Gospel commandments are nothing but instructions, instructions to people who should be guided in their earthly life daily. They were not left in the form of a list or any other set of rules. These commandments are the instructions of Jesus Christ himself, uttered by him during the sermons and subsequently recorded by the disciples.
These instructions are often confused with the main Christian commandments given to Moses by God himself. Because of this confusion, disagreements often arise in understanding their quantity, as well as the essence and content.
What are the basic Christian commandments?
These commandments are the pillar of faith, they are a kind of main set of Christian laws and regulations. In other words, each of the main commandments is a dogma, an indestructible prescription, which every believer is obliged to follow in life.
The main difference between these precepts and those called the “Gospel commandments” is their origin. The main precepts of Christianity, according to the Bible, were compiled by God himself, that is, the father of Jesus, and passed on to people long before the birth of the Savior. In other words, Christ himself followed these moral laws, relied on them in his sermons.
Which book contains the basic commandments?
There are ten of these laws of God. They are recorded in the Pentateuch, namely, in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. The Pentateuch consists of the following parts:
- Being.
- Exodus.
- Leviticus.
- Numbers.
- Deuteronomy.
These books, often referred to as the Mosaic Law, are the first five components of the Bible. It is generally accepted that the first, lost version of the texts is presented in the book of Exodus, while in Deuteronomy it is restored.
On the Origin of the Basic Commandments
The Bible describes in great detail the story of the transfer of the tablets to Moses with the law of God carved on them, that is, with a list of commandments. This happened on the fiftieth day after the Jews left Egypt, on Mount Sinai, located on the peninsula of the same name.
The description in the Bible is filled with colorful details. The trembling of the earth, the fire standing around the mountain, thunder, and lightning flashes are mentioned. The roar of the elements was blocked by the voice of God, uttering the words of moral precepts, commandments. After all was quiet, Moses came down from the mountain, holding in his hands the two "Tablets of the Covenant." Often they are called the "Tablets of Testimony."
After Moses came down from the foot of Sinai with the Commandments in his hands, he saw that the people he had brought out of Egypt had forgotten about God and indulged in a gulba, a feast and fun around the Golden Calf. The Golden Calf is idolatry. A similar name for an idol is often found on the pages of books of the Old Testament when describing the actions of people who departed from faith in one God.
Seeing this, Moses fell into an indescribable rage and broke the tablets given to him. Of course, this action caused great repentance, not only in the soul of the prophet, but also among the people. Seeing the depth of sorrow in people's hearts, God commanded Moses to ascend Sinai again. The data is again the tablets and is described in the book of Deuteronomy. For this reason, it is so named.
What is said in God's basic commandments?
Moses was given ten instructions to become a guide for every believer in life. They are extremely simple and well-known:
- I am the Lord thy God; may you have no other gods before My face.
- Do not make yourself an idol or any image of what is in the sky above, and what is on the earth below, and what is in the water below the earth; Do not worship them and do not serve them.
- Do not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work and do all your work for six days, and the seventh day, the Sabbath, to the Lord your God.
- Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long on earth.
- Dont kill.
- Do not commit adultery.
- Do not steal.
- Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- Do not desire your neighbor's house; do not desire your neighbor’s wife, nor his slave, nor his slave, nor his ox, nor his ass, anything that is thy neighbor’s.
In various Christian denominations, the texts of the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy are given different values. However, these discrepancies are not particularly significant and do not have fundamental differences in understanding the essence of the commandments. Rather, disagreement is a topic for theological debate.
The list of commandments called the Decalogue is considered separately. These texts have significant differences from the generally accepted. They list direct instructions, a kind of rules of conduct. For example, the Decalogue’s list opens with a prescription stating that the sons of Israel should not enter into alliances, including marriage, with residents of those countries where they find themselves. There are also lines calling for the destruction of the altars and the burning of images of other gods. These precepts are also called commandments. However, as a moral and moral guide to life, a pillar of faith, a set of precepts from the book of Deuteronomy is still accepted.
What is meant by gospel commandments?
This name refers to all those sayings that Jesus uttered during his sermons. They do not in any way contradict the commandments of Moses, that is, God's law, transmitted to people on the tablets. The gospel commandments of Jesus Christ are a kind of explanation of the precepts set forth on the tablets, additions to them.
The writings from the sermons of Jesus recorded by the apostles are not a set of laws or rules. This is a kind of signposts, guidelines, by listening to which and following them, a person will be able to live righteously and get into the kingdom of heaven.
What books describe these commandments?
The commandments of Christ are gospel precisely because they are written down by his disciples, apostles. Of course, much attention is paid to them in all existing gospels. However, the sayings of Jesus in the books of Luke, Matthew and Mark are most fully and intelligibly described. It is these Gospels that are most often quoted when it comes to Christ's commandments.
The basic moral precepts, called the "Gospel commandments of bliss," are described in the books of Luke and Matthew. The Apostle Mark pays greater attention to the entire Sermon on the Mount, without emphasizing it.
What is the difference between the commandments of Moses and Christ?
The basic precepts of Christianity list what leads to sinfulness. In other words, what the Christian does is not appropriate. The gospel commandments of Jesus, on the contrary, explain to people what qualities of the soul, qualities of character must be possessed in order to live righteously and enter the kingdom of God.
God's law was given to people in ancient times. Even during the life of Christ, the Old Testament times were already considered as bygone days, a very distant past. Man at that time was much weaker spiritually than in the first years after the advent of our era. He was much closer to primitiveness and could not always keep in check his own primitive impulses, nature. Accordingly, the direct purpose of the main Christian commandments was to keep people from the primitive and sinful properties of their nature - from anger, inability to appreciate someone else's life or property, greed, desire for lowly bodily pleasures, and other similar things.
Gospel commandments appeared in much later times. They became a kind of evolutionary step, the next step in the spiritual development of people. They are not called to restrain from sinfulness or to show what is evil, bad. These instructions are addressed to enlightened people who understand what virtue is and what is its opposite. These instructions show people how to live, do, and think in order to approach Christian holiness and gain the kingdom of God.
Why are the commandments of Jesus called “blessed”?
The simplest explanation for such a name is that it came from the content of the texts of the prescriptions. The lines of the commandments begin with the words "Blessed are those ...". But there is a more complicated explanation of this name.
The gospel commandments of Beatitude got their name in accordance with their purpose, purpose. In other words, the name tells people that following these guidelines in their ordinary daily lives will lead them to eternal bliss.
How many of these commandments?
Orthodox icons with complex, complex plots depict 9 Gospel commandments. The same number of Jesus' covenants is also mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew. However, it is difficult to imagine that Jesus, who actively preached during his lifetime, constantly talking with his disciples, with people coming to him and with the Pharisees, limited himself to only nine instructions.
Of course, Christ spoke much more, only the famous Sermon on the Mount, mentioned in each of the Gospels, contains a much larger number of sayings. The nine precepts are the basic gospel commandments. In other words, these are the covenants that express the essence of Christianity.
However, wondering about the number of covenants that Jesus left, we must not forget that they have not come directly to our days, but through the prism of perception and understanding of the doctrine by the apostles, who were ordinary people. The Gospel of Luke, for example, presents the commandments of Christ in a completely different way. According to the authorship of Luke, there are four Testaments of "Beatitude" and the same number of reciprocal ones, called "Commandments of the Mountain."
Often in theological writings, ten Gospel commandments are mentioned. In this case, we are not talking about the basic precepts left by Jesus, but about what was said to them in the Sermon on the Mount. Most of it concerned the clarification and commenting on the basic laws of God transmitted on the tablets to Moses.
What do these commandments say? Scroll
Gospel commandments tell people how to live in order to gain eternal bliss in the kingdom of heaven. Their list, according to Matthew’s authorship, is summarized as follows (all commandments begin with the word “Blessed”):
- the poor in spirit, since the path to the kingdom of heaven has been opened to them;
- the mourners as they comfort themselves;
- meek because they inherit the earth;
- hungry righteousness will be satisfied;
- gracious, for they themselves will gain it;
- those who are pure in heart will see the Lord;
- humble ones - called to become sons of God;
- expelled because of righteousness - the kingdom of heaven awaits them;
- vilified for faith, they will receive a great reward after earthly life.
It is not very easy for a modern person to understand the meaning of the Christian commandments listed in the Gospels without further explanation. Especially often questions arise regarding the meaning of the first commandment, which says of the poor in spirit.
What is the first commandment about? Interpretation
What should be understood by the poverty of the spirit? Is spiritual poverty capable of opening the way to the kingdom of God? Why then develop, strive for righteousness, protect the soul from the fall? These and other similar questions invariably arise for everyone who has read the gospel commandments. The interpretation of the expression "poor in spirit" is quite multifaceted. But all the existing options for understanding this phrase boil down to one thing - we are not talking about poverty or underdevelopment of the soul.
The most famous is the interpretation of the meaning of this expression given by John Chrysostom, the theologian and archbishop of Constantinople. Its essence is that the commandment speaks of the presence of humility as a spiritual quality. In the same meaning, they interpret the first commandment of Jesus and other theologians.
Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov) in his work entitled "Ascetic Experiments" complements the interpretation of John. The bishop writes that the spiritual poverty described in the first commandment is nothing more than a humble concept of people about themselves. That is, the absence of self-conceit, the presence of sincere trust in the Lord, inner modesty.
What do biblical scholars think of these commandments?
Biblical studies are a separate scientific field in which ancient religious texts are studied. This discipline did not arise at all because of a skepticism about religion, but out of necessity. Without exception, all texts, including the Bible and the Gospels, were repeatedly copied and translated, adapted and interpreted. Accordingly, therefore, the discrepancies are quite large.
Biblical scholars, while studying existing versions of texts and subjecting them to scientific criticism, determine what was most likely written in the original sources. Of course, scholars could not ignore the gospel commandments.
When studying the Gospels, it was found that in the original source, with a high degree of probability, only three commandments were mentioned. They were talking about the poor, hungry and mourning. The biblical scholars consider the rest of the prescriptions to be derivatives of these three, a kind of additions or variants of interpretation and explanation.