
Come And Reason Ministries
Come And Reason Ministries helping you learn to discern.
Come And Reason Ministries
Come And Reason Ministries – helping you learn to discern.
Dear Dr. Jennings: I have been mulling over the premise that Adam broke the law of love, and the 10 commandments were added later (taken from your notes for quarterly lesson on sin).
I would submit that Adam and Eve knew God’s perfect law of love in the form of the ten commandments at least after they fell. “Adam and Eve, at their creation, had a knowledge of the law of God; they were acquainted with its claims upon them; its precepts were written upon their hearts. . . If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall . . . (if) they would have kept God’s law in mind, . . . there would have been no necessity for IT to be proclaimed from Sinai or engraved upon the tables of stone.” (PP, 363, 364).
In terms of the premise that the 10 commandments are not applicable among the angels in heaven; would it be fair to say the principles of the 10 are applicable in heaven. For example, honor your mother and father, the principle behind this command is respect authority; don’t commit adultry, the principle is loyalty. “God’s claims are the same. The principles of His government are the same. For all proceed from Him “with whom is not variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17′” (PP, 373).
Thanks for emailing to further explore this topic. My emphasis is to point out that the law upon which God’s government is built, which was broken by angels in heaven, which Adam and Eve violated in Eden and which, when broken, results in death (unless remedied) is the law of love. And from this law God crafted the 10 Commandments as a distillation of the law of love uniquely designed for humans on earth. God provided the 10 Commandments as a diagnostic instrument to expose our sinful hearts and terminal condition and as a hedge of protection to prevent self-destruction. Such a “tool” was not needed prior to sin, thus my point was the 10 Commandments, as written on stone, were not always in existence, but the Law of Love, upon which the 10 Commandments are based was, and always will be, in existence because it emanates from God who is love. And the law of love is the basis for all life and all creation. Evidence for this position includes:
The eternal law of God is love:
The 10 Commandments are a diagnostic instrument and only intended for those who are sick in sin and were added after the fall:
In summary, God is love. From God emanates the Law of Love which is the principle of other centered giving and beneficence upon which all life is constructed to operate. Prior to sin there was no need for a written law to diagnose or expose where the law of love was broken. After sin God wrote the 10 Commandments as a tool to expose in humanity our defective hearts and minds, how out of harmony with the Law of Love we are. When the Law of Love is again perfectly written in our hearts and minds (Heb 8:10) the 10 Commandments will no longer be needed, not because they are invalidated, but because there will be no further sinfulness for the 10 Commandments to diagnose.
Thanks again for the opportunity to further explore God’s character of love.