Each of the Ten Commandments is either unnecessary or incomplete.

It is needed. Today, the world is filled with hatred, murder, violence, wars, lying, cheating, and sexual perversion and promiscuity, yet most professing Christians claim that they are not required to keep the Ten Commandments. Few seem to realize that the problems of the world are a direct result of not keeping these laws. This study will prove that Christians today are still required to keep all of the Ten Commandments. The question of commandment keeping has caused many heated arguments since the days of Christ. Some theologians have proclaimed that Christians no longer need to keep the commandments. Many claim that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the end of the law and has released Christians from any obligation to keep the commandments. Is this true? Did the laws of God cease to exist with the death and resurrection of Christ? What does the Bible say about this subject? If a person professes to follow Jesus Christ and believes the Bible is the inspired Word of God, they should look to the Bible for the correct answer to these important questions. THE LAW IS PERFECT Psalm 19 shows the full extent of the blessings of God's law: "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward" (Psa.19:7-11 NIV). In our modern age of science, we have learned that there are laws which always function automatically: the laws of physics, chemistry, mathematics and all of the laws necessary to keep the solar system functioning and life continuing. If there is not conformity to these laws, disaster, death, and destruction will occur. In exactly the same way, all of the laws of God are a point of reference to which all people should look as a standard of behavior toward God and their fellow humans. The Ten Commandments are empirical laws that result in benefits for obedience and penalties for disobedience (Deut.30:15-19). God calls disobedience to these laws sin: "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness" (1.Jn.3:4 NIV). In Romans 7:7, Paul states that he would not have known what sin was if the law were not there to show him. Moreover, he indicates that he is talking about the Law that is contained in the Ten Commandments, by citing the tenth commandment, "you shall not covet." Because this law is a part of the Ten Commandments, Paul must be inferring that sin is the transgression of these ten foundational laws. The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament makes the meaning of 1.John 3:4 very easy to understand: "Everyone that practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness." Paul also says, "So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good" (Rom.7:12 NIV). In verse 14 he states, "We know that the law [Ten Commandments] is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin." The apostle James also says the same thing: "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it" (Jms.2:10). What he points out here is that the Ten Commandments are a part of a larger body of law and if just one part of the law is broken, the entire law has been violated. These scriptures leave no doubt as to what God says is sin! Sin is the violation of these spiritual laws, and these laws are summed up in the Ten Commandments. From the beginning, the penalty of sin has been death (Rom.6:23). But, through the blood of Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sin is possible.