Learn the 10 Commandments in 5 Minutes!
The first thing I do in my evangelism classes is teach everybody the 10 Commandments. Now you have the opportunity to learn them too!
The 10 commandments are fundamental to effective witnessing because the law is written on everyone’s heart—it’s called the conscience—(Romans 2:15); it’s so important that every Christian should know them, but sadly, most don’t. The Bible also says that the Law (the 10 Commandments) stops a sinner from justifying himself and brings knowledge of sin (Romans 3:19-20); the Law is a schoolmaster that leads people to Christ (Galatians 3:24); and the Law is for sinners (1 Timothy 8-10).
So use the Law, talk of impending Judgment, and the penalty of Hell should anyone break just one commandment… and then stand back and watch as hardened atheists, touchy-feely tree-huggers, cult members, and even wishy-washy Christians pay attention.
They may even thank-you!
March 13th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
great stuff ! just got out of prison . perhaps knowing & folowing the ten commandments would have saved me alott of pain. i now thank God daily that through his son Jesus Christ i am a new creation.
March 13th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Hi,
I want to thank you for making it so easy to remember the 10 Commandments! I’ve never been able to keep them all in mind before til now. God Bless You and keep up the work for Christ!
~Annie
March 14th, 2007 at 3:12 am
I love this. A great method. God bless
March 14th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Interesting way of teaching 10 commandments. Certainly not appropriate (as you so say, not politically correct, so why do it) for no. 5. This would insinuate it is okay to slap your mother, which is certainly is not. Could you not have done something like hold up hand and say (gesture) okay mum and dad I’ll do that or I’ll stop.
I’m sure you could think of a better CHRISTIAN manner to use.
Well done for the original thought to teach though.
Cindy
March 14th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Thanks so much. Got the lead to your video from WOTM newsletter. I am teaching the Basic Training Course at our church…I will use this. Cheri
March 14th, 2007 at 9:55 am
To Cindy,
Actually, the hand motion is a “slap on the bottom.” As in disciplining your child on the place where God determined they should be disciplined…
March 14th, 2007 at 10:05 am
My 5 children got it immediately.
Thank you for a great aid!
Powerful words from Jim Health.
I agree, these are MOST IMPORTANT WORDS we ALL Must KNOW!
God Bless All with TRUE REPENTANCE AND SALVATION!
March 14th, 2007 at 10:21 am
Great! We are involved in an aids orphanage in Winterveld, Shoshanguve, South Africa (scary place for a city chick like me) and this is gonna be a hit with the kids. Our website will be on soon, http://www.b2k.co.za, remember to check it out later. Or feel free to e-mail us, banabakgosi@telkomsa.net. ‘Bana ba kgosi’ translates to children of the King. Because they are.
March 14th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
This was incredible. It gave me a great tool to teach my son the 10 commandments and a great way to engrave them on my heart.
March 14th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Wow! Thank-you all for your very kind comments. For those of you who teach evangelism classes, it’s a good first class lesson. I teach everyone in the class the 10 Commandments in the last 20 minutes of my first class, and review them one or two times every week thereafter.
When I first showed this to Ray Comfort he said in his charming New Zealand accent, “Oh! That’s why God gave us ten fingahs!”
Please check out the rest of the site by simply clicking the header above or just clicking http://www.evtales.com ; you’ll find lots of interesting stuff regarding evangelism. I update it daily, except weekends.
March 15th, 2007 at 3:18 am
You have just perfected a practical and easy way for anyone to learn the 10 commandments and a FUN way that children will enjoy learning them-that makes this invaluable. Thank you for the thought and love that went into doing this.
March 15th, 2007 at 3:23 am
Dear Friend in the Lord
I just received your mail and thanks a lot and God bless you.
Just started reading and its amazing.
Blessings
March 15th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Thanks so much! I’ll teach these as a refresher to my small group of first and second graders.
We used The Way of The Master technique for sharing the Gospel at Bible school last year. Right and wrong can be very clear for 4-11 year olds, and you could see the conviction in their faces. Afterwards over 60 of them came forward to surrender their lives to Jesus.
Here’s a tip for reminding young kids about who Jesus is. After playing a game of freeze tag, circle up the kids. Ask them what can freeze us to death - Sin! Ask them who is the only one that can restore us to life - Jesus!
Thanks again!
March 15th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
i recently learned a mnemonic device..Gin-Sp-Mas-Lc
G—God 1st
I…idols, none
n…name of God
s..sabbath
p…parents
m…murder, don’t
a…adultery, don’t
s…steal, don’t
l…lying,don’t
c…coveting, don’t
March 15th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Ginspmaslc! what a great idea
This was cute too.
March 15th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
Fantastic:-)
Great for my kids and myself.
Thanks Steve.
http://repentanceandfaith.blogspot.com/
March 16th, 2007 at 3:17 am
I am going to use this for my Youth Group @ Church! I love this great tool. I may even get to use it @ my job today.
It always amazes me that Gods ways are not so complicated and lofty but simplicity is the word!
P-ray
L-isten
O-obey
T-trust
S-tand
March 16th, 2007 at 3:43 am
This was great Steve, Thanks for sharing this teaching.
March 16th, 2007 at 7:15 am
Great way to learn the Ten Commandments!! I also have a hard time remembering them and this has taught me a good way to memorize them. Bless all of you at Way of the Master. I love everything ya’ll do and I hope ya’ll continue the good work!
March 16th, 2007 at 7:35 am
Steve,
This is great! I thank God for you.
Do you have this available as a download, not as a youtube link? Maybe a .wmv file or some other downloadable version?
That would be super helpful!
Please email me if you need help formatting it this way.
in Christ and for His glory,
Mark
March 16th, 2007 at 8:04 am
I hope you’ll keep this up a while. I’ve had real trouble remembering all ten, especially in order! I think if I watch and participate in this two or three more times I’ll be able to remember the 10 Commandments for good.
Thanks,
Alex
March 16th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Just taught myself and my 4 yo in about 5 minutes! Keep up the great work! This was great!
March 16th, 2007 at 10:19 am
I am familiar with the ten commandments, to believe I know them in order
however, but I hesitate some times to frame them in my mind. DJAllen
March 16th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Visual learning is the best.
March 16th, 2007 at 11:12 am
That was interesting, though a little hard to get used to due to the fact that my second language in our house is sign language (husband is deaf) and the numbers on the hand are different. For example the three u used is actually the letter “w” and the number “6″ in American Sign Language.
The way I taught our children was with the visual aid Ray Comfort had in his tracts. Our children learned it real quick and me too:) Keep up the good work! dana
March 16th, 2007 at 11:53 am
This link will stay up permanently. Just hold on to your Newsletter! Later it will be under the category “10 Commandments” on the front page of this blog (www.evtales.com).
If you click on the video screen twice, it will take you to the YouTube site where you can format and download it any old way you want.
If you need a DVD, you can submit a comment which goes directly to my personal email. I’ll figure out a way to send it to you. It would just be our church’s cost, probably 2 bucks including postage…or cheaper.
God bless!
March 16th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Hi! Thanks so much for this! It was great and you are a great teacher too!! This helped me tremendously and fast. I will teach them to my four children and pass this on to my friends.
In Him,
Tami
March 16th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
This is great!!!!!I will teach my grandchildren….mona, huffman ,Tx
March 17th, 2007 at 4:42 am
Steve,
I went to the youtube site, but couldn’t figure out how to download the video as a video file.
Could you please email me offline so I can get you my address for a DVD or maybe figure out how to get this as a video file?
Thanks brother!
Mark
March 17th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
This is great! I’ve never known a better way to learn them! Now I can share them with my family and friends!
March 17th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Wow, very unique concept, Steve. It certainly is good to learn the ten commandments in order. I’ve always seen in the Bible that the law being written in one’s heart is not a thing you’re born with but something that is part of accepting the New Covenant. (Hebrews
The covenant promised by God to be made with Israel is that the law is written on their hearts; if everyone has the law on their hearts, then there really is no need to teach them, and it’d mean they’re already in the covenant relationship with God based on that criterion. I don’t recall the Bible (including Romans 2) saying that anyone other than God’s people has the law written in his heart.
Very humourous stuff; I don’t think I’ll be able to forget them now.
~Ken
March 18th, 2007 at 4:30 am
Thanks so much for a great teaching tool I lead a ministry ( Friends for Life) for adults with cognitive impairments, for whom standard teaching tools may be too “wordy”. I feel this ” hands on” visual tool will be very helpful. May the LORD bless you!
March 19th, 2007 at 3:45 am
For number five, honor your father and mother, you could put your hand over your heart, the way it has been done when saying the pledge of allegience to the flag.
March 20th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Great! Much better than the technique I’ve been using. I will change my style.
Mitch
March 21st, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Really cool stuff - fun, simple, requires some hand movements so it’s fun for kids to learn. they can have fun “playing it out” as well.
God Bless you and your ministry.
Wade Tonkin
ChristianAffiliateMarketers.com
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:57 am
THANK YOU! I ENJOY THIS AND FIND MYSELF REPEATING THE 10 COMMANDMENTS THROUGHOUT THE DAY. GOD BLESS.
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:59 pm
This is great! I’m going to teach these to our grandchildren before Easter. They will love it! Maybe “we kids” will get to share it with my family who is coming in for Easter (they are not saved)! Thank you so much!! Also, thank you for this wonderful website, sharing such a basic truth that the 10 Commandments MUST to be used in evangelism!! I never ’saw’ it that way before!!
March 27th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
I got this from Way of the Master Newsletter.
Ten Commandents sounded committed to me however the fifthy four letter word has been said WITHOUT the lord name due to crazy people that can harm us. How else you would have done it? The word is very seldom almost zero.
I do have hearing loss. And often talked without sign language.
April 2nd, 2007 at 4:37 am
i could not view this. could you just e-mail me how to do it.
thank you
April 2nd, 2007 at 1:34 pm
This is phenomenal! I am a pastor’s wife so I emailed all of our children’s church staff to learn it. We will be teaching our children as well as teaching on the Army of God curriculum we have. It is truly a blessing.
This is such a great witnessing tool as you know if you are familiar with the ministry of Ray Comfort & Kirk Cameron.
Good Job!
April 2nd, 2007 at 3:15 pm
I am very happy that this will work for you! I’m verrry familiar with Ray’s ministry…:>)
April 8th, 2007 at 11:47 am
Steve,
Thanks for sharing your ideas on how to remember the 10 commandments. I shared this with my kids and it was fun,really emjoyed the time. Since I’ve started watching Way of the Master, I never really realized how dirty I truly was in regards of the 10 Commandments. I now have a copy of the 10 Commandments taped to my lunch box and next to my work computer so that I’m easily reminded. Thanks again and God bless to you all.
April 9th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Thank you Steve, for sharing this easy way to learn the 10 commandment
I am teachining to the kids in Mexico
God bless you.
Do you have more ideas in witnessing?
April 9th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Thanks, Dr. YES! Just go to my blog’s main page, by clicking here: http://www.evtales.com …and enjoy!
April 21st, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Thanks, Steve! I would love to show my youth bible study class this video. However, I need to be able to play it without internet access. I cannot figure out how to format it and download it on youtube like you instructed someone above. Please email me instructions. Thanks again.
April 30th, 2007 at 7:49 am
I enjoyed your video. Here is a similar teaching that I found last year:
“Here is a way that children as well as adults can learn the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), using our ten fingers.
Start with your hands together in prayer. This reminds us that God heard the prayers of the Hebrew people when they were in slavery in Egypt and freed them (Exodus 3:7, 20:2). The commandments are a way for us to show our gratitude for God’s love in our lives.
1. “I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me.” Hold up one index finger for the number one. We worship one God.
2. “You shall not worship idols.” (Idols, false gods, are not only things like statues, but anything we place our ultimate trust and allegiance in, for example money or possessions.) Hold up two fingers. Should we worship more than one God? No, two is too many! One of them must be an idol, and we should not worship it!
3. “You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain.” Use three fingers to form the letter “W” which stands for “words.” Watch your words! God wants us to use his name in loving, caring ways, as we pray and as we talk about him, not in swearing or in anger.
4. “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.” Hold up four fingers, fold your thumb under to let it rest. The thumb has the right idea. It’s the Sabbath, and the thumb is following the commandment to take a day of rest.
5. “Honor your father and your mother.” Hold up all five fingers on one hand as if you are taking a pledge, to honor your parents.
6. You shall not kill. Pretend the index finger on your second hand is a gun, shooting at the first five fingers. God’s sixth commandment teaches us not to do what has become too commonplace in our society.
7. You shall not commit adultery. Hold one hand out flat. The five fingers and hand become the floor of the church. Two fingers on the other hand are the man and woman to be married, standing in the church, making promises to each other. This commandment calls for couples to keep the marriage promises they make.
8. You shall not steal. Hold up four fingers on each hand, for the eighth commandment. If you stretch out your fingers slightly, these become the prison bars, which hold someone who was been arrested for stealing.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Hold up all five fingers on one hand and four on the other. Fold your second thumb under and turn your hand around, so the thumb is hiding. It is secretly going around telling the other four fingers on that hand, lies and rumors about the five fingers on the other hand. It is “bearing false witness,” as it talks behind people’s backs, spreading gossip, criticizing others without talking directly to the people involved.
10. Do not covet what belongs to your neighbor. Hold out your hands, palms up, and wiggle all ten fingers to show that they’ve got the “gimmies.” Your fingers are saying, “Gimmie what belongs to my neighbor. I want all those things my neighbor has.” This is not the way God wants us to live.
This helpful learning guide was adapted by us from the March 26, 2000 issue of Homiletics and originally shared by David Sauer”
I teach the 10 commandments at jail–we have a generation that has no clue what sin is but really responds when they are told.
I also use visuals–the numbers 1-10 turned into a picture which explains the commandment (#6 is a gun). They work really great too!
May 31st, 2007 at 5:11 am
GREAT tool for learning the 10 commandments! Since I am a sign language interpreter, I just wanted to tell you how my daughter & I want to remember Commandment # 5 - Honor your father & mother… The sign for father & the sign for mother involve a ‘5′ handshape. You can probably find it on-line but mother is on the chin & father is on the forehead… Perfect incorporation for us! God bless you!
June 7th, 2007 at 9:49 am
Thanks! I have a memory like a sieve and I really enjoyed learning the 10 commandments from your site and have emailed it on to others. I found your site by Google. God Bless!
June 7th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Thank you!
God bless you, too!
June 15th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Loved reading everything, Steve! I’m sending “Learn The 10 Commandment in 5 Minutes” to everyone…especially my Catholic friends who don’t know any of them, where to find them, or even where to find a Bible! (A what?) It should be interesting! Godl bless you, my brother in Christ.
July 6th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Great tool!!!
I might add to #5 something like…
“Honor your Father and Mother, even when they have to discipline you.”
Awesome way to help people learn!!
Would you mind posting the directions in text form?
July 21st, 2007 at 2:25 pm
This is exactly what I expected to find out after reading the title Learn the 10 Commandments in 5 Minutes!. Thanks for informative article