EWTN.com - The 10 commandments: "The 10 commandments
A born again or non-denominational Christian co-worker of mine recently stated in a conversation we were having '...the 10 commandements weren't meant to be followed literally, they're just there to show us how weak we are.' I had no idea protestants didn't hold to the commandments. Is this a universal belief amongst protestants? ~~Kiki Oqua
Answer by David Gregson on 11/20/2008:
Protestantism traditionally held onto the Ten Commandments. Martin Luther did, including them in his Catechism, and John Calvin described the Decalogue as 'the true and eternal rule of righteousness [for all] who wish to conform their lives to God's will.' But over time, Protestantism has divided into thousands of sects. It is now such a mixed bag that there's hardly a belief so strange that some group somewhere won't believe it.
Your friend sounds like an antinomian. Antinomianism is the belief that God's law doesn't bind Christians. It's an extreme conclusion from the defining Protestant belief that we are saved by faith alone, with no need for good works. But most Protestants, like the original Reformers, don't go that far.
The majority Protestant view is that, while salvation is not earned by good works, i.e., obedience to God's law, good works are the evidence that a person has already been saved through faith. If he doesn't try to obey the Ten Commandments, as well as all that Christ commanded, he may doubt whether he was ever really 'born again.'"
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