Works Righteousness (3) Ten Commandments

Even the Ten Commandments were not really a standard for personal righteousness. They were more of a summary of Gods covenant with his chosen people. (The number of each commandment is in brackets)

• The first two commandments are a call to love God and avoid other gods. This was a requirement for the chosen nation, but it is more an expression of allegiance to God and his nation than a criterion for personal righteousness, as it contains no merit (1,2,).

• Not taking God’s name in vain was a way of honouring him, not a way of earning merit with him (3).

• Keeping the sabbath was a way of expressing trust in God (that he will provide sufficient food that they didn’t need to work seven days a week to survive). It was a marker that kept them separate from other nations to provide spiritual protection. Keeping the sabbath provided rest, but it did not provide merit with God, because he judges the heart, not external circumstances (4).

• Honouring parents and avoiding adultery were instructions for strengthening families, which were at the heart of the Torah community. Economic prosperity required strong families. If families were strong, the rest of the community was strong. Respect for family was essential for the welfare of the nation going into the new land. Avoiding adultery and honouring parents would produce social and economic benefits for the entire society, so complying with them was normal, not a way to earn merit with God (5, 7).

• The commandments against stealing, murder, and honesty with judges were commitments essential for the functioning of God’s justice system as described in the Laws for Society. Everyone in the community would benefit if they were widely respected. Keeping these commands was not a sign of personal righteousness. A righteous person would not even need these commands (6,8,9).

  Complying with the Ten Commandments was not a sign of personal righteousness. Avoiding stealing and murder is quite a low standard of morality. People who avoided these crimes could still be guilty of failing many of the standards in the list above, so they were not a good indicator of personal righteousness.

• Coveting is an important criterion for personal righteousness, but it is only one among many others, so I don’t think that it is included in the Ten Commandments as a requirement for personal righteousness.

  I believe the commandment was included there to help families and communities to work together on joint economic activities without falling out with each other. Economic benefits flowed, and capital accumulation was facilitated when people stopped coveting the other people around them. If coveting took hold, people would begin disrupting the economic activities of others. The final commandment was important for the benefit of the community, so it was not a sign of personal righteousness (10).

Writers who say the Torah was a system of works righteousness do not understand the purposes for which God gave it. The Israelites came under Moses’ covenant because they had been called and rescued from slavery and led into the promised land. The promises of the covenant belonged to all those who were descendants of Jacob. They did not have to maintain some obscure standard of personal righteousness to enter the covenant, or remain in it. These were born into these blessings.

Many of the blessings of the covenant came through living according to the instructions for economic life and family loyalty, but they were not a reward for righteousness, just a consequence of living in the way that God recommended for them. If God suggested living this way, we would expect that applying his wisdom to community life would bring benefits. Living by God’s wisdom is sensible, so it is not an indication of personal righteousness.

The people of the covenant had to persist in their allegiance to God, or he would be squeezed out of their country, and the spiritual powers of evil would push in and bring curses. These curses were the consequence of the people’s choices, not a sign of being outside the covenant. God’s covenant stood firm, even when the spiritual powers of evil got on top and the Israelites were exiled to a foreign nation.

Personal righteousness was not necessary for remaining in the blessings of the covenant. Experiencing these blessings depends on allegiance to God and living according to his wisdom. Consequently, criteria for personal righteousness were not provided in the Torah. The Old Covenant was not a system of works righteousness.