The Two Commandments

Current! In Carmel - #1 – Two Commandments
Spirituality column – Nov. 7, 2006 (written Oct. 24)

The Two Commandments
By Bob Walters

Lost in the seemingly perpetual civic conversation about whether public display of the Ten Commandments imperils the republic and subverts free will, is the Christian fact that the New Testament has just two commandments.

Love God, and love others as you love yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).

Two, not 10.

Not necessarily simpler, but fewer.

The Bible is our handbook for our relationship with God. It is also full of great advice for our dealings with other human beings. When God presented Moses with the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai on stone tablets (etched in stone, get it?), God was answering Moses’ plea for help in explaining to the wandering Jewish Nation what God wanted of them (Exodus 20:2-17).

Remember the Commandments? The first four are about how to love God: No other Gods, no idols, no misuse of God’s name, and keep the Sabbath holy. The last six are about loving other people: honor your parents, don’t murder, commit adultery, lie, steal or covet. Eight are “Do Not’s.” Two are “Do’s.”

Note that the Two Great Commandments – Love God and Love Others – circumscribe the entire Ten Commandments.

The funny thing is that when Moses came back down the mountain to share God’s revelation, he found his Nation actively fashioning and worshiping an “idol,” the infamous Golden Calf. Point taken – but these rules weren’t made to be broken.

Also interesting is the Biblical fact that the first set of stone tablets were dropped and “broken,” requiring a second set of tablets. That’s a great metaphor for the human condition of Christianity … we are all "broken," but we get a “second chance” to win the eternal company of God.

Not a bad deal when you think about it.

The Old Testament is a book of Laws, while the New Testament is a book of Faith. We are a nation of Laws, but we still need more help than we are willing to ask God for.

The Commandments – all 10 or just two – are a good reminder to ask.

Walters, a Carmel resident, squandered his youth as a sportswriter and now goes to church regularly. Contact him at rlwcom@aol.com.