Do Christians Still Have to Keep the Ten Commandments? What Jesus Taught
Christians are still called to keep the Ten Commandments, which Jesus affirmed, deepened and summed up in the command to love. Many Christians wonder whether the commandments still apply to them. After all, Christians do not keep the Old Testament food laws or offer animal sacrifices, and Paul teaches that we are saved by grace, not by keeping the law. This article looks at what Jesus himself said about the Ten Commandments, how he summarized them in the two great commandments of love, and what the Catholic Church teaches about whether Christians must still keep them, whether keeping them can save you, and why they still matter today.
Yes. Jesus taught people to keep the Ten Commandments and summed them up as love of God and love of neighbor. Salvation is God's free gift, and those who accept it show that their acceptance is real by living according to his commandments.
For the Catholic list and why Catholics and Protestants number the commandments differently, see The Ten Commandments: Catholic List, Meaning and Bible Verses, and for the meaning of each commandment, see What Does Each of the Ten Commandments Mean?
What Did Jesus Say About the Ten Commandments?
Jesus affirmed the Ten Commandments, taught people to keep them, deepened their meaning, and summed them up in the command to love. He did not treat them as outdated.
Did Jesus Teach People to Keep the Ten Commandments?
Yes. When a rich young man asked Jesus what he must do to have eternal life, Jesus answered, "If you would enter life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17, RSV-2CE). He then listed several of the Ten Commandments: do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother (Matthew 19:18–19).
Jesus then invited the young man to go further: to give up his wealth and follow him (Matthew 19:21). Jesus also linked obeying him with loving him: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15).
Did Jesus Abolish the Ten Commandments or Fulfill Them?
Jesus fulfilled the Ten Commandments; he did not abolish them. He said clearly that he came not to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). He then showed what fulfilling them looks like. In the Sermon on the Mount, he took the commandments against murder and adultery and applied them to anger and lust (Matthew 5:21–30). He did not lower the standard. He raised it, from outward behavior to the inner heart.
Jesus fulfilled the law in a second sense as well. He was the only person who ever kept it perfectly, and by his death and resurrection he gives his followers the grace, through the Holy Spirit, to live it from the heart. This is what the prophet Jeremiah foretold: a new covenant in which God would write his law on people's hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).
How Did Jesus Summarize the Ten Commandments?
Jesus summarized the Ten Commandments in two great commandments: love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. When asked which commandment is the greatest, he answered by quoting these two Old Testament commands. The first is: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37, from Deuteronomy 6:5). The second is: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39, from Leviticus 19:18). Jesus added that on these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:40).
Paul says the same thing in Romans 13:8–10. After listing several of the Ten Commandments, he concludes that love is the fulfilling of the law.
How Do the Ten Commandments Teach Love of God and Love of Neighbor?
The Ten Commandments teach love of God in the first three commandments and love of neighbor in the other seven, following the same two-part pattern as Jesus' summary. They are not a random list of rules. The Catholic tradition, following St. Augustine, teaches that the first three commandments concern love of God and the other seven concern love of neighbor. Augustine pictured this as three commandments written on the first tablet and seven on the second.
The Bible does not actually say which commandments were written on which tablet. What is clear is that the two-part structure is clearly in the text itself: the commandments move from our duties toward God to our duties toward other people.
The two parts cannot be separated. John writes that anyone who says "I love God" while hating his brother is a liar (1 John 4:20). Love of God shows itself in love of neighbor, and love of neighbor is grounded in love of God.
The table below shows how each of the Ten Commandments fits into Jesus' two great commandments.
| Commandment | Love of God or love of neighbor | What love looks like in practice |
|---|---|---|
| 1. You shall not have strange gods before me | Love of God | Putting God first in our heart |
| 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain | Love of God | Honoring God with our words |
| 3. Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day | Love of God | Giving God our time in worship |
| 4. Honor your father and your mother | Love of neighbor | Respecting and caring for our family |
| 5. You shall not kill | Love of neighbor | Protecting every human life |
| 6. You shall not commit adultery | Love of neighbor | Being faithful in marriage |
| 7. You shall not steal | Love of neighbor | Being honest and fair with what belongs to others |
| 8. You shall not bear false witness | Love of neighbor | Telling the truth and guarding others' reputations |
| 9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife | Love of neighbor | Keeping our heart pure toward others |
| 10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods | Love of neighbor | Being content instead of greedy |
Which Commandments Are About Loving God?
The first three commandments concern our relationship with God:
- Worship God alone (the first commandment).
- Honor his name (the second commandment).
- Keep holy his day (the third commandment).
These three together describe loving God with the heart (putting him first), with our words (honoring his name) and with our time (setting aside his day).
Which Commandments Are About Loving Your Neighbor?
The fourth through tenth commandments concern our relationships with other people. They protect the most important things in every person's life:
- family (the fourth commandment);
- life (the fifth commandment);
- marriage (the sixth commandment);
- property (the seventh commandment);
- truth and reputation (the eighth commandment);
- purity of heart toward others (the ninth commandment);
- contentment instead of greed (the tenth commandment).
Seen this way, the seven commandments about our neighbor are a practical description of what it means to love another person as yourself.
Do Christians Still Have to Follow the Ten Commandments?
Yes. The Catholic Church teaches that the Ten Commandments remain binding on all Christians. They are not simply part of the old covenant with Israel. They express the moral law that God has written into human nature.
Are the Ten Commandments Still Binding on Christians Today?
Yes. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the Ten Commandments are obligatory for Christians.
Some people point out that Christians do not keep all the laws of the Old Testament, such as the food laws or the animal sacrifices. The Church distinguishes between different kinds of Old Testament law. Ceremonial laws, such as sacrifices and ritual purity rules, prepared for Christ and were fulfilled in him. The early Church confirmed that Gentile Christians did not need to keep them (Acts 15). The moral law, summarized in the Ten Commandments, describes what is always right and wrong, so it does not expire. This is why the New Testament repeats the moral commandments again and again (Romans 13:9; Ephesians 6:2–3; James 2:11).
The one partial exception is the Sabbath. As explained in Part 2 of this series, Christians keep the moral heart of the third commandment, setting aside regular time for God and rest, on the Lord's Day rather than on Saturday.
Can Keeping the Ten Commandments Save You?
No. No one can earn salvation by keeping the commandments. From a Christian perspective, salvation is God's free gift, offered to every person, whether man or woman, and whatever their nationality or background (Galatians 3:28; Titus 2:11). The Bible calls this gift grace. Paul explains that if salvation comes by grace, it cannot also come as payment for our works, or grace would no longer be grace (Romans 11:6).
Grace cannot be earned, but it must be accepted. God does not force his gift on anyone. Each person must freely choose to receive it: "to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God" (John 1:12).
Once we accept grace, keeping the Ten Commandments is how we show that our acceptance is real. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15), and James warns that faith without works is dead (James 2:17).
Look at it another way. Suppose a person says he has accepted God's grace. Does that make it acceptable for him to commit adultery, steal, lie or covet? Paul asked this very question: "Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!" (Romans 6:1–2). Accepting grace and then ignoring God's commandments makes no sense.
So the answer is still no. Keeping the commandments does not buy salvation. Accepting grace is the first step, and living by the commandments, with God's help, is the path that grace opens. This is why Jesus told the man who asked about eternal life, "If you would enter life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17).
Some people argue that living a good life is enough to be saved, whatever a person believes. Followers of other faiths may see salvation differently, and that is for them to decide. This answer is from a Christian perspective: salvation is God's gift, freely received and lived out by keeping his commandments.
Why Are the Ten Commandments Still Important Today?
The Ten Commandments remain important today because they show us who God is, protect what makes human life good, help us see ourselves honestly, lead us to Christ and point the way to freedom.
First, they show us who God is. They begin with a God who rescues people from slavery, not a God who demands obedience before he helps.
Second, they protect what makes human life good: worship, family, life, marriage, property, truth and a peaceful heart. A society where people keep these commandments is safer, freer and more trustworthy.
Third, they help us see ourselves honestly. Many Catholics use the Ten Commandments to examine their conscience before Confession. They act like a mirror, showing where we have fallen short and where we need God's mercy.
Fourth, they lead us to Christ. No one keeps the commandments perfectly. Recognizing this leads us to the One who did keep them perfectly and who offers forgiveness and new life to all who turn to him.
Finally, the commandments are a path to freedom. Just as a train is free to move only when it stays on the tracks, a human life flourishes when it follows the path God designed. The psalmist put it simply: "I will walk at liberty, for I have sought thy precepts" (Psalm 119:45).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the Ten Commandments repeated in the New Testament? Yes, most of them are. Jesus listed several of them when the rich young man asked about eternal life (Matthew 19:18–19; Mark 10:19). Paul lists several in Romans 13:9 and quotes the commandment to honor your parents in Ephesians 6:2–3. James mentions the commandments against adultery and killing (James 2:11). The New Testament also repeatedly warns against idolatry, lying and greed. The one commandment not repeated as a command is the Sabbath, which Christians keep in spirit on the Lord's Day.
Did people know right from wrong before God gave the Ten Commandments? Yes. The Bible shows that people knew right from wrong long before Mount Sinai. God held Cain responsible for murdering his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8–11). When Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph, he refused because it would be a great wrong and a sin against God (Genesis 39:9). The Ten Commandments did not invent the moral law. They wrote down clearly what God had already placed in the human heart.
Do the Ten Commandments apply to people who are not Christians? Yes, in the Catholic understanding. The Church teaches that the Ten Commandments express the natural moral law, which every person can know through reason and conscience. Paul writes that even Gentiles who did not have the law of Moses show that its requirements are "written on their hearts" (Romans 2:14–15). This is why even people who do not believe in God recognize that murder, theft and lying are wrong, even though they may not acknowledge the One who wrote that law on their hearts.
How are the Ten Commandments related to the 613 commandments in Jewish law? Jewish tradition counts 613 commandments in the first five books of the Bible. The Ten Commandments are a special summary of the most basic moral duties within that larger law. Christian tradition distinguishes three kinds of law in the Old Testament: moral laws, ceremonial laws (sacrifices, festivals, ritual purity) and civil laws (the legal system of ancient Israel). Only the moral law, summarized in the Ten Commandments, continues to bind Christians directly.
This article is the third of three on the Ten Commandments. The other two, on the Catholic list of the commandments and on the meaning of each commandment, are listed below in Explore Other Articles.
