The Ten Commandments Reveal God's Grace

In what ways do the Ten Commandments reveal the grace of God?

The commandments of the Old Testament are called The Law. The Law is One Law, with two top-level commandments:

• ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:37–40)

The Ten Commandments add the next level of detail. The next level of detail adds over 600 more commandments. (And the Jews wrote commentaries with thousands more, just to avoid breaking any of the over 600 that people might not have understood. This one Law is an earthly application of the objective moral standard, which is God’s holiness. If you break one point, you’ve broken the Law. And if you would keep even one of the commandments to justify yourself before God, you have to keep the whole Law with all of its hundreds of commandments. You must do this not only from the time you decide to start, but also from the time you were born.

The Ten Commandments reveal the grace of God, but they primarily reveal the holiness and justice of God. The Ten commandments (and over 600 others) were given primarily to show us our need for God’s grace.

• Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law [self-righteous people], so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:19–20)
• Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24)

Since we need God’s grace, telling us about our need is a gracious act. It is shocking to learn that you have cancer, but it is gracious to inform somebody that they have a disease and they have access to a cure. Likewise, it is shocking to learn that we are already condemned, but it is gracious to be given that diagnosis so that you will turn to the remedy that God offers, namely, salvation by grace through trusting faith (Ephesians 2:8–9).

The message that we need God’s grace is one way the Ten Commandments reveal the grace of God. Another way they reveal the grace of God is by laying down rules by which we can love our neighbors.

• If we do not blaspheme and commit idolatry, our example does not lead our neighbors away from God.
• If we do not murder, we support life and justice.
• If we do not commit adultery, we do not spread diseases, break up families, and leave children in broken relationships.
• If we do not steal, we do not take away portions of others’ lives that they invested in acquiring their possessions.
• If we do not covet what belongs to our neighbors, we will not be tempted to take what is not ours or create jealousy that disrupts our relationships.
• If we love God, we find freedom from guilt and maintain a reservoir of power to love ourselves and others.
  
• The one exception to the Ten Commandments is the requirement to do no work on the Sabbath, which is Saturday. It is the one command that was strictly ceremonial rather than focusing on morality in relationships. The early church met in synagogues that the Jews already used on Saturdays, so there was a practical need to meet on another day. Moreover, two elements of symbolism came into play. First, the seventh day (Sunday) was the day on which the Lord had risen. Second, the Sabbath symbolized resting from working to earn salvation. It represented approaching God in faith without self-righteous works. Since the New Testament teaches that mature Christians esteem all days alike, the early church met on Sundays instead of on Saturdays. 

By keeping the Ten Commandments -- or more correctly, using the Ten Commandments to help us decide how to love God and others -- we exemplify and enact God’s grace, both for ourselves, and for those around us.

I originally posted this as an answer to a question on Quora. If you copy it, please give credit where credit is due.