The Commandments and the Spirit. What Guides You?

The Ten Commandments are a divine guide for living. They comprise the heart of every true religion. In 1764, Emanuel Swedenborg wrote, "All can be saved, in every religion, provided they acknowledge God and live according to the Ten Commandments" (Divine Providence, New York: Swedenborg Foundation, 1982, p. 247). As Jesus said, "If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17).

One of the most remarkable things about Swedenborg's teachings is the lack of dogmatism. Although Swedenborg saw clearly that Jesus Christ is the One God of heaven and earth, he never asserted that salvation depends on believing this. Rather, he taught that salvation depends on living according to the truths that have always been available to mankind, summed up forever in a Divine series of steps called "The Ten Commandments."

THE NEW CHURCH:

The religion that Swedenborg explains is taught today through the New Church. Although the teachings of this church seem "new," they are actually the ancient truths, many of which have long been forgotten. In thirty Latin volumes, Swedenborg shows how the wisdom of the ages is stored up within the sacred pages of the Holy Bible -- and is concentrated in the Ten Commandments, which were written with "the finger of God."

The Ten Commandments were written on tablets of stone, with strong statements about our outward conduct. Their literal teachings are to be obeyed, but they also contain deeper, more interior levels of meaning which are revealed to man when he is ready to live according to them. Jesus showed this to be true when he deepened the commandments on murder and adultery. He also promised that He would come again and lead us into an even deeper understanding of the commandments: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13).

In her spiritual autobiography, Helen Keller describes her faith in the teachings of the New Church. She compares Swedenborg to Michelangelo: just as Michelangelo saw an angel in the stone, and carved out its delicate form, Swedenborg saw angelic wisdom within the literal stories of the Word, and drew forth answers to the age-old questions of life, death, and love. "Swedenborg did not write a new Bible" she says. Rather, "He made the Bible new." And she adds, "We are not born again all of a sudden as some people seem to think. It is a change which comes over us as we hope and aspire and persevere in the way of the Divine Commandments" (My Religion, Swedenborg Foundation: New York, 1974, p.56).

THE TASKS:

Although some may be satisfied to have theological questions answered, others will want more specific suggestions about how to apply the commandments to everyday life.

The Law of Moses regulated almost every aspect of life in Old Testament times. But with the coming of Christ, God established a new covenant of faith and love with mankind. Christians are not required to follow the Old Testament rules about crimes and punishments, warfare, slavery, diet, circumcision, sacrifice, feast days, Sabbath observance, ritual cleanness, etc. However, the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus and His apostles call for even greater self-discipline than those of the Old Testament.

The Law of Moses

In Biblical times, the Law of Moses (also called Old Testament Law, Mosaic Law, or just The Law) regulated almost every aspect of Jewish life. The Ten Commandments and many other laws defined matters of morals, religious practice and government. It regulated the army, criminal justice, commerce, property rights, slavery, sexual relations, marriage and social interactions. It required circumcision for males, blood sacrifices, and Sabbath observance. It provided for the welfare of widows, orphans, the poor, foreigners and domestic animals. Ceremonial rules divided animals into "clean" and "unclean" categories. Clean animals could be eaten; unclean animals could not.

Teachings of Jesus

By the time of Jesus, the great moral principles God had given to Moses in the Ten Commandments had been turned into hundreds of ceremonial rules. People thought they were living holy lives if they just obeyed all those rules. But many people found enough "loopholes" to obey all the rules and still live wicked and greedy lives (Matthew 23:23-28).

Jesus said that was not at all what God had intended. Jesus did not abolish the moral and ethical laws that had been in effect from the time of Moses (Matthew 5:17-18, Luke 16:16-17). He affirmed and expanded upon those principles, but He said obedience must be from the heart (attitudes and intentions) rather than just technical observance of the letter of the law (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 31-32, 33-34, 38-42, 43-44, etc.).

Jesus and His disciples did not observe the strict Jewish rules against doing any work on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-14, Mark 2:23-28, 3:1-6, Luke 6:1-11, 13:10-17, 14:1-6, John 5:1-18).

In contrast to the "clean" and "unclean rules," Jesus said no food can defile a person. It is bad attitudes and actions that can make a person unholy (Matthew 15:1-20, Mark 7:1-23).

Council of Jerusalem

The first Christians came from among the Jews, and they continued to observe the Law of Moses as well as their new Christian faith. But as more and more Gentiles (non-Jews) converted to Christianity, there were disputes about whether or not these Gentile Christians must observe the Law. Issues of circumcision and diet were especially troublesome.

In about the year 49 A.D., Peter, Paul, Barnabas, James and other Christian leaders met in Jerusalem to settle the issue (Acts 15:1-29). It was agreed that no conditions should be imposed on the Gentile converts except faith in Christ. However, the council directed the Gentile Christians abstain from certain things that were particularly offensive to their Jewish brethren - food sacrificed to idols, blood, meat of strangled animals and sexual immorality (Acts 15:29).

The New Covenant

With the coming of Christ, God has established a new covenant with mankind (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Luke 22:20, 1 Corinthians 11:25, Hebrews 8:8-13, 9:11-15). Jesus and His apostles gave us a radically new understanding of the true intent of the Old Testament Law; they brought a new era of the rule of love for all people and spiritual truth instead of rule by law (Luke 10:25-28, John 13:34-35, Ephesians 2:14-18).

However, God has not revoked His original covenant with Israel and the Jewish people (Luke 1:72, Acts 3:25, Romans 9:4-5, 11:26-29, Galatians 3:17). The New Covenant does not condemn the Jews, nor does it in any way justify persecution of Jews.

Conclusion

The teachings of Jesus, the Council of Jerusalem, and other New Testament teachings (John 1:16-17, Acts 13:39, Romans 2:25-29, 8:1-4, 1 Corinthians 9:19-21, Galatians 2:15-16, Ephesians 2:15) make it clear that Christians are not required to follow the Old Testament rules about crimes and punishments, warfare, slavery, diet, circumcision, sacrifice, feast days, Sabbath observance, ritual cleanness, etc.

Christians still look to the Old Testament scripture for moral and spiritual guidance (2 Timothy 3:16-17). But when there seems to be a conflict between Old Testament laws and New Testament principles, we must follow the New Testament because it represents the most recent and most perfect revelation from God (Hebrews 8:13, 2 Corinthians 3:1-18, Galatians 2:15-20).

However, freedom from the Old Testament Law is not a license for Christians to relax their moral standards. The moral and ethical teachings of Jesus and His apostles call for even greater self-discipline than those of the Old Testament (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 31-32, 33-34, 38-42, 43-48, 7:1-5, 15:18-19, 25:37-40, Mark 7:21-23, 12:28-31, Luke 12:15, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Galatians 5:19-21, James 1:27, 2:15-16, 1 John 3:17-19).

  In Fact, it was Jesus fulfilling the words of the prophets that gave us the Holy Spirit or as Jesus called it, The Comforter that put us in a different league of those who are strictly guided by the Laws of Moses.

On the day of Pentecost, all who believed were occupied by the Spirit and then directed by it as evidenced in their actions. It is our Christian conscience so to speak. So it is not the law itself which dictates our behavior but instead this Comforter that lives in our heart. Not our heart as in that muscle that pumps blood throughout our body but instead the core of who we are. Our soul.

Once we accept Christ into our core. Our mind. Our thoughts. We are born again. New humans now having that spiritual experience but more precisely, Spiritual beings having a human experience because now we are one with God and born into him because of the sacrifice of his Son with a capital S. The spirit we speak of now also lives with in as a capital S being. It doesn’t absolve us of the law but instead it makes us abhor those things which God abhors. We no longer need a phylactery upon our heads or a massive book of over 600 laws to reference. We have the laws within ourselves. We are guided by the Spirit.