizing about the Ten Commandments (the Decaloge) is to start with § 2067 from CCC: " The Ten Commandments state what is required in the love of God and love of neighbor. the first three concern love of God, and the other seven love of neighbor …".

God gave them out of LOVE for us, his poor children, who disobeyed Him in the Garden! Real love has to build on trust. If Adam and Eve had trusted God in the Garden of Eden, they would not have listened to the snake. They would have trusted that God, who is good, had a purpose to, at that moment in history, forbid them to eat of the fruit on that special tree.

God gave the Ten Commandments after He had rescued Israel out of Egypt where they were prisoners (slaves). Since thay have been prisoned so long, they had to learn how to be free.

**Real FREEDOM is senterd in their (our) love for God (the three first commandments) **"THE FIRST COMMANDMENT - I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. … ** , **"THE SECOND COMMANDMENT - You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain … " ** , **"THE THIRD COMMANDMENT - Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy … ". **

After these three, as you know, we have the seven others, were we first are asked **to obey our parents ** who are the creatures of God **wich union ** made it possible for us to be the fruit of their love. Then we have the six others to regulate relations between Gods human creatures (remember the first brother, Cain, killed Abel) - between families, friends, neigbours and strangers: -not kill, - not commit adultery, - not steal, - not bear false witness, - not covet your neighbor’s wife, - not desire . . . anything that is your neighbor’s.

The purpose then, was of course to establish in man what was broken, the ability to be in lovable and trustful realtionships to God and eachother. Love, law and order hangs together.

God gave Israel (and us) a chance to get restored after the prison (to be a slave of sin is a prison, too). Jesus said the same when He said: ‘”You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (NRSV Mat 22:37-40)

The purpose in general today is to protect us from our tendencies to sin and to be able to love. The purpose is **not ** to make life uncomfortable for us. Jesus has by now won over death. But we still need protection and guidance to be able to live in a christian way. We can loose our salvation.

Without education in right and wrong (in a lovable way) we will not be healthy human beeings. Example: “Elderly man beaten up in street. An 80-year-old Teesside man was taken to hospital after being dragged from his bike and attacked by a youth” (BBC- News 7 February, 2005, 07:40 GMT).

If this man dies, the youth has comitted murder! Of course they can regret, ask about Gods forgivnes and be saved, but still they have killed a man!!! It will lay on their shoulders for the rest of their lives.

The ten commandments tells us something about Gods love for us, in the history of salvation (from the Fall to Christ) and in modern time. Free love exists inside borders!

Hope this can give you some idea about how to evangelize on the Ten Commandments!

Blessings!

G. Grace**
 
Hello Spokenword,

Obeying God’s commandments is how we love God and fellow man.

Please visit Choices Of The Heart

NIV 1JO 5:3

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.

NIV JOH 14:15

"If you love me, you will obey what I command."
****NAB DEU 11:1
“Love the LORD, your God, therefore, and always heed his charge: his statutes, decrees and commandments.”

**NIV JOH 14:23 **
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”

**NAB 2JO 1:5 **
But now, my Lady, I would make this request of you (not as if I were writing you some new commandment; rather, it is a commandment we have had from the start): let us love one another. This love involves our walking according to the commandments, and as you have heard from the beginning, the commandment is the way in which you should walk.

NAB ROM 13 Love Fulfills the Law.

Owe no debt to anyone except the debt that binds us to love one another. He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment there may be are all summed up in this, saying (namely) “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love never wrongs the neighbor, hence love is the fulfillment of the law.

**NIV PRO 3:1 **
My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

NAB DEU 11:22

"For if you are careful to observe all these commandments I enjoin on you, loving the LORD, your God, and following his ways exactly, and holding fast to him, . . . . "

NAB JOH 15:22

“If I had not come to them and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; now, however, their sin cannot be excused. To hate me is to hate my Father. Had I not performed such works among them as no one has ever done before, they would not be guilty of sin; but as it is, they have seen, and they go on hating me and my Father.”

Peace in Christ,
Steven Merten
www.ILOVEYOUGOD.com
 
Hello again Spokenword,

Here are a couple more of my favorites.

NAB DEU 5:9

“. . . you shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishments for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation but bestowing mercy, down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

NAB DEU 30:19

“I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:** I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life,** then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.”

NAB DEU 30:15 The Choice before Israel.

“Here then, I have today set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.”

Peace in Christ,
Steven Merten
www.ILOVEYOUGOD.com
 
Thank you my brothers and sisters for helping me with your answers. May God continue to bless you all with His peace and His love. 👍 God Bless
 
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SPOKENWORD:
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Need your Help. What do you think the purpose of the Ten commandments are? Im learning how to evangelize more effectivally. Thanks for your answers in advance. God Bless. P/s Moderators if you need to move this over somewhere else please do.Thanks.
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I believe they are to point us to our Saviour Jesus Christ. He said that all the law and the prophets hang on the “first and the last” commandments,De 6:5; 10:12; 30:6; Mr 12:29-30,33; Lu 10:27; Ro 8:7; Heb 10:16-17; 1Jo 5:2-5; . Mt 19:19; Le 19:18; Mr 12:31; Lu 10:27-28; Ro 13:9-10; Ga 5:14; Jas 2:8 and in the Bible, God says in the Old Testament that He is "The first and the last and beside Him there is not God, Isa 44:6; Isa 41:4; 48:12; Re 1:8,11,17; 2:8; 22:13 and in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Jesus says, He is “the first and the last, the beginnning and the end, and the Alpha and Omega”.Re 11:1-19; 2:8; 21:6; 22:13; Isa 41:4; 43:10; 48:12; Re 4:8; 11:17; 16:14; 19:15; 21:22; Ge 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25; Ex 6:3; Nu 24:4; Isa 9:6; 2Co 6:18
I think that everything in between falls into all of this, and that the whole Bible is about Him.

Just my two cents.
 
Hmmm…the “purpose” of the ten commandments.

Well…they were given to the world during a time when paganism was the norm - along with the immoral practices that went with it.

The commandments reveal God’s truth to us beginning with the most important truth - That there is only ONE God.

The commandments show us he is a “jealous” God. He does not want us worshipping anyone but Him - because there ARE no others but Him.

He reveals Himself to be concerned with our moral choices by laying out his disdain for the harm we cause each other.
This, of course, all goes back to His immense love for each of us.

The commandments show God to have parental concern for children who are hurting Him and hurting each other.
As a parent, He loves every child.

So the commandments are about love.
 
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Lorarose:
Hmmm…the “purpose” of the ten commandments.

Well…they were given to the world during a time when paganism was the norm - along with the immoral practices that went with it.

The commandments reveal God’s truth to us beginning with the most important truth - That there is only ONE God.

The commandments show us he is a “jealous” God. He does not want us worshipping anyone but Him - because there ARE no others but Him.

He reveals Himself to be concerned with our moral choices by laying out his disdain for the harm we cause each other.
This, of course, all goes back to His immense love for each of us.

The commandments show God to have parental concern for children who are hurting Him and hurting each other.
As a parent, He loves every child.

So the commandments are about love.
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Don’t you think they were to show us that we cannot meet His holy standard and are in need of a Saviour? Is there someone you know who can live up to all that is stated and claim absolute purity and never been contaminated with anything?
 
Don’t you think they were to show us that we cannot meet His holy standard and are in need of a Saviour? Is there someone you know who can live up to all that is stated and claim absolute purity and never been contaminated with anything?
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Let me put it this way.
Because I love my children - I set certain rules with them to help them.
When I tell them to do their homework - I do this because it is good for them. I don’t do it to show them they won’t always be able to do their homework.
Times will arise when they may fail to do their homework for sure - but my intention was not to illustrate their potential failure, but to illustrate a practice that is good for them

Did God give us a bunch of rules to prove to us we are incapable of following them?
Or did He give us a bunch of rules that are good for us?
Isn’t it good for us to refrain from murder, lying, adultery, and jealousy?
Certainly we all fail. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to strive for the standard that was set by God.
 
I think that the Ten Commandments are guideline or rules by which we as Catholic Christians need to live our lives. The Catechism provides an even more detailed set of rules, but the Ten Commandments act as the overall, broad set that help guide our lives and decisions. Everybody should be able to recite them, they are so very important to our Faith and our lives.

God Bless–JMJ
Laura 🙂
 
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Ruth101:
Don’t you think they were to show us that we cannot meet His holy standard and are in need of a Saviour? Is there someone you know who can live up to all that is stated and claim absolute purity and never been contaminated with anything?
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Mary
 
Personally I believe the 10 commandments are the standard by which God will judge non believers. The sad part is that many will fail and will be thrown into the fires of hell. Praise God we as christians have Jesus Christ to pay our debt.That is why it is so important to spread the Good News to them so that they will not perish and that includes many of our loved ones. 😦 God Bless
 
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SPOKENWORD:
Personally I believe the 10 commandments are the standard by which God will judge non believers. The sad part is that many will fail and will be thrown into the fires of hell. Praise God we as christians have Jesus Christ to pay our debt.That is why it is so important to spread the Good News to them so that they will not perish and that includes many of our loved ones. 😦 God Bless
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Hello Spokenword,

Believeing that anyone, believer or non-believer, can enter heaven without Jesus blood is not a Catholic belief. No Jesus equals no heaven, period. If non-believers go to heaven it is through the blood of Jesus.

NAB GAL 2:21

I will not treat God’s gracious gift as pointless. If justice is available through the law, then Christ died to no purpose!

Peace in Christ,
Steven Merten
www.ILOVEYOUGOD.com
 
As an Anglican, I was trained to prepare for confession by beginning my examination of conscience with a review of the 10 Commandments. Many moons ago, following one of the true landmark confessions of my life, I was walking up Fifth Avenue from the convent afterwards, and it flashed into my head, with abrupt certainty, that the Commandments, while certainly guides to our life with God and our neighbor, are not so much rules and regulations about what to do and not to do as they are a description of **what life is like in Heaven. **When we love perfectly, this is how life will be. And it begins right here. Right now.
 
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