God’s Law Begins With Grace

The Ten Commandments is found listed in Exodus 20:1–17 (and also in Deuteronomy 5:6–21).

What is the first of the Ten Commandments? Most people would say that the first commandment is, “You shall have no other gods before me.” (v. 3) After all, that is the first commandment that is found in the passage.

The term “Ten Commandments” is found in some translations of several Bible passages (Exod. 34:28; Deut. 4:13; 10:4). However, in the Hebrew text, the expression is ʿăśereṯ haddəḇāriym (עֲשֶׂ֫רֶת הַדְּבָרִים), which is more accurately rendered “the Ten Words”.

This Hebrew word for “words” (הַדְּבָרִים) is used in the introduction of the Ten Commandments, in Exodus 20:1:

And God spoke all these words {הַדְּבָרִים}, saying,

Hence, the first of the “Ten Words” is actually the first saying that comes immediately afterwards, in verse 2:

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from a house of slaves.”

Thus, the “Ten Commandments” or the “Ten Words” begins with a declaration of God’s grace. Before God gave the Israelites the first proper commandment, he first reminded them that he had rescued them from slavery in Egypt by his grace—long before they had done anything to deserve it.

God wanted his people to keep his law as a response to his grace, and not as a requirement to earn his favour. Therefore, God’s law does not contradict God’s grace. Instead, the very beginning of the law of God is the grace of God.