Perhaps you heard about theΒ SundayΒ School teacher who was teaching her class the ten commandments. After discussing the command to βhonour thy father and thy mother,β she asked the class, βIs there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?β To which one boy replied, βThou shalt not kill?β
If you are wondering why weβve entitled this article βtheΒ endΒ of the ten commandments,β the answer to that question has to do with the Apostle Paulβs words in I Timothy 1:5:
βNow the end of the commandment is charityβ¦β
If you are thinking, βBut that verse speaks about the end ofΒ theΒ commandment, not the end of theΒ tenΒ commandments,β consider what James wrote about the ten commandments:
ββ¦whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point,Β he is guilty of all. For He that said, Do not commit adultery, saidΒ also, Do not killβ¦β (JamesΒ 2:10,11).
You see, as far as God is concerned, theΒ tenΒ commandments areΒ oneΒ commandment. You break one,Β you break them all!Β So in speaking of βtheΒ commandment,β Paul is talking about theΒ tenΒ commandments.
But in speaking ofΒ theΒ endΒ of the ten commandments, Paul isnβt thinking of a time when it would ever be acceptable to kill someone or dishonor your parents. He is rather talking about theΒ purposeΒ or theΒ goalΒ of the ten commandments. We use the word βendβ that way when we ask someone, βTo what end are you doing what you are doing?β That is, we are inquiring about theΒ purposeΒ of whatβs being done.
So in speaking about βthe end of the commandment,β Paul is addressing theΒ purposeΒ orΒ goalΒ of the ten commandments, a goal that he identifies as βcharity,β one of the Bibleβs words forΒ love.Β And that makes sense, if you think about it. If you love God, are you going to take His name in vain, or have some other God before Him? If you love your neighbor, are you going to lie to him, steal from him, commit adultery with his wife, kill him or covet his things? I donβt think I have to tell you, that isΒ notΒ the way love behaves!
This explains why Paul says that βhe that loveth anotherΒ hath fulfilled the lawβ (Rom. 13:8 cf. 9,10), and that βall the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this;Β Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyselfβ (Gal.Β 5:14). You see, βthe end of the commandment,β the purpose or goal of the law, βis charity.β
In closing, we have to add that while it is true that βcharityβ is a Bible word forΒ love,Β donβtΒ changeΒ the wordΒ charityΒ here toΒ love.Β Love isΒ aΒ feeling.Β Charity isΒ an action.Β Charity is theΒ actionΒ that expresses theΒ feelingΒ of love. So when Paul says that the end orΒ goalΒ of the commandment isΒ charity, heβs not saying that Godβs goal in giving the ten commandments was to get you to have some warm fuzzyΒ feelingsΒ of love for others. Heβs saying that the goal of the ten commandments was to get you toΒ put those feelings in actionΒ by treating God and your neighbor with the respect that the ten commandments were designed to bring out in us. source
[β¦] How little some know about the Law, the Ten Commandments. [β¦]
[β¦] it is wrong to lie and steal and commit adultery, yet they know nothing about the law of God, or the Ten Commandments. How, then, do they know that these things are wrong? God made them with this knowledge; He gave to [β¦]
[β¦] era demonstrated the fact that human behavior cannot be legislated. This is so even with the law of God. Some people think that the Ten Commandments were given to help us to be good, but this is not so, [β¦]