The Ten Commandments

of Christianity

             At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus outlines the “secrets” to happiness in this life and eternal rewards in the next. The word “blessed” is generically defined as happiness resulting from spiritual prosperity, and Jesus explains that those who do these things will be blessed/happy/spiritually wealthy. In other words, the secret to happiness is obeying God.

            The Beatitudes, recorded in Matthew 5:3-12, have been referred to as the “Ten Commandments of Christianity.” Like the ten commandments, the Beatitudes were given from a mountain, were given by a great prophet of God, signaled the beginning of a new dispensation and were intended to reform the lives and conduct of men. Although the Beatitudes do not cover the full extent of God’s laws, they do reveal the type of character that God expects from the citizens of His kingdom. It is necessary to emphasize that many of these thoughts are contrary and contradictory to the thinking and teaching of the majority of the people. Keep in mind that Jesus said, “my kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36) as he indicated to Pilate that His followers do things different than the world. Further, consider the words of Jehovah as He explained, “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8).

            So what exactly does the Lord say in these ten verses? What is to be our attitude, thinking and conduct?

1. Acknowledge your spiritual poverty apart from God and turn to Him to fulfill your needs through the blood of Jesus (v. 3).

2. Be genuinely sorry and penitent for your own sins and for the sins of others (v. 4).

3. Conduct yourself with patience, humility, gentleness and modesty as opposed to haughtiness, arrogance and insensitive behavior (v. 5).

4. Desire to be the perfect righteousness of God and desire to please Him by knowing His will and obeying His commands (v. 6).

5. Show compassion, mercy and forgiveness toward your fellowman (v. 7).

6. Free ourselves from evil desires and intentions by carefully and painstakingly directing your thoughts to things that are pure and good (v. 8).

7. Promote and seek to bring about harmony among men (v. 9).

8. Count it an honor to be considered worthy to suffer shame for His name (vs. 10-12; Acts 5:41).

            The requirements are easy to understand but the rewards are too glorious to comprehend. Comfort, satisfaction, security and mercy are reward enough, but God promises more to those who obey Him. All who live according to His teachings are His children and therefore rightful heirs with Christ. In addition to all of these things, the obedient will be granted entrance into the heavenly kingdom of God. The door to enter the kingdom is low, requiring us to kneel in order to enter in.