Are The Ten Commandments Obsolete?

It is likely that this article will be upsetting to many.  It is likely that many will find my assertions offensive.  But the topics of the Law of God and His wrath are necessary to address.  So let me just begin and get to the point.

Even though society accepts and even encourages these things, in the eyes of God is it ever acceptable for someone to:

1).  Hold what ever "god" chosen in highest regard?  (1st commandment)
2).  Worship anything or anyone we want? (2nd commandment)
3).  Use God's name as a swear word or an exclamation or a trite phrase like, "OMG"? (3rd commandment)
4).  Forego a sabbath rest and day of worship? (4th commandment)
5).  Dishonor parents with rebellion, disrespect or disregard? (5th commandment)
6).  Murder or hate someone? (6th commandment)
7).  Commit adultery or cause another to commit adultery by way of fornication, divorcing and remarrying, lusting or causing another to lust? (7th commandment)
8).  Steal, by way of theft, cheating in any way or failing to pay a debt that is owed? (8th commandment)
9).  Lie or bear false witness for any reason including being deceptive? (9th commandment)
10).  Covet, which means to want or desire anything that belongs to another including, beauty, talent, money, job, lifestyle, possessions, wife/husband, girlfriend/boyfriend, position in life, circumstances or anything else that has been given to another?  (10th commandment)

The answer is, of course, no.  God gave us His law and has written His moral code upon our hearts because these laws matter to Him.  Even though society accepts and promotes the breaking of His laws, God has never given mankind the freedom to abandon them.  In fact, Jesus said,

Matthew 5:17-20

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets;  I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.   For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven;  but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."

Regarding Jesus' words, "unless your righteousness surpasses (exceeds) that of the pharisees...",  Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary says;

"Christ's righteousness, imputed to us by faith alone, is needed by every one that enters the kingdom of grace or of glory; but the new creation of the heart to holiness, produces a thorough change in a man's temper and conduct."

By saying these words, Jesus proclaimed the importance of keeping hold of the Law as the pharisees did, yet at the same time, grasping the righteousness that comes by faith apart from the Law (something most pharisees failed to grasp).  This righteousness is found in Christ alone, in the atoning sacrifice He became, in order to satisfy the wrath of God which is the due penalty for breaking one of the  commandments He gave in even a small way, such as telling a "little white lie".

So now here comes the tough part;

Each of us must analyze what parts of God's law we've broken or continue to break and repent, which means to turn away from it and do it no longer.

The first command is most assuredly broken every time you break any of the rest because you fail to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strenth.  The second, too, is being broken when someone creates a "god" in his mind that is accepting of any choice he makes to break one of the rest of the Ten Commandments.

For example, except for the allowances that God gave in Matthew 19:9 and 1 Corinthians 7:12-15, if I divorce my husband and marry someone else, claiming that my "god" permits and condones such things, then I've made a "god" in the image I prefer.  In all actuality, God's word has never changed regarding this matter, even though society in general has accepted divorce and remarriage for any reason.   In such a case, we must repent not only of breaking the seventh commandment, but also the first and second.

In the same way, if a person steals, he's broken not only the eighth commandment but also the tenth, the first and the second as well.

The Ten Commandments God gave us have not ever been set aside as though they no longer exist.  Jesus said our righteousness must exceed that of the pharisees.   Jesus in no way said that we have the freedom to negate to the commandments.  In fact, Jesus expanded upon the commandments by explaining further that not only is adultery wrong, but lusting after someone makes us guilty of breaking that commandment.  And not only is murder wrong, but hating another person makes us guilty of breaking the sixth commandment.

Most people would never say,

"Well, Jesus is forgiving, so it's alright if I steal or murder because He'll just forgive me.  After all, we are not under the law anymore".

But, many try to dismiss the seventh commandment by using that exact same argument.  In fact, most in society and even the church today do not have the same abhorrence for adultery that God still has.  We've lost the sense of shame that at one time came with living outside of God's will.  I'm not saying that people are responsible for "shaming" other people.  I'm saying that in general, people do not even believe that what they do is shameful in God's eyes.  This is likely because they've made a "god" in their own image who is not offended by that particular sin.

So what can be done?  When we examine ourselves according to what God has said is sin, and we come to realize we've been sinning, we must repent. That means we do not condone or excuse or justify the sin any longer and we stop doing it.

Can anyone be saved by ceasing to sin and keeping the Law?  No!  This is exactly what the pharisees missed!  They grasped one aspect of the truth...but failed to grasp the other!  We must cling to Christ's work on the cross while not changing the rules for holiness.  If we dismiss God's rules, we dismiss the necessity of Christ.  When in truth, we need Him every day to change our hearts and make us new.  We need Him to create within us a new set of desires that would cause us to love His standard of holiness, not create a new standard of holiness that is attainable without Christ.

These things are difficult to accept.   When our marriages become unhappy, it's easier to make a "god" in our own image that would accept and understand our desire to divorce.   When we are lonely and we want intimacy, we want a "god" who will accept and approve our disobedience to His call to purity.  When we feel deprived and wanting, we want a "god" who will commend our craftiness in attaining wealth by deceptive means.  When we are wronged we want a "god" who is indifferent to our murderous thoughts.  But this "god" does not exist except in the mind of the willful person.  Rather, God has said that such things are wickedness and that His wrath is the due penalty for striving after our own wicked desires.

The wrath of God sounds extreme to the one who has misjudged His holy nature.  But even God Himself was not willing to rewrite His standards of holiness (the Law) for the sake of saving His children!  The magnitude of the wrath of God is evidence of the severity of the crime of offending His holiness.  Extreme holiness warranted extreme wrath and was satisfied ONLY in the sacrifice of God's perfect Son.  If breaking God's Law warranted such wrath, the same is true when we create a "god" who is accepting of our willful rewriting of His laws.


   

Whatever Shall Be Loosed, Whatever Shall Be Bound

In Matthew 18 Jesus speaks of discipline and prayer.  Specifically in verses 15-18 he speaks of brothers sinning against brothers and how to deal with it among the body of believers.  The process for restoration is laid out, and as each step is taken in the process, there is another step laid out in case there is a failure to repent on the part of the sinner.

In our current culture the concept of "live and let live" is widely spread and greatly adhered to, having been given credence by the twisting and misapplication of scripture; specifically scripture that deals with the concept of judging.  One of the most often quoted scripture passages is Luke 6:37.

"Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven"

The vast majority of Christian churches in the world take this verse along with Romans 2:1, Matt 7:1 and Luke 6:42 and have instituted the standard of non confrontation regarding sin among the believers.  Most have equated accountability with condemning stone throwing and because of this, sin and the willfully sinful are rapidly taking over local churches.  "Do not judge" has become a vice to hold God's people in captivity to sin.

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, spoke of sinfulness being accepted in the Church there.  In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul both rebukes and admonishes the church to expel the immoral brothers from amongst the congregation.  He says,

"You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst." (5:2)

 This chapter shows that the practice of judging was expected to be the norm within the body of Christ.  Jesus said, "Be holy as I am holy".  The expectation and teaching of the early church fathers was that the Church would be a body of holy people pursuing holiness privately and publicly.

But because we no longer mourn over it, shameful behavior is excused, even condoned as a culturally and morally acceptable way of life.  There is no shame in having premarital sexual relations, living together and having children out of wedlock, divorce is no longer considered shameful but rather excused and acceptable, remarriage after divorce is actually officiated by pastors and allowed in the church, provocative dress, foul language and the viewing of filth in the name of entertainment are all accepted and openly practiced by those who call themselves the body of Christ.

Matthew 18 speaks of confronting sin amongst the brethren.  Matthew 18:18 reveals an even greater depth to this passage than what might be considered at first glance.

" Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

When sin and sinfulness are no longer confronted but accepted, there is something more than we see that is happening.   As sinfulness is loosed in our churches, wickedness is being loosed in the heavens.  In our failure to bind on earth what is shameful, we have unbound in the heavens that which was formerly restrained and we are given over to sin.  By failing to stand firm in the holiness God desires, we have been given over to evil.  No longer does the Church stand as a witness and a refuge to lost souls.  It stands as a place of hypocrisy.  We speak of a God we do not serve.  But the same is true for the Church as is true for the individual.

"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap."  Gal. 6:7

Today, we are reaping what has been sown.  The church is filled with abhorrent teachings that silence the call to holiness and scream the message of tolerance within it's walls.  The love of Christ is twisted to be a message of permissiveness.
What we've done is swing from one end of the pendulum to the other.  We've gone from hyper exclusiveness to all out inclusiveness.  But the man (and Church) of God will avoid all extremes!  We are not to judge those who are outside of the church.  But if a sinner repents and is numbered among the believers, they are to be held accountable to the standards of holiness God has put in place.  Permissiveness has no place in the Church.  And condemnation is not to be on our lips.  But the one who does not believe stands condemned already, so we are not to condone their behavior as if there is no condemnation for the one who is not "in Christ".

What we loose on earth is loosed in Heaven.  We've loosed permissiveness and effectively given our Church over to the will and whim of evil.  We need to take it back and bind on earth what should be bound in Heaven.  Our battle is not with flesh and blood, so don't go out and start bashing others in a condemning sort of way.  What we must do is stand for holiness and truth and bind in Heaven the forces that should be restrained, in the name of Christ Jesus and by the power of His shed blood.  Jesus has already won the victory.  It is our joy to uphold the ground that was already won.  Unity in the church will once again be the norm, rather than the exception, because evil and divisiveness will no longer feel at home within our ranks.

Let God be praised in our obedience to His word!

Prayer Is Not A Cheap Help. It Is Our Best Help.

It is very easy for a person to slip into Christian ease, saying phrases like, "I'll pray for you" or "I'll have to pray about that" without really thinking about it.  But the danger is that these phrases can become a form of taking the Lord's name in vain.  When we use the promise to pray for someone as a way of avoiding the possibility of becoming more intimately involved in their troubles, or as a way of wrapping up an uncomfortable discussion with someone, essentially what we do is take in vain the privilege and power of God's listening ear.  Prayer is not to be seen as the least expensive commitment you can make toward someone else, but the most sincere and effective form of help you can give them.  But we are not to end our commitment there.  There will be times when we must jump down into the trenches with others and be willing to lend whatever form of help they need.  This may cause some personal discomfort, but sharing someone's load has a way of binding hearts together, creating the bond of unity that Christ greatly desires in His children.

How Beautiful would I Be If They Could See My Sin?

If all that is hidden came to light
If all that is sinful was in plain sight
If all that was wounded was black and blue
If all of my secrets, everyone knew
If wishes were lashings
If thoughts became scars
If insecurities shone brightly, just like the stars
If fear starved my body
If hate made me fat
If worry greyed my hair, what would they think of that?
If jealousy grew fangs
If envy aged my skin
How beautiful would I be if they could see my sin?

Psalm 51:17

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."

In a large family it can be a challenge to manage my days with efficiency.  Balancing the management of the home, with the joy of connecting personally with each child, along with their instruction in matters of faith is no small challenge indeed.  I have to take the opportunities that spontaneously arise as well as create opportunities as often as I can.  And still there are days when I feel like I've hardly seen one of my children.  

My greatest desire is that each of my children will be known by God and will seek His face daily.  Nothing else in life carries more importance to me.  Because Jesus is everything.  God is the source of life and truth and to pursue anything over a relationship with Him is futile.  

But the pursuit of God doesn't begin with works or personal efforts to reach Him. It begins with God, and His great love for us.  He is not impressed with our works or our efforts to be holy.  What God desires is a broken and contrite heart.  This creates quite a conundrum for me as a mother, because what mother would desire that her children be broken?  

I realize this might sound crazy to some, but one thing that I pray for my children is that God will bring them to the place of being broken before Him so that they will know His love and His will for their lives.  This does not mean that I want them to suffer or experience hardship.  This means that I want them to understand how sinful sin is and how desperately they need Jesus to save them.  This doesn't happen without tears of repentance and sorrow for sin.  And it doesn't happen without the fear of The Lord.

My twelve year old son first expressed a true love for God when he was three.  One morning, with all sincerity, he spontaneously shared with me how much he loved God.  He had such a dreamy look in his eyes and his smile was one of a mixture of shyness and wonder about the whole thing.  But just recently, on one of those occasions when I realized I hadn't connected intimately with this same son in a while, I asked him if he still felt that love for God.  To my amazement and concern his answer was, "no, not so much".  It wasn't an answer made in defiance.   He was simply being honest, and I appreciate that.  I don't want to raise dishonest children who merely give answers they think will please me.  I want to know how they truly feel.

So, instead of chastising him, we began a discourse on God's holiness.  And in remembering how holy God is, the sinfulness of our hearts and actions became even more appalling.   My son, was attentive as we talked about God's standard for holiness.  

The first commandment, and the greatest commandment according to Jesus, is that we "Love The Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength".  My son had just confessed to me that his love for God had diminished.  There was no denying a failure.  And that is where we lingered because there was no need to continue going through the commandments having found that the first and most important had been broken.  From there I asked him what he thought could be done to "make it right".  

Now, don't get me wrong.  We speak about God daily in our home, we pray together, we try to honor God in daily life and be pleasing to Him.  But here was my twelve year old son, who has been raised to know God and His ways, struggling to formulate an answer about what can be done for the one who has sinned.   How to be right with God should be a concern for everyone, because the fact is, we are still being made holy, even after we've been "made perfect forever" in the eyes of God through the blood of Christ.  Until I reminded my son of the gravity and weight of this sin, in light of God's perspective on it, there was no conviction for it.  But God is grieved by sin, and we should be too.  In remembering the holiness of God together, our hearts were reminded of our great need for a remedy for our unholiness.  And though we speak of things like this often in our home, he simply couldn't answer with confidence what could or should be done, if anything, to be right with God.  So I took him to Psalm 51:17.

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."

Now, being sorry for our sin isn't enough to save us.  It's only by God's mercy that we are saved.  But it is in our grief over our sin, that we are broken and become contrite in our spirits, which causes us to seek His forgiveness.  It is the penitent who find God's mercy in Christ Jesus.  Like the thief on the cross who had nothing to offer Jesus, all we have is our ability to ask for His mercy.  And with a broken and contrite heart we find His mercy, freely given to those who will come to God through Him. 

In that conversation, my son was again brought to the remembrance of the sinfulness of his sin and the greatness of God's mercy.   He didn't need to get saved all over again.  But he did see again the wonder of God's love through Jesus.  

In the context of God's holiness, our sin becomes exceedingly sinful.  And in the context of our exceedingly sinful hearts, God's mercy becomes exceedingly wondrous.   And His love becomes the greatest thing we treasure once again.  It is good to remember what God has done for us.  

The Cry of My Heart

The Cry of my heart is to know you, Lord 
To understand your ways.
I long to be in your presence, Lord
And be with you all my days.
If evening or morning should come
To you my heart shall go.
Your courts I'll make my home
I bow before you low.
Be gracious, Lord, to let me stay
And dry my every tear.
For in your Will I find my joy.
You give me hope and cheer.
And when my spirit flies to you
In Jesus' name I'll come.
For then I'll know your victory, Lord
And then my part is done. 
But praise to You I'll always give
And songs I'll ever sing .
For you alone are Eternal God. 
You alone are King.  

Song of Sorrow, Call of God

Psalm 27:8
"When Thou saidst unto me, "Seek My face," my heart said to Thee, "Thy face, O LORD, I shall seek." 

In my growing up years I often experienced unrest.  A certain kind of loneliness would overtake me and my heart would be heavy with inexplicable sorrow.  It might not be normal for a child to discern such a thing to be the call of God, but this was indeed my heart's interpretation.  I saw the empty longing to be a call upon my heart to seek God.  And in response to what I read in Psalm 27:8, I learned to heed that call and seek Jesus in prayer, scripture and song.  

I'm a mother of several children now, and teaching them to hear the call of God in the many languages He speaks has been one of the most precious privileges I've had.  I know that the purpose of coming to Jesus isn't to have the huge void in your life filled.  But there is truth in this;  Often, when someone comes to Jesus, the huge void in his life IS filled.  

Learning to hear God for the languages He speaks is a precious gift.  Some hear God through sorrow, like I did.  Others hear God through miracles, and still others hear His call through hardship and want.  But others may hear His voice in the quiet peace of a morning or the gentle song of the wind.  

Today, if you hear His call, let it be in your heart to say, "Thy face, O Lord, I shall seek"!  

Wells of Mercy, Depths of Love

Charles Spurgeon once said, "Thus there will be three effects of nearness to Jesus—humility, happiness, and holiness." 

For a very long time I've been involved with the Church on some level or another.  First, in my childhood, I attended Sunday school.  In my teen years, along with Sunday School and youth bible classes, I spent time at bible camps and retreats.  And then in my late teens and early twenties I attended a small college level bible school for a couple of years.  In all these endeavors, I learned much about God and His children as well as those who merely come along for the ride.  

As a youth I had an idealistic picture of what being a Christian meant.  But as I grew up those idealistic notions and clear boundaries of Christianity were called into question.  I was introduced to the idea of tolerance and acceptance of others, by way of new found "christian" friends who seemed to have looser interpretations of scripture than I'd ever held to or been taught to believe.

I've met many "christians" along the way and more and more, as I live, I realize that grace and mercy, though clearly defined for us in scripture, are deeper wells than I'd ever imagined them to be.   But what I've also learned is the fact that, though the wells of mercy and grace are indeed infinitely deep, only the repentant may drink of them.  

What I couldn't understand about the "christian" friends I'd had back then, was their ability to bank on the mercy of God for any given compromise they would freely make.  There were many matters of conscience I'd had, which ranged from the choice of music we would listen to, to the places we would go for entertainment.  I never could understand how my friends could enjoy hanging out in a seedy bar to listen to a secular band play.  I did tag along a time or two, but it went against every fiber of my being.  And after a while of being brought into such situations of compromise, I just had to distance myself from those who seemed to be walking down a very different road.  It was difficult for me, because I was told "do not judge", yet all the while, the things being done and accepted seemed so out of character for someone who was "after God's own heart".   I can honestly claim that I learned to look the other way and not judge, but in making my stand for what I considered sin, I lost many friends.  

As of today most of those "christian" friends have left the Christian Faith.  In my most nonjudgmental way I have to admit that this doesn't take me by surprise.  You see, these, who were so liberal in their interpretations of scripture, were also the most critical of my faith and desire to be faithful.  And they were also the ones to push the "boundaries" of holiness continually, even laughing at and mocking me for my convictions.  

Though I wouldn't say that religion saves a man, I will say that a permissive nature often indicates an un-yielded heart that has been given over to the flesh.   In my experience, it hasn't been those who "live it up", while banking upon God's mercy, who have understood the love of God.   It's been the humble and the joyful and the obedient people that I've known, who love God and understand His mercy.  

I am not religious.  I am one who has seen the depths of God's well of mercy and fallen deeply in love with Him for it.  And that love compels me to pursue holiness in every way.