Love and Hate

It is common among faith only groups to claim the ten commandments are still part of Christian law. Even Catholic groups agree in many cases. Several Popes have endorsed the laws from the Old Testament as Catholic law, whether the so called Noahide laws pre Moses, or the law of Moses itself.

What most scholars miss in the ten commandments is that love and hate were written into the covenant.

Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Exo 20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

God's judgment upon those who hate him and mercy on those who love him. This seems to be in connection with idolatry. Those who stick with God in their hearts and refuse to worship other God's would be those who love him. Also, it isn't love only but love that obeys commandments.

I Cor 13 says love is different than faith and it is greater than faith. No man is justified by faith alone without love.

Mercy is conditional upon love. Not just God's love for us but our love for God

Thus mercy isn't based upon faith alone. It is based upon love which is demonstrated by commandment keeping. Even those who broke commandments received mercy if they had true love for God, so that they would feel sorrow and repentance.

King David was a man who broke all of the commandments except idolatry at some point, murder, covetousness, Sabbath laws, etc, but still received mercy.

Remember Exodus 20:5-6 are not writing this into the law of Moses as if it is a new principle, it is an eternal principle from God that is being recorded in the Law of Moses. A principle carried into the New Testament as well.

This part of the covenant is repeated in the history and prophets,

Deu 7:9  Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

Neh 1:5  And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:

Even when the covenant changes and the commandments are changed from covenant to covenant, this principle carries on, it is a basic principle of God.

1Co 13:13  And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Faith alone without love doesn't save mankind.

Faith alone isn't compatible with the 10 commandments, yet many faith alone groups still teach we are under the commandments of Moses.

What God requires in the New Testament is faith, hope, and love justified by our lives.