Whatever Happened to the Ten Commandments

by Ernest C. Reisinger

Ignorance of, and even opposition to, the absolute standard for human behaviour found in the Ten Commandments is seen in every area of life.

The main purpose of these pages is to focus attention on the Ten Commandments and to present the duties required and the sins forbidden in each of them. But before doing that, and by way of introduction, the author emphasizes their collective importance, points out how they relate to justification and sanctification and gives principles for their right understanding and use.

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Austin Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome and easy read. Summarized the 10 commandments giving what is prohibited and what is required by each with LOADS of scripture references.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only quickly surveyed this. I was anxious to see how Reisinger upholds the decalogue as still applicable today (I agree!), especially in regard to the fourth commandment. Since I only read the intro, conclusion, and chapter 4 (I surveyed the rest), I can't speak definitively, but... it seems this book would be a helpful tool for evaluating one's own heart and sins.

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In 2022 I read the entire book as I prepared sermons on the Ten Commandments. Most of this book (80%) is simply a copy-and-paste of the Westminster Larger Catechism.

[Robert Luff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This pithy little book is an excellent example of what pastoral application should look like. I read this book as one of several resources as I was preaching through the Ten Commandments a few months ago, but I would recommend it to any believer eager to live a holy life. I found this to be among the top two (next to G. Campbell Morgan's monograph) on this crucial topic. This book's strength is that it doesn't waste space saying what others have already said. Instead, Reisinger distills what is at the core of the commandment, and then offers numerous, quick-fire applications that apply to any believer. He divides each commandment's applications into positive and negative categories -- things we are commanded to do, and things we are commanded not to do. Though very easy to read, he made me think about corners of my heart that I may not have truly surrendered to these familiar commandments. Although I think Reisinger occasionally extrapolates a few degrees beyond where I could follow his train of thought, most of the time I found these applications helpful and thought provoking. It would be quite easy to include in your devotional reading.