3. Why did God give us the Ten Commandments?
"He that keeps the law, happy is he," Proverbs 29:18. "Keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee," Proverbs 3:1, 2.

A: As a guide for happy, abundant living. God created us to enjoy happiness, peace, long life, contentment, accomplishment, and all the other great blessings for which our hearts long. God's law is the road map that points out the right paths to follow in order to find the true, supreme happiness.
"By the law is the knowledge of sin," Romans 3:20. "I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust , except the law had said, Thou shall not covet," Romans 7:7.

 B: To show me the difference between right and wrong. God's law is like a mirror (James 1:23-25). It points out wrongdoing in my life as a mirror points out dirt on my face. The only possible way for a person to know if he is sinning is for him to carefully check his life by the mirror of God's law. Hope for this mixed-up, sinking generation is found in God's Ten Commandment law. It tells where to draw the line!

C: To protect me from danger and tragedy. God's law is like a strong cage at the zoo, which protects us from fierce, destructive animals. It protects us from impurity, falsehood, idolatry, theft, and many other evils that destroy life, peace, and happiness. All good laws protect, and God's law is no exception.

Special Note: The eternal principles of God's law are written deep in every person's nature by the God who created us. The writing may be dim and smudged, but it is still there. This means of course, that you cannot find true peace unless you are willing to live in harmony with your inner nature, upon which God has written these principles. We were created to live in harmony with them. When we choose to ignore them, the result is always tension, unrest, and tragedy - just as ignoring the rules for safe driving leads to serious trouble.

4. Why is God's law exceedingly important to me personally?
"So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty," James 2:12

Because the Ten Commandment law is the standard by which God examines people in the Heavenly judgment. How are you measuring up? It is a life-or-death matter!

5. Can God's law (the Ten Commandments) ever be changed or abolished?
"It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail," Luke 16:17. "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips," Psalm 89:34. "All his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever," Psalm 111:7, 8.

Absolutely not! The Bible is very clear on this point. If the law could have been changed, God would have immediately made that change when Adam and Eve sinned instead of sending His Son to die in the sinner's behalf to pay the penalty of the broken law. But this was impossible, because the commandments are not laws in the sense of rules or regulations that have been enacted. They are revealed principles of God's holy character that will always be true as long as God exists.

Notice on the chart below that God and His law have the same characteristics. Do you see what this means? The Ten Commandment law is God's character in written form - written so we can comprehend it. It is no more possible to change God's law than to pull God out of heaven and change Him. Jesus came to show us what the law (which is the pattern for holy living) looked like when made up in human form. God's character can never change. Neither can His law, for it is His character in human language.