Can Anyone Keep the Ten Commandments? What the Bible Says

Can anyone keep the Ten Commandments perfectly? The honest answer is no—but that’s not bad news. God’s law is holy, and it reveals our need for grace by pointing us to Jesus Christ, who alone fulfilled God’s law perfectly.

Outward Religion Without Relationship

That is why we should be wary of outward religion without a true relationship with God. What matters most is not how religious we appear, but whether our obedience flows from a sincere, inward relationship with Him.

What God Commands

Before discussing obedience, we need to be clear about what God commands. To define the Ten Commandments, let’s look at Exodus 20:3-17 in the Amplified Bible.

The Ten Commandments

With that in view, the Ten Commandments are not suggestions but commands from God. They reveal His holy standard and define how we are to relate to Him and to one another.

1. No Other Gods

God’s first commandment calls us to place nothing and no one above Him: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” It requires our ultimate allegiance and worship, recognizing His unique authority and sovereignty.

2. No Idols

The second commandment forbids the creation or worship of idols and images: “You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.” God also declares His rightful claim to our devotion, warning that idolatry has lasting consequences while promising steadfast love to those who obey Him.

3. Honor God’s Name

The third commandment warns against using God’s name in ways that misrepresent His character: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” God holds accountable those who misuse His name, calling us to reverence and respect.

4. Keep the Sabbath Holy

God’s fourth commandment calls us to remember and keep the Sabbath day holy, setting apart the seventh day for rest and worship. It reminds us that rest is part of faithful obedience to God.

5. Honor Your Parents

The fifth commandment teaches us to respect, obey, and care for our parents: “Honor your father and your mother.” God links this command with blessing, well-being, and longevity.

6. Do Not Murder

The sixth commandment forbids murder: “You shall not commit murder.” It protects the sanctity of human life and upholds justice in society.

7. Do Not Commit Adultery

The seventh commandment calls for faithfulness in marriage: “You shall not commit adultery.” It upholds marital vows and purity in relationships.

8. Do Not Steal

The eighth commandment forbids taking what does not belong to us: “You shall not steal.” This includes robbery, fraud, and other forms of dishonesty.

9. Do Not Bear False Witness

The ninth commandment forbids lying or distorting the truth about others: “You shall not testify falsely against your neighbor.” It calls us to honesty and integrity in all our relationships.

10. Do Not Covet

The tenth commandment warns against desiring what belongs to others: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, wife, servants, livestock, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Purpose of the Ten Commandments

But the law does more than tell us what God requires. It also reveals our true condition and leads us to Christ. In Deuteronomy 18:18, God promised to raise up a Prophet from among the people, a promise ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.

Hebrews confirms that Jesus is the Prophet Moses foretold. In these last days, God has spoken through His Son, showing that the law was always meant to point us to Christ as the full revelation of His will and the source of salvation.

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”
— Hebrews 1:1–2 NKJV

Jesus fulfilled the Law of God

Jesus Alone Kept God’s Law Perfectly

That point becomes clear in Jesus. The Bible teaches that God found fault not in His covenant, but with His people. In His wisdom, God knew that no one could keep His law perfectly—except for Jesus, who alone fulfilled every requirement without fault.

The New Covenant and Ministry of Life

Because humanity could not uphold God’s law, He established a new covenant with His people. This covenant introduced a new ministry—the ministry of life—offering hope and reconciliation through Jesus Christ.

Christ: Mediator of a Better Covenant

Scripture affirms that Christ has a priestly ministry far superior to the old Levitical priesthood. Jesus is the Mediator of a better covenant—one that unites God and man and rests on better promises. This covenant depends on Christ’s perfection and faithfulness, not on flawed human effort.

“But as it is, Christ has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is more excellent [than the old Levitical priestly ministry], for He is the Mediator (Arbiter) of a better covenant [uniting God and man], which has been enacted and rests on better promises.”
— Hebrews 8:6 AMP

The New Covenant Parallels the Ten Commandments

Because Jesus alone fulfilled the law, a better covenant was needed. The problem was not God’s law, but our inability to keep it. That is why the first covenant could not produce lasting faithfulness in God’s people.

Hebrews 8 explains that God would make a new covenant with His people because they did not remain faithful under the first. This new covenant rests not on human performance, but on God’s grace and faithfulness through Christ.

In the new covenant, our relationship with God is grounded not in our perfection, but in His faithfulness. Through Jesus, God brings His people to Himself by better promises and a better Mediator.

Keeping the Ten Commandments Demands Perfection

Why was that new covenant necessary? Because God’s law gives commands, not suggestions. It does not call for partial obedience or good intentions, but for perfect obedience without exception.

The law does not accept our best effort as enough. It demands complete obedience, exposing the impossibility of righteousness through human effort alone.

God first gave His law at Mount Sinai, a place marked by fire, darkness, storm, and fear. Even Moses trembled there, underscoring the holiness of God and the seriousness of His commands.

From Sinai to Zion

Yet Sinai is not the final word for God’s people. Believers are no longer called to Mount Sinai, but to Mount Zion—the city of the living God and the heavenly Jerusalem. There, the scene is no longer fear, but a joyful gathering before God among angels and the redeemed.

At the center of this new covenant is Jesus, the Mediator who brings God and man together. His blood speaks mercy, not judgment, marking the shift from the terror of Sinai to the grace of Zion.

The Pharisee Mindset

That grace should also reshape how we treat others. We should beware of outward religion without a true relationship with God, because those who focus on keeping the law often become preoccupied with others’ sins while neglecting their own hearts.

The Pharisees modeled this mindset. They boasted in their obedience, exposed the faults of others, and failed to see their own sin.

Because no one keeps the law perfectly, Jesus confronted the Pharisees’ hypocrisy and called them to humility and self-examination.

Jesus challenged their habit of condemning others while ignoring their own condition. His words call us away from judgment and toward humility, mercy, and honest self-examination.

“Why do you notice the small piece of dust that is in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the big piece of wood that is in your own? Why do you say to your friend, ‘Let me take that piece of dust out of your eye’? Look at yourself first! You still have that big piece of wood in your own eye. You are a hypocrite! First, take the wood out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly to get the dust out of your friend’s eye.”
— Matthew 7:3–5 ERV

Only Jesus Kept God’s Law Perfectly

No one keeps the Ten Commandments perfectly. That is why God’s law must lead us not to pride or condemnation, but to humility, repentance, and faith in Jesus Christ, who alone fulfilled the law and brings us to God by grace.