On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, ten lords a’leaping…

 You’ve probably already guessed that the ten lords a’leaping can refer to the Ten Commandments that God gave through Moses, listed in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:1-22. God said:

• You shall have no other gods before Me

• You shall not make or worship any idol

• You shall not take the name of God in vain

• You shall honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy

• You shall honor your father and mother

• You shall not kill

• You shall not commit adultery

• You shall not steal

• You shall not lie

• You shall not covet

Here are the Ten Commandments given through Moses as listed in the New Living Translation of the Bible, Deuteronomy 5:1-22:

 Moses called all the people of Israel together and said, “Listen carefully, Israel. Hear the decrees and regulations I am giving you today, so you may learn them and obey them!

  “The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Mount Sinai. The Lord did not make this covenant with our ancestors, but with all of us who are alive today.  At the mountain the Lord spoke to you face to face from the heart of the fire.  I stood as an intermediary between you and the Lord, for you were afraid of the fire and did not want to approach the mountain. He spoke to me, and I passed his words on to you. This is what he said:

  “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

  “You must not have any other god but me.

  “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.  You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.

  “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.

  “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do. Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.

  “Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

  “You must not murder.

 “You must not commit adultery.

  “You must not steal.

  “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.

  “You must not covet your neighbor’s wife. You must not covet your neighbor’s house or land, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

 “The Lord spoke these words to all of you assembled there at the foot of the mountain. He spoke with a loud voice from the heart of the fire, surrounded by clouds and deep darkness. This was all he said at that time, and he wrote his words on two stone tablets and gave them to me.”

 Notice that as with the nine ladies dancing on the ninth day of Christmas that we studied yesterday, these lords are leaping – they are active – and their dancing and leaping symbolize the activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers, who are the Body of Christ and the Church of God on earth.

Under the Old Covenant, which includes the Ten Commandments given through Moses by God, humanity was required to put all their strength into keeping God’s laws under their own power. Although the Holy Spirit fell on, and sometimes remained with, specific persons in the Old Testament, he had not yet been sent by God to abide with believers forever, as Jesus promised:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you [see Acts chapter 2]. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you (John 14:16-18 NLT).

 Jesus’ substitutionary death, burial and resurrection in payment for our sins places believers under the New Covenant, through which we are not under law but under grace:

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:14 ESV).

New Testament believers are saved from sin through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his substitutionary atonement for our sins on our behalf, through the grace of Almighty God. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are immediately indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who then performs every necessary work throughout our lifetimes for our sanctification, from the deepest within of our being.

The spiritual, supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit within us produces the Fruit of the Spirit through us and allows us to keep God’s laws in his strength – naturally, organically, through him - so that we do not depend on our own strength for salvation or for works. Under the Old Covenant, God’s laws were written on two tablets of stone. Under the New Covenant, God’s Holy Spirit writes them on our minds and hearts:

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

 …For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Hebrews 8:6, 10 ESV).