Sermon Resources - Dr. Toby Holt
What are the Ten Commandments — and why were they given? The Ten Commandments were not given to Israel as a ladder to climb into God's favor; they were given to a people God had already redeemed, as the moral framework for a liberated nation in covenant with its God. In this sermon on Exodus 20, Dr. Toby Holt works through each of the Ten Commandments, explains their original context in the Sinai covenant, and shows why Jesus said He came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it — and what that means for how Christians relate to the law of God today.
0:00 — Introduction the Ten Commandments placed in their original covenant context
3:30 — The essential preamble "I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt"
7:45 — The first table the four commandments governing our direct duties to God
13:00 — The second table the six commandments governing our duties to our neighbour
18:15 — The three uses of the moral law in classical confessional Reformed theology
22:40 — The law and the gospel how they must be carefully distinguished and properly related
27:10 — Conclusion the Ten Commandments as a gracious covenant gift, not an impossible burden
Questions This Sermon Answers:
1. Why were the Ten Commandments given after the Exodus, not before?
The sequence is theologically crucial: redemption precedes law. God did not say "Keep these commandments and I will bring you out of Egypt." He brought them out first, then gave the law. The preamble — "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Exodus 20:2) — establishes that the commandments are given to a people already in covenant relationship with God, not to people trying to enter one. This is the Reformation's central insight: we obey because we are saved, not to be saved.
2. What are the three uses of the law?
Reformed theology identifies three uses: the civil use (restraining evil in society), the convicting use (revealing sin and driving sinners to Christ — Galatians 3:24), and the normative use (guiding the Christian life). Luther emphasized the second use; Calvin emphasized the third. Westminster Confession 19.6 affirms that the moral law is "of great use to the regenerate, to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin, and the threatenings of it serve to show what even their sins deserve."
3. What does the first commandment demand?
"You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3) demands exclusive devotion to Yahweh — not merely first place among competing loyalties, but the elimination of all rivals. "Before Me" in Hebrew means "in My presence" — in the sight of God, no other god may exist. Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 46 states that the first commandment requires "knowing and acknowledging God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify Him accordingly." Anything that displaces God as the supreme object of trust and devotion — money, status, relationships, self — violates this commandment.
4. What is the Sabbath commandment and how does it apply today?
The fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8–11) commands one day in seven to be set apart for rest and worship, grounded in God's rest at creation. Reformed theology has consistently held that the principle of one-in-seven is moral and perpetual, though the specific day shifted from Saturday to Sunday at the resurrection (the Lord's Day). Westminster Confession 21.7–8 affirms that Christians are bound to keep one day in seven as a holy Sabbath — spent in public and private worship, rest from labor, and works of necessity and mercy.
5. What does "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain" mean?
The third commandment (Exodus 20:7) is broader than avoiding profanity. Taking God's name "in vain" (Hebrew: shav, meaning emptiness or worthlessness) means using God's name lightly, falsely, or for trivial purposes — including casual swearing, false oaths, hypocritical religion, and any use of the divine name that does not honor who God is. Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 54 adds that it also prohibits "professing the name of Christ, or owning themselves His people" while living inconsistently with that profession.
6. How do the Ten Commandments summarize all of Scripture's moral demands?
Jesus summarized the entire law in two great commandments: love God with all you are, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37–40). The first four commandments express love to God; the last six express love to neighbor. This is not a reduction of the commandments but their concentration. The commandments are not arbitrary rules but the practical expression of what love to God and neighbor looks like in the concrete circumstances of human life. Every sin is ultimately a failure of love.
7. Why does the commandment against coveting matter if coveting is only internal?
The tenth commandment (Exodus 20:17) prohibits covetous desire — not only the external act of theft but the internal attitude that precedes it. This is the commandment Paul says "killed" him (Romans 7:9–10), because it exposed the sinfulness of the heart, not merely the hand. The commandment against coveting is God's claim over the interior life — the claim that holiness is not merely behavioral compliance but heart transformation. It is this inwardness that Jesus expounds in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:17–48).
8. Does Christ abolish or fulfill the Ten Commandments?
Jesus said: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" (Matthew 5:17). Christ fulfills the law in three ways: He kept it perfectly where we failed; He bore its penalty on the cross; and He writes it on the hearts of His people by the Spirit (Jeremiah 31:33). The commandments are not abolished for Christians — they are internalized. The Christian keeps the law not to earn God's favor but because God's Spirit produces in them the desire to walk in His ways.
Key Theological Points:
1. Law and Gospel
The relationship between law and gospel is one of Reformed theology's central concerns. The law reveals what God requires; the gospel reveals what God provides. The law diagnoses; the gospel cures. The law condemns; the gospel justifies. Westminster Confession 19.6–7 carefully distinguishes the uses of the law while insisting that it is not contrary to grace: "The law is not of faith," yet "the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." The Ten Commandments are rightly understood only within the gospel framework the Exodus establishes.
2. The Perpetuity of the Moral Law
Westminster Confession 19.3 affirms that the moral law — summarized in the Ten Commandments — "doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof." The ceremonial and civil laws of Israel were temporary, fulfilled or abrogated in Christ. But the moral law, grounded in God's eternal character, is permanently binding. Calvin writes: "The law was given by Moses... yet it was not given to abolish piety and righteousness... [but] to maintain and confirm it." The Ten Commandments are not Jewish heritage — they are universal moral reality.
3. The Law as Mirror
Luther described the law's second use as a mirror that shows us our sin. Paul writes in Romans 3:20: "By the law is the knowledge of sin." The Ten Commandments do not merely regulate behavior — they expose the depth of human corruption. Who has truly had no other gods? Who has never coveted? Who has kept the Sabbath perfectly? The law's comprehensive demands drive every honest person to the conclusion that they need a righteousness not their own — the alien righteousness of Christ imputed by faith.
4. The Text: Exodus 20:1–3 (NKJV)
"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.'"
Continue studying: explore the full Book of Exodus sermon series, or browse the complete Reformed Sermon Archive.
About The Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt serves as the third President of New Geneva Theological Seminary (Colorado Springs, CO), founded 1993. An expository preacher with over 1.9 million sermon downloads on SermonAudio.com, Dr. Holt brings over 17 years of pastoral experience to his verse-by-verse Bible teaching. New Geneva offers fully online, Westminster Confessional theological education — M.Div., Th.M., D.Min., and other degrees.
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