If The Ten Commandments Are No Longer Binding, Why Then Is It Not Okay To Kill And Steal?

When Christians point out that passages like Colossians 2:14-17 prove the Sabbath is no longer binding today, sometimes people will ask – if the ten commandments are no longer binding, why then is it not okay to kill and steal? I usually try to help them see the scriptural answer to that question with the following “Law Of England Illustration.”You’ll remember the thirteen Colonies were once under the law of England. When what became the United States broke relationship with England, we severed responsibility to England's law. Of course, when our U.S. lawmakers drafted a new law, they placed some of the good principles of English law in it. But this didn’t obligate them to adopt the entire English law, nor did it obligate the freed citizens to continue observance of that old law.When a law is abolished, it is completely abolished. If any principle of the old law is to be in the new, it must be adopted therein. Of course, this must be so stated in the new law. For example:· “don’t murder” is in the United States law also· “pay taxes to the King of England” is only in the old English lawNow get my point: Nine of the ten commandments are reiterated in the New Testament, but there is no instruction in New Testament law to keep the Sabbath. Here is the list:· no other gods - I Thessalonians 1:9· no graven image - I John 5:21· don’t take the Lord’s name in vain - Eph 4:29, Matt 6:9b· the Sabbath - ???· honor Father and Mother - Ephesians 6:1-2· don’t kill - Romans 1:29· don’t commit adultery - I Corinthians 6:9· don’t steal - Ephesians 4:28· don’t bear false witness - Colossians 3:9· don’t covet another man’s wife - Col 3:5, Matt 5:28Notice the Sabbath requirement is conspicuously absent from New Testament law.Ask yourself, why is homosexuality wrong? It’s not in the ten commandments. Isn’t it because the New Testament condemns homosexuality in many places? Now you get the idea!As always, we are perfectly willing to discuss this issue in a friendly way, either publicly or privately.