Ten Commandments

“ They were under the law, or they were under grace. Every person that came into the world was born under the law, and as such was bound, under pain of eternal damnation, to fulfil completely and continually every one of the Ten Commandments. The Bible said plainly, 'Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.' 'The soul that sinneth it shall die.' The Ten Commandments extended into many more, and to fail in a single one was as fatal as to break them all. A man might go on for a long time, for sixty years perhaps, without falling. ”

“ You remember the profound remark which Paul makes elsewhere, "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Did you ever think what he meant by that? In those days men were working the passage to Heaven by keeping the Ten Commandments, and the hundred and ten other commandments which they had manufactured out of them. Christ came and said, "I will show you a more simple way. If you do one thing, you will do these hundred and ten things, without ever thinking about them. If you LOVE, you will unconsciously fulfill the whole law." ”

“ It existed before of was engraven upon Tablets of Stone. It will exist when stone has crumbled. The Ten Commandments are not rule to obey as a personal favor to God. They are the fundamental principles without which mankind cannot live together. ”

“ Thus we have the Ten Commandments, a compend of divine doctrine, as to what we are to do in order that our whole life may be pleasing to God, and the true fountain and channel from and in which everything must arise and flow that is to be a good work, so that outside of the Ten Commandments no work or thing can be good or pleasing to God, however great or precious it be in the eyes of the world. ”

“ The Ten Commandments are prohibitions only because they are protections. They have been through many ages the kindly sentinels of society. They have taken the side of God, of his dumb creatures, and of men and women and little children. ”

“ The ten commandments are very good, and the great and glorious principles pertaining to the redemption of man, the revelations pertaining to events that are past and to the things of the mysterious and unborn future, and there are also many choice and precious things relating to the redemption of man, to the present and future greatness of the Saints; but where can we find one revelation that tells us that we should raise three hundred teams, or twelve hundred yoke of cattle, to bring up the poor from the Missouri river. ”

“ And being Divine,—they are consequently infinite in meaning; for whatever is Divine, is infinite. The Ten Commandments are, in themselves, a summary of all the Divine Commandments, as, when they are traced through their derivations and conclusions, may be seen to be true. ”

“ It is by no means to be understood as simply an arbitrary mandate from an absolute sovereign to his subjects. Looking at the Ten Commandments as a set of moral laws covering man's duties to God and to his fellows, they seem strangely defective, when we find among them no command to pray to or to praise God, nor any command to give sympathy or assistance to man. ”

“ Now men may cavil as much as they like about other parts of the Bible, but I have never met an honest man that found fault with the Ten Commandments. Infidels may mock the Lawgiver and reject Him who has delivered us from the curse of the law, but they can’t help admitting that the commandments are right. ”

“ I know one man and wife who could not come to church because they had to give their dog a walk! And others who know more about the Bible have repudiated all the Ten Commandments chiefly because they think the fourth is legalistic. ”

“ Professional considerations made the Dean refrain from endorsing this open expression of murderous sentiment in its fullest form; a clergyman ought always to keep up some decent semblance of respect for the Gospel and the Ten Commandments—or, at least, the greater part of them. ”

“ If it be said that the apostles re-enacted nine of the commandments for the gospel after their Lord ascended and the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them, we reply that according to this view there was a space between the abolition of the ten, at the cross, and the re-enactment of the nine; a space when there was no law, consequently no transgression, and men might blaspheme, murder, &c., and not commit sin! ”

“ It has been suggested that the Ten Commandments, when rightly applied, may help us through the coming difficulties. We beg to suggest that a thorough knowledge of the past will prove to be quite as useful as the Decalogue. ”

“ With that religiousness characteristic of the man, and recognising that if all the divine laws were duly observed, there would be but little necessity for those of human origin, he opened his code with the ten commandments, a selection from the Mosaic precepts, and clauses of the first apostolic councils. ”

“ But by the land of Canaan, in the spiritual sense, is signified heaven, the Lord's Kingdom; and by the prolongation of days there is signified eternal life in heaven, with its felicities. This is the reward promised to those who keep this Commandment in all its senses, natural, spiritual, and celestial; that is, who respect and cherish their natural parents, who love goodness and truth, and who worship the Lord and prize and practise the Doctrines of His Church. ”

“ These commandments are eminently distinguished and marked out from all the ceremonial laws, both to show their eminency and perpetuity: they are said to be the work of God, in Exod. 32:16; {16-10} and the Psalmist saith, The works of his hands are verity and judgment. And these works are called, all his commandments, in Psalm 111:7, and they are ten. Deut. ”

“ Therefore we must take hold of the first three Commandments and the First Table, and be certain that no man, neither bishop, nor pope, nor angel, may command or determine anything that is contrary to or hinders these three Commandments, or does not help them; and if they attempt such things, it is not valid and amounts to nothing; and we also sin if we follow and obey, or even tolerate such acts. ”

“ And so because of these mirrors and masks we allow God's Commandment to go to complete ruin, and no one considers or examines himself, how near or how far he be from meekness and the fulfilment of this Commandment; although God has said, that not he who does such works, but he who keeps his Commandments, shall enter into eternal life. ”

“ For we can in no better way learn how to distinguish between greater and lesser sins than by noting the order of the Commandments of God, although there are distinctions also within the works of each Commandment. For who does not know that to curse is a greater sin than to be angry, to strike than to curse, to strike father and mother more than to strike any one else? Thus these seven Commandments teach us how we are to exercise ourselves in good works toward men, and first of all toward our superiors. ”

“ The sins forbidden in the tenth commandment are, discontentment with our own estate; envying and grieving at the good of our neighbor, together with all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his.
Question 149: Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?
Answer: No man is able, either of himself, or by any grace received in this life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God; but does daily break them in thought, word, and deed. ”

“ Respect the Commandment of fasting and abstinence as a Commandment which God Himself has given you through His Church, and consider it an honor to observe it strictly.
THE THIRD, FOURTH, AND FIFTH COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH.
1. What are we commanded by the Third and Fourth Commandments of the Church?
By the Third and Fourth Commandments we are commanded, 1. To confess our sins faithfully at least once a year; and 2. To receive the Holy Communion worthily at Easter or during the Easter-time; that is, from the first Sunday in Lent till Trinity Sunday, inclusive. ”

“ A commandment is a precept; a doctrine is the principle or truth on which it is based. The one furnishes a direction, the other the reason on which the direction rests. The ceremonial in religion is an accumulation of the commandments and doctrines of men. Depending on human authority, it has no value in itself; and when it is made obligatory in order to human salvation, it is an impious insult to Christ and an intolerable servitude to man. The commandments of men, having no solid doctrines to rest upon, are transitory and illusory. ”

“ That is, all the commandments which I have enjoined in the Gospel; for faith alone does not suffice for salvation, but the keeping of the commandments is required, and the constant practice of virtues. ”

“ What we call the commandments of God are simply the laws or modes of his own Divine existence, stated to us in legal forms for our spiritual guidance. To keep the commandments is to live like God in our finite sphere ”

“ It is not necessary for us to build an ark, or to do any of these things, especially commanded to others; but where general revelations, doctrines, ordinances, or commandments are revealed or communicated to the people of God, we as a people have received all such, and they form part of our faith and belief, and we, to some extent at least, are engaged in carrying them out. ”

“ When I had understood these simple and precise commandments of Jesus, these commandments so ill adapted to the ingenious distortions of commentators,—I asked myself what would be the result if the whole Christian world believed in them, believed not only in reading and chanting them for the glory of God, but also in obeying them for the good of humanity? What would be the result if men believed in the observance of these commandments at least as seriously as they believe in daily devotions, in attendance on Sunday worship, in weekly fasts, in the holy sacrament? ”

“ If thou lovest me, thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments. And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support that which thou hast to impart unto them with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken ”

“ We hope and pray that the Saints may be as anxious to keep the commandments, and be governed by the Doctrine and Covenants, contained in said book, as they have been for its publication: if they do observe all the requirements towards perfecting themselves in holiness, that they may serve the Lord acceptably with "clean hands and pure hearts," it will be well with them: but if they neglect to walk in all the ordinances of the Covenants and law of the Lord blameless, they must be chastened. ”

“ If now these commandments were given unto those who were under the Law, what will we say in respect of these who are under Christ?
These are the [words] which the Lord spoke saying, ' Except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, ye will not enter into the kingdom which is in the heavens.' [ Matt. v. 20. ] Therefore [we must give] not only from our fields, and from that which comes in to us, but also of the work of our hands. ”

“ To keep the Divine commandments is, chiefly, to resist in ourselves the evils which those commandments forbid. Most of the Divine commandments, you observe, are expressed in the negative form, as, "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not commit adultery," &c. ”

“ How do we know that we are able to keep the Commandments?
We know it, 1. Because God inflicts eternal punishment upon those who break them; and 2. Because there have been at all times Saints who faithfully observed them. ”

“ On the other hand, those who defend the current creed allege that, in the absence of the guidance it yields, no guidance can exist, divine commandments being, in their opinion, the only possible guides. ”

“ In general, I answer, there is nothing in the body of this covenant which is not either purely religious, or which lies not in a tendency to religion, conducing to the securing and promoting thereof. And as, in the expounding the commandments, divines take this rule, that that command which forbids a sin, forbids also all the conducibles and provocations to that sin, all the tendencies to it: and that command which enjoins a duty, enjoins all the mediums and advancers to that duty ”

“ Whatsoever Doctrine is contrary to the Rule of Faith, or to any duty required in the ten Commandements, or to any Petition of the Lords prayer, is not a Doctrine of Christ, and therefore to be rejected. ”

“ Law and commandments are here too, synonymous: “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least [laws] commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be in no esteem in the reign of heaven, but whosoever shall practice and teach them shall be highly esteemed in the reign of heaven.”— [Campbell trans.] That he is speaking of the law of commandments in the decalogue is positive and clear from the 21st, 27th and 33d verses. That he means the whole, is also clear from this and the above quotations in Matt. xxii. and Luke x. ”