When we look at the Ten Commandments, we see in them the shape of God. To be more specific, it is often assumed that the Ten Commandments show the ‘natural’ law of the world, that in them God was outlining the moral constitution of the universe, and that they are simply the natural laws of ordinary life, existent in theory but only specified at Sinai. This assumption misses the main point. The focus is placed on the thunder and lightning of Sinai, and not on the situation that brought God into the midst of his people; the love that caused him to deliver them from slavery. 

Sinai comes after the escape from Egypt. God heard his people cry out and he saved them. He saved them, and then he asked for their obedience to his law. The Law functioned then – as it does now – as the outpouring of God’s grace onto his people. The reason that the New Testament claims Jesus is the fulfilment of the Law is that he is the fullest – and everlasting – outpouring of God’s grace. He has rescued us from our sorrow, our bondage to sin, and the Law shows us how we can live lives that express our newfound freedom. That expression is different for us living as Christians today in the wake of the resurrection than it was for the ancient Israelites, and so we need to do some work to figure out exactly how it is that we should, as Deuteronomy 5:33 says, “Walk in obedience to all the LORD your God has commanded you.”

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