How to Follow the Ten Commandments

How to Follow the Ten Commandments: Love God and Love Your Neighbor

Would you like to know how to obey every one of the Ten Commandments?

At first, that may sound impossible. You might say, “Wait a minute, Pastor. No one is perfect!” That is true. Every person has sinned, and no one obeys God’s Law perfectly. Yet Jesus gave us a clear way to understand the heart of all God’s commandments.

When a religious leader asked Jesus which commandment was the greatest, Jesus answered:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40 LSB)

Jesus was not replacing the Ten Commandments or making God’s standard less important. He was summarizing the purpose beneath them. The commandments teach us what genuine love for God and other people looks like. Love does not eliminate obedience; biblical love produces obedience.

The Ten Commandments Reveal God’s Standard

God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel through Moses in Exodus 20:1-17. They begin by addressing our relationship with God: worship Him alone, reject idols, honor His name, and remember the Sabbath. They then address our relationships with other people: honor parents, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, and do not covet.

• These commands reveal God’s holiness and expose our sin. Romans 3:20 says that “through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” The Law is like a mirror. It shows us what is wrong, but it cannot cleanse us or give us a new heart.
• That is why keeping commandments cannot save us. Galatians 2:16 teaches that a person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is God’s gift, received by grace through faith, not a reward we earn by behaving well (Ephesians 2:8-9).
• Nevertheless, the next verse says that believers are created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:10). We are not saved by obedience, but we are saved for a life of obedience.

Love God With All That You Are

The first and greatest commandment is to love God completely. If you truly love Him, you will not want to worship another god or allow money, pleasure, success, politics, possessions, or another person to take His rightful place. You will reject idols because your highest loyalty belongs to God.

• If you love God, you will also treat His name with reverence rather than using it carelessly or dishonorably. You will desire to worship Him, listen to His Word, pray, and set apart time for Him. Love asks more than, “What am I forbidden to do?” It asks, “How can I honor the God who made me and saved me?”
• Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15 LSB). Obedience does not purchase His love. It is the response of someone who already loves Him.

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

The second great commandment governs how we treat other people. Paul makes the connection unmistakable in Romans 13:8-10. After mentioning adultery, murder, stealing, and coveting, he explains that the commandments are summed up in the words, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” He concludes, “Love does not work evil against a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.”

• If you love your neighbor, you will not murder that person. Jesus carried this command deeper than the outward act by warning against unrighteous anger and contempt (Matthew 5:21-22). Biblical love protects life and refuses to nurture hatred.
• If you love your spouse and your neighbor, you will not commit adultery. You will honor marriage, practice faithfulness, and turn away from lust. If you love others, you will not steal what belongs to them, cheat them, or take advantage of their trust.
• Love also tells the truth. It will not lie about someone, damage a reputation with false accusations, or use deceptive words for personal gain. Love does not covet another person’s home, spouse, position, success, or possessions. Instead, it learns contentment and rejoices when others are blessed.
• Honoring your father and mother also reflects love. Even when family relationships are difficult, believers should seek to show appropriate respect, gratitude, care, and truthfulness without approving sin or remaining in an unsafe situation.

Love Is More Than a Feeling

The word love is often reduced to emotion, acceptance, or being agreeable. This type of love is known as eros. Eros is desire-centered love: it is drawn to another person largely because of what it receives, feels, or enjoys. It may give at times, but its main impulse is personal satisfaction, which makes it unstable and often self-focused.

• Agapē, by contrast, is Christlike love: it gives, serves, sacrifices, and seeks the highest good of another person, even at personal cost. Eros says, “What can I get?” Agapē says, “How can I love faithfully?” That is why marriage, for example, may begin with attraction, but it can only become secure and God-honoring when it is shaped by agapē love, the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13 and displayed by Christ’s self-giving love.
• Biblical love is deeper. It seeks what honors God and what is genuinely good for another person. Sometimes love comforts. Sometimes it serves. Sometimes it forgives. Sometimes it lovingly speaks a difficult truth.
  • Galatians 5:13 tells believers, “through love serve one another.” Love is active. It appears in our decisions, words, habits, priorities, and treatment of people who cannot repay us.

But this does not mean we can obey perfectly through determination alone. Christians still battle sin. First John 1:8 warns that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. When believers sin, we confess it, receive God’s promised forgiveness, repent, and continue walking with Christ (1 John 1:9).

The power to grow in obedience comes from the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:16 commands believers to walk by the Spirit, and verses 22-23 describe His fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These qualities shape the kind of life the commandments describe.

Begin With the Gospel

So, can you follow the Ten Commandments? You can sincerely walk in obedience to them by loving God and loving your neighbor, but you will not keep them with sinless perfection. Your failures show why you need Jesus Christ.

Jesus fulfilled the Law perfectly, died to pay the penalty for sinners, and rose again. Those who repent and believe in Him are justified by faith, forgiven, and given new life. They then obey, not to earn salvation, but because God has already shown them mercy.

Do not begin with the question, “How can I make myself good enough for God?” Begin with the gospel. Trust in Jesus Christ. Then ask God to help you love Him with all your heart, soul, and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself.

Follow those two great commandments, and you will be following the heart of all Ten.

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