10 Rules or God's Moral Nature?

Ten Rules or God’s Nature?
It’s essential to recognize that the Ten Commandments, like all the other laws given to Israel, were types—symbolic representations pointing to a greater reality. This is where a critical misunderstanding often arises.

A type is something that prefigures and points toward a deeper, more complete truth. For example:

The lamb symbolized Christ.

Earthly Jerusalem pointed to the heavenly Jerusalem.

The Hebrew nation represented the Christian Church.

The feast days illustrated the ministry of Christ.

In every case, the type was far inferior to the reality it foreshadowed. Though it bore resemblance, it never equaled or fully represented the truth it signified.

The Ten Commandments as a Type
The Ten Commandments, likewise, symbolized the moral nature of God. They were a genuine expression of that nature but not its full revelation. As a type, they served as a shadow of the divine reality, not its complete image.

Consider the Old Testament sanctuary. Every object and ordinance within it was typological:

The slain lamb

The high priest

The blood, altar, laver, candlestick, and showbread

The altar of incense, the ark of the covenant, the ceremonial laws

Even Aaron’s rod, the pot of manna, and the sanctuary itself

Each element pointed to a greater spiritual truth. Yet, when we come to the Ten Commandments in the ark, many stop short and claim this is no longer a type, but the ultimate reality. That breaks the consistency of the entire sanctuary system.

The commandments, like all else in the sanctuary, were designed for a specific purpose: to guide a carnal nation with a basic understanding of morality. They were tailored for sinners (1 Tim. 1:8–9), offering a minimum standard to curb outward wrongdoing. But they could never fully express God's infinite moral nature.

Christ Reveals the Reality
This is why Jesus came to magnify the law and make it honorable—to reveal the true and deeper moral standard. He lifted our understanding of righteousness far above the stone tablets. He taught:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:27–28)

This and other teachings show that the Ten Commandments, though good, were not sufficient as the ultimate rule of life. God desires much more than external compliance. He desires transformative love, not just abstinence from sin.

The commandments are mostly prohibitions—“Thou shalt not.” But the life of God is positive, active, and selfless. He calls us to love even our enemies, to turn the other cheek, to willingly suffer for the sake of love. Such divine love cannot be reduced to ten rules.

The Law Written on the Heart
In the new covenant, God writes His law—not the letter, but the reality—into our hearts and minds. This doesn’t mean we memorize the Ten Commandments or try harder to keep them. Rather, God places His own nature within us by His Spirit.

“The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 5:5)

With this divine nature, we live from love, not from obligation. Just as a mother naturally loves, protects, and nourishes her child—without needing written laws—we who have God’s love need no rule to avoid lying, stealing, or killing. Love fulfills all righteousness.

The Spirit, Not the Letter
The written law—the type—has become obsolete for the one who possesses the reality. We now walk by the Spirit, not the letter. We live by the principle of divine love, not the restrictions of an external code.

This is the higher, fuller, and spiritual understanding of the law: not just avoiding sin, but embodying the life and love of God.