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A. It is not enough to belong to the Church in order to be saved, but we must
also keep the Commandments of God and of the Church.
A. The commandments of the Church are also commandments of God, for they are
made by His authority and under the guidance of the Holy Ghost; nevertheless,
the Church can change or abolish its own commandments, while it cannot change
or abolish the commandments given directly by God Himself.
A. The Commandments which contain the whole law of God are these two:
- 1st. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with thy whole
soul, with thy whole strength, and with thy whole mind;
- 2nd. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
A. These two Commandments of the love of God and of our neighbor contain the
whole law of God because all the other Commandments are given either to help us
to keep these two, or to direct us how to shun what is opposed to them.
A. The two commandments of the love of God and of our neighbor contain the
teaching of the whole ten commandments because the first three of the ten
commandments refer to God and oblige us to worship Him alone, respect His name
and serve Him as He wills, and these things we will do if we love Him;
secondly, the last seven of the ten commandments refer to our neighbor and
forbid us to injure him in body, soul, goods or reputation, and if we love him
we will do him no injury in any of these, but, on the contrary, aid him as far
as we can.
A. The Commandments of God are these ten:
- 1. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt
not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in
heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the
waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them.
- 2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
- 3. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
- 4. Honor thy father and thy mother.
- 5. Thou shalt not kill.
- 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
- 7. Thou shalt not steal.
- 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
- 9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.
- 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.
A. The first commandment means by a "graven thing" or "the likeness of
anything" in heaven, in the earth or in the waters, the statue, picture or
image of any creature in heaven or of any animal on land or in water intended
for an idol and to be worshipped as a god.
A. God Himself gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai, and Christ
our Lord confirmed them.
A. The Commandments, written on two tables of stone, were given to Moses in the
midst of fire and smoke, thunder and lightning, from which God spoke to him on
the mountain, about fifty days after the Israelites were delivered from the
bondage of Egypt and while they were on their journey through the desert to the
Promised Land.
A. When we say Christ confirmed the Commandments we mean that He strongly
approved them, and gave us by His teaching a fuller and clearer knowledge of
their meaning and importance.
A. All persons, from the beginning of the world, were obliged to keep the
Commandments, for it was always sinful to blaspheme God, murder, steal or
violate any of the Commandments, though they were not written till the time of
Moses.
A. Before the coming of Our Lord the Jews had three kinds of laws:
- (1) Civil laws, regulating the affairs of their nation;
- (2) Ceremonial laws, governing their worship in the temple;
- (3) Moral laws, guiding their religious belief and actions.
A. The Ten Commandments belong to the moral law, because they are a compendium
or short account of what we must do in order to save our souls; just as the
Apostles' Creed is a compendium of what we must believe.
A. The civil laws of the Jews ceased to exist when the
A. The moral laws of the Jews could not be abolished by the establishment of the Christian religion because they regard truth and virtue and have been revealed by God, and whatever God has revealed as true must be always true, and whatever He has condemned as bad in itself must be always bad.
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