One of the biggest questions people have about the Christian life is about our obedience. Do Christians need to keep the 10 Commandments? Is that what the Christian life is all about?

This is another huge topic, so this video is just a short introduction with a couple of pointers to some more detailed information.

Summary of the video

Here’s a brief summary of the points I make in the video:

• Do Christians need to keep the 10 commandments? The answer is “It’s complicated” – it’s a bit like yes / no / yes…
• In Matthew 5:17, Jesus said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.”
• Jesus didn’t come to remove any laws but fulfil them. What does that mean?
• Romans 3:20 says, “through the law we become conscious of our sin”.
• The Law shines a light on our lives and helps us to see our sin.
• The reason we need the law in the first place is because there is something wrong with us – we want to do the wrong thing.
• Romans 8:1-4 says that the law cannot help us with our innate problem with sin – only Jesus can do that.
• Jesus came to do what the law couldn’t do. He makes us righteous from the inside out.
• Jesus can help us want to love God and love others – something which we could never do by simply trying to obey the commandments.
• Jeremiah 31:33 says, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” This is a prophecy of what God would do in Jesus.
• Through Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, God writes his laws on our hearts.
• Finally, in Matthew 5:21-22 Jesus uses the example of murder. It’s a command most people think they’ve kept. But Jesus shows that none of us have kept even this law perfectly.
• We need a transformation to love others!

Explore further

You might like to look at the Sermon on the Mount course.

You might also appreciate session 15 of the New City Catechism: What’s the point of the Law (if we can’t keep it)?

Your questions answered

This is the third video for the Your questions answered feature.

If you have a question about Christianity or the Bible, please send them in or comment below.