Jesus quoted from the Ten Commandments at Matthew 19:16-19. Why then, do people say that the Ten Commandments were done away with?

The entire Bible is like a perfect embroidery with no loose ends, all the books, chapters, verses, words, letters and punctuations inter-connected, making sense and giving life as a whole to all who believe and only through God’s Wisdom for all who believe - Grace Himself: Jesus Christ.

Christ's meeting with the rich, young ruler in Matthew 19 and the revelation knowledge that it gives to believers does not terminate at Matthew 19:19. One has to read beyond verse 19, specifically Matthew 19:16-27, in order to understand the passage in its context. Reading Matthew 19:16-19 and concluding that one has to keep the Ten Commandments in order to have eternal life takes Christ's words out of their context. When you take a text out of its context, you are left with a con.

"…Who then can be saved?"

This is the question that Christ's disciples asked Him in the same Matthew 19, right after Christ gave the rich young ruler the Ten Commandments to show him how lost he was despite all of his efforts at obeying the law and also gave them the moral lesson of the incident.

Churchgoers who depend on their ability to keep the Ten Commandments as well as their fasting and good works to get God's blessings and inherit eternal life have not asked themselves this same question - who then can be saved? - nor wondered why the Jewish ruler - an expert on the Law - went away sorrowful after this meeting where Christ gave Him the commandments as the means of having eternal life.

The rich, young ruler thought he could have eternal life by doing what the law commands. He saw no need for God's saving Grace (Christ Himself,) hence his cocky question to Christ in Matthew 19:16-

"16 And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what [essentially] good thing shall I do to obtain eternal life [that is, eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?”

See Christ's response and the rest of this encounter in the very next verses 17-26-

"17 Jesus answered, “Why are you asking Me about what is [essentially] good? There is only One who is [essentially] good; but if you wish to enter into eternal life, keep the commandments.”

18 He said to Jesus, “Which commandments?” And Jesus answered, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not give false testimony;

19 Honor your father and mother; and love your neighbor as yourself” [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].

20 The young man said to Him, “I have kept all these things [from my youth]; what do I still lack?”

21 Jesus answered him, “If you wish to be perfect [that is, have the spiritual maturity that accompanies godly character with no moral or ethical deficiencies], go and sell what you have and give [the money] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me [becoming My disciple, believing and trusting in Me and walking the same path of life that I walk].” 22 But when the young man heard this, he left grieving and distressed, for he owned much property and had many possessions [which he treasured more than his relationship with God].”

This Jewish ruler was under law (depending on his ability to obey the law to give him a leg up in his quest for eternal life) and not under grace. He believed that having eternal life depended on his own human/arm of flesh-driven efforts at keeping the law, which he thought he was great at. He even boasted about keeping the law from his youth. Christ gave him the law when he asked "what must I do..., " (you must not murder, you must not steal, etc,) to bring him to the end of his tether. This is the purpose of the law according to God's word - to show everyone up as guilty before God. See this in Romans 3:19-20:

"19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are."

Galatians 3:19 says: "Why, then, the Law [what was its purpose]? It was added [after the promise to Abraham, to reveal to people their guilt] because of transgressions [that is, to make people conscious of the sinfulness of sin], .."

Christ Himself said in the same Book of Matthew:

"For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:20.

The scribes and Pharisees had to top their own efforts at obeying the law in order to enter. Even the rich, young, ruler could not boast of keeping the law like the scribes and Pharisees who were experts on the law with knowledge of its every tiny detail. They were his go-to guys whenever he got stumped about the details of the law yet Christ called them "white-washed tombs."

Absolute righteousness/perfection/godliness without a sin, single spot or blemish is a prerequisite for having eternal life for any who depends on his human effort (arm of flesh) at keeping the law in order to be perfect/godly aka be like God. But all have sinned. See the record of this same incident with the Jewish ruler in the gospel according to Luke 18-

18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich."

As it was with this Jewish ruler who prided himself in his uprightness and ability to obey the law and be good as many churchgoers do today, no matter how well one tries to obey the law, always:

“You still lack one thing.”

Many churchgoers and even practicing Jews are yet to understand or come to terms with the impact of these five words of Christ above and why it made the Jewish ruler sorrowful. But it is not lost on many practicing Jews or anyone who is truly an expert on the law. Think about it. Why would this Jewish rich, young ruler be sad after Christ gave Him the Ten Commandments that many churchgoers are keeping in order to notch up points of righteousness today? At least he did his best to obey the Law even beyond anyone alive today. Beloved of God, he was sorrowful because he understood Deuteronomy 28:15-

"But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all His commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you:"

This verse is followed by a host of curses. Notice "all"? The one who depends on a smidgen of his law-keeping prowess to give him some eternal life credits has to "keep all His commands" to inherit eternal life. Also James 2:10 tells us:

“For whosoever shall keep the whole law yet stumble at one point he is guilty of all.”

Christ shows us that sin has degrees of greatness but under Law, the one whose only sin is running a red light because his wife was about to give birth in the backseat of their car is as just as guilty as the thieving, homosexual, pedophile serial killer. Of course the rich young ruler went away sorrowful! He could not keep the very first commandment -

“You shall have no other gods before Me.”

He put his many posessions before God. Recall that context is very important when we study the Bible? Anyone who reads only those verses where Christ gave the Jewish ruler the Ten Commandments without the verses after it which gives context is likely to misinterpret Christ's intent of showing the Jewish ruler that all the law-keeping and good works done to have eternal life is quite useless. Only by believing Jesus do we get to “not perish but have eternal life.”

See the lesson that Christ taught His disciples from this encounter in Matthew 19:23-26, right after the rich, young, ruler went away sorrowful:

“23 Jesus said to His disciples, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, it is difficult for a rich man [who clings to possessions and status as security] to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man [who places his faith in wealth and status] to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were completely astonished and bewildered, saying, “Then who can be saved [from the wrath of God]?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With people [as far as it depends on them] it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

What obeying the law cannot achieve (give us perfect righteousness before God,) “one Man's obedience,” - Christ's - has made possible-

“By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:19.

Romans 5:9 says of how God our Heavenly Father sees we who believe in Him (Jesus-)

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

In Him, all who believe (putting no confidence in the flesh/human strength but utterly trusting in Jesus for salvation from sin and death, including all earthly ills) have eternal life- freely.

Also consider Matthew 19:26 where Christ's disciples asked: “Then who can be saved?” after they realised the futility of trying to keep the law in order to be godly (be like God as Adam and Eve tried to do) or have eternal life. No one can be saved by human effort at obeying the law. But many people are still trying to inherit eternal life through their works and obedience to the Ten Commandments, something that Christ said is impossible for man to do! Wonderful as these things (law-keeping) are, they cannot save anybody. Absolute righteousness is a pre-requisite for inheriting eternal life and it cannot be obtained "by doing what the law commands." Romans 3:20.

Recall Christ's words in Matthew 19 right after the Jewish ruler went away sorrowful:

"24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man [who places his faith in wealth and status] to enter the kingdom of God.”

"Rich" here is not limited to the situation of the rich young ruler. It can be in the form of any capital or "good opinion from God" that a person who professes Christ by whose obedience we are made righteous but is still trying to be righteous through the law (neither cold nor hot) thinks he has generated in heaven from his obedience to the law and "doing good things" aka self-righteousnesses, just like the church in Laodicea who thought they were rich in works of the law and righteousnesses that proceed from their obedience to the law. See Christ’s counsel to the church (Revelation 3):

“16 So because you are lukewarm (spiritually useless), and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [rejecting you with disgust]. 17 Because you say, “I am rich, and have prospered and grown wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked [without hope and in great need], 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold that has been heated red hot and refined by fire so that you may become truly rich; and white clothes [representing righteousness] to clothe yourself so that the shame of your nakedness will not be seen; and healing salve to put on your eyes so that you may see.”

Check out the Holy Spirit-inspired words of Paul, a former Pharisee of Pharisees who "obeyed the Law without fault" in Philippians 3. He counted all of his efforts at law-keeping (his righteousnesses) as DUNG (King James Version) so that He could gain Christ! See verse 9:

"9 and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith.”

Isaiah 64:6 has a name for righteousnesses that proceed from keeping the law: filthy rags; a menstrual rag in Hebrew.

"But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;"

All the law-keeping and good works (our righteousnesses) done to inherit eternal life or make God have a good opinion of one are like filthy rags.

Someone once told me this horrid lie and perversion that the "eye of a needle" is a term for a kind of narrow passageway in Israel and that if a camel struggles really hard, it will pass through! So a rich man that tries hard enough can succeed. This after Christ said “What is impossible for people is possible with God.” The action is impossible for man according to Christ.

The eye of a needle is what it is: the eye of a needle! Anyone who feels that he is rich in terms of capital from good works and law-keeping that he has struggled to achieve by his own power and so deserves to inherit eternal life is doomed.

Only the righteousness that proceeds from the "obedience of Christ" (Romans 5:19,) with no additives of human effort, will suffice for our salvation: This is the crux of the gospel: Righteousness by faith.

Recall that this same event with the rich young ruler is recorded in the gospel according to Luke. The book of Luke is one of divine order. See Luke 18-19: right after the rich young ruler went away sorrowful (obedience to the Law cannot save,) we see our Lord Jesus predicting His own death and resurrection; and then we see the blind man at the gate of Jericho, a place cursed by Joshua, receiving his sight through faith (with Christ's death and ressurrection, our eyes our opened to His salvation) and next the story of Zacchaeus where we see Salvation by Grace in action, something that the law could not do for the rich young ruler:

Zacchaeus, was a tax collector, one of the worst things a Jew could be in those days when Judea was under Roman occupation. His job was akin to that of a very close family member inviting armed robbers into your home and forcefully removing your valuables from your hiding places for his benefit and that of the robbers, but he still gets to live in your house. He knew that he was lower than scum. He dared not ask Jesus that cocky question that the rich, young ruler did because he knew he had failed already. He was the perfect candidate for salvation as Christ Himself points out in Mark 2 after the (self)righteous religious leaders who thought they were "good" accused Him of eating with sinners. Mark 2:

"16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?”

17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Christ is still eating with sinners who know that of themselves they are sinners and who look to Him for salvation from sins, putting no confidence in the flesh aka human effort at obeying the law in order to "not perish but have eternal life." And in Him, we never remain the same because this is why He gave His life for us: Titus 2:14-

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Also Matthew 1:21- "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

He is of no use to those who erroneously think that they are "not that bad" or just need saving in some parts of their lives. By His Grace, even though we who are under Grace are not wallowing in sin as antichrists like to imply, we see that despite man's good intentions, the arm of flesh will fail as it did with Peter who knew 100% that he would not deny Christ but did so copiously. By God's Grace, we realise that there is no good in man and see our utter need for God's saving Grace. Only God is good. The potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances can make some churchgoers think that some sins are beneath them just as Peter did before Satan came a-sifting and he fell flat on his face three times. Beloved of God, this is the only reason why you and I are not on a Ten Commandments- breaking spree right now- 1 Corinthians 10:

12"So beware if you think it could never happen to you, lest your pride becomes your downfall. 13 We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face ao that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously."

After his encounter with Jesus, Zacchaeus did what the law-full rich young ruler could not do. Luke 19:8: "Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”

Four times as much as had been unjustly taken is the amount that is required in the Jewish law when a sheep has been stolen, and a man was convicted of the theft by trial at law (Exodus 22:1.) But Christ's visit to Zacchaeus caused him to do this and more - give half of his possessions to the poor!

This is grace- undeserved, unmerited favour. We don't get "good" to get Christ. We get Christ to get good! We are in Christ first and then He makes us righteous and we GET TO bear fruit to righteousness. With Christ, we don't live right to get saved; we get saved to live right and "produce a harvest of good deeds for God." See Romans 7:4.

With Christ we don't give to get; we get to give. The law is fulfilled in us but not by us. In Him, we get to live a life that is in line with and even exceeds the moral excellence that the law demands, yet not us but Christ in us.

Seek first the kingdom of God (righteousnesses, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit) and His righteousness (not yours from law-keeping!) and all these things (including the grace to stop sinning and live right) will be added unto you.