Why Teach the Ten Commandments

In 1988, a Gallup poll revealed that while 85% of Americans believe that the Ten Commandments are binding, only 15% could name five of them. If the statistics are true, only one out of each six people who say they believe in the Ten Commandments can name even half of them. And it amazes me if you were to ask the common person to tell you where the Ten Commandments were found, they could not tell you. What I want to do is cover with you five principles as to why we teach the Ten Commandments. Number one, they reflect the personality of the Lord.

Number two, they reinforce my iniquity before the Lord. Number three, they reiterate my accountability to the Lord.

Number four, they reveal my necessity for the Lord. And number five, they reassure my quality and my longevity in life. Okay? Number one, they reflect the personality of the Lord.

Turn with me in your Bible to Exodus chapter 20, which, by the way, is one of the places the Ten Commandments is stated.

Verse number 1. Then God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house. Of sl. It was the Lord God who spoke all these words. The law of God is the transcript. Of the divine mind. You cannot separate the law from the lawgiver. If you violate the law, you violate the lawgiver. If you offend the law, you have broken the law. The law. The two are one. And so we must understand first and foremost that the Ten Commandments reflect the personality of God.

God's character is revealed in the Ten Commandments. If I say to you, answer me this question, or if I ask you a question and say, why don't You kill. You would come back and say, Well, the Bible says do not murder.

That's true. But why does the Bible say do not murder? The answer is because God is life. That's why. That's why he said don't kill. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, right? He is the resurrection and the life. He is the life giver. God is in the life. That's why Kev are way off base here. You see? God is in the life. He's not in the death. He is the author of life. And so we don't kill people because God is life. And the Ten Commandments reveal the character of God that He is the life giver.

Why don't we lie? Why do we speak truth? Because God said, do not lie. No, because God is truth. That's why. And because God is truth. To lie would be to align yourself with the character of Satan. To tell the truth is to align yourself with the character of God. And so the Ten Commandments reveal to us the holiness, the perfection of a righteous God who is just in all that he does. And he has laid forth those principles in the scriptures. Deuteronomy 5:2 says, Surely the Lord our God has shown us his glory and his greatness.

God has shown us His glory through the giving of His commandments. And the glory is who God is. The greatness is what. God is. Romans 7:12 says that the law is holy. The commandments holy and just and good. Don't let anybody ever tell you that the law is bad, the law is evil. It's not. The law is good. It's holy. It is just. Paul went on to say in Romans 7:14 that the law is spiritual. How could the law be spiritual? Because God is spirit. And God is holy. And what he says is spiritual. That's why.

The law is a good thing, it's not a bad thing. And so Jesus came in Matthew 5:1 and said, Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets, which is very important because he encompasses the whole Old Testament. Not the law, just specifically the Ten Commandments, but the law. And the prophets. It's the whole Old Testament. Christ says, I didn't not come to abolish those things, I came to what?

Fulfill those things. And Christ is the embodiment of the law because he is the lawgiver. Everybody with me so far? And so when Christ came to fulfill the law, he fulfilled the civil law. He fulfilled the ceremonial law and he fulfilled the moral law. The three aspects of the law of God, right? When you talk about the moral law of God, what you're doing is talking about. Christ obeying to perfection everything that he said because he is perfect. And the moral law of God, the Ten Commandments, outline for us a biblical morality.

And Christ fulfilled that by keeping that in its entire perfection. He fulfilled the civil law, or what we call the legislative law, or the judicial law. When he died of the cross. Because you see, the moral law was given to all man who ever existed. The civil law was only given to the nation of Israel. And the ceremonial law was given to the nation of Israel to govern how they worship. You with me so far? This is important. This helps you understand the book of Galatians, by the way. If you don't decipher between the civil law The ceremonial law and the moral law, you will come up with a misinterpretation of the book of Galatians.

And all of a sudden, you'll be doing spiritual gymnastics around the grace of God and the law of God. So you've got to be very, very careful. So, God came and fulfilled the judicial law. And the judicial law was given to Israel because they had to be different from all the other nations. So, God gave them a diet. God gave them a manner of dress. God gave them a law regarding their diet, their agriculture, their personal relationships. And all those things were to set Israel apart. But when the crucifixion happened, God said, That's it.

We're done. Those things that set you apart as my people, guess what? You're no longer my people. I'm going new direction. Now, one day God's going to call Israel back to Himself, and all Israel is going to be saved. But in the meantime, He changed things, and now He's working through the church. He worked once through his nation, a people of nation, that was Israel. Now he's working through a unified group of people that is the church. And to a certain degree, follow this very carefully with me, the judicial law is still in effect because what was behind the law, judicially, civilly, that would set them apart, Is it not true that we as a kingdom of people, a kingdom priest, a holy nation, are set apart from the world and the culture we live in?

And there are distinguishing characteristics that are to exemplify our life that mark us different than other people. And the ceremonial law was fulfilled at the death of Christ. Why? Because the sacrifice of blood and goats was no longer needed. Why? Because there was one sacrifice. That no longer just covered sin, but took sin completely away. And the writer of Hebrews says that with that sacrifice. Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way.

What way is that? That way is Jesus. And all I have to say, and I don want to get too technical with you, but all I have to say is that Jesus Christ came to fulfill the entire law because he is the lawgiver. And so the law centers around who Jesus is because he gave it. It reflects the personality of who Jesus Christ is. And so in Exodus chapter 20, verse 1, then God spoke all these things. He says, I am the Lord your God. He says, in verse number 3, you shall have no other gods before me. The law is binding because God is its author.

And it describes who God is. And God says, You shall have no other God's Beside me. In other words, this law will be the only law because I am the only God. Number two, why do we teach the Ten Commandments?

Number one, they reflect the personality of the Lord. Number two, they reinforced my iniquity before the Lord.

They reinforce my iniquity and my guilt before the Lord. You see, once I see God for who He is, then I begin to understand right from wrong, truth from error. So not only has God revealed him through his commandments, but he also does what? He reveals my sin. When I look upon that righteous, perfect standard. Romans chapter 3, verse number 20 says this. Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. Deuteronomy 6. 18 says, And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6:2 says, Then it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all these commandments. James 2:10 says, For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of all the law. So, the law of God not only reinforces my iniquity, but it reinforces my guilt before God. I am a sinner. I cannot meet these standards. And God must bring me to that point. Else, I won't see him as my Savior. Number three, the law of God reiterates my accountability to the Lord.

I am accountable to God. Why? Because God is truth. He is the sovereign God of the universe. He is the authority. Over in the book of Deuteronomy, the fourth chapter, the tenth verse. It says this: Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb? When the Lord said to me, Assemble the people to me, that I may let them hear my words. So they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children. I gave you these laws. I gave you these words so that man will learn to fear me.

Why should he fear me? For one day every man will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Revelation chapter 20 talks about the great white throne judgment. And upon that day, God is going to open the book. And all of man's deeds will be laid before him. And God will show man, because he is accountable to him, that whatever he did in his own strength, Is not sufficient enough to get him into heaven. If he's not saved by grace through faith, if he has not appropriated the work of Christ on the cross on his behalf and gave his life over to the Lord Jesus.

Then he will not be saved. And on that day, there will be many people who say, But Lord, we prophesied in your name, we cast out demons in your name. We performed many mighty deeds in your name. And God's going to say, Depart from me, ye who do what? Practice lawlessness. Those of you who do not abide by my law because you're incapable of doing so. You habitually live in sin, you habitually practice sin, even though you went to church. Even though you read your Bible, even though you did good things, even though you believed in God, even though you did many good deeds, they're not going to get you into heaven.

Unless you give your life to Jesus Christ, repent from your sins, and believe that he is the only method of salvation. Then you won't see eternity. And so the question always comes: what is truth? And Jesus said in John 17:1, My word is truth, and all man is accountable to that truth. People say, well, times have changed since the wilderness wanderings and when God gave the commandments. And because times have changed, the Bible doesn't fit today anymore. You ever heard that? Well, your response should be this: No, today doesn't fit the Bible.

Anymore. Today is wrong, not the Bible, because the Bible has never changed. Listen to the words of Ted Coppel. He is the anchorman for Nightline on ABC at a commencement speech at Duke University, May 10, 1987. He says our society finds truth too strong a medicine to digest undiluted. In its purest form, truth is not a polite tap on the shoulder, it is a howling reproach. What Moses brought down from Mount Sinai were not the ten suggestions. They were commandments. Are, not were, he says. The sheer brilliance of the Ten Commandments is that they codify, in a handful of words, acceptable human behavior.

Not just for them. Or now, but for all time. Language evolves, power shifts from nation to nation, messages are transmitted with the speed of light. Man erases one frontier after another, and yet we and our behavior and the commandments which govern that behavior remain the same. End quote. That's pretty powerful for a man who claims to be a humanist, that the Ten Commandments are for today, and they were not suggestions. There are mandates that we are to live by. Why? Because we're accountable to God.

That's why. The Lord your God is one God. There's only one. And that's the one you worship. That's the one you serve. That's the one you bow down to. If you have any other God that you bow down to, whatever that God may be, and we'll talk about that next week. And the week after, then you have violated God's standard. And you are held accountable to that because God is the one who is truth. And his word is truth. So the Ten Commandments they reflect the personality of the Lord. Number two, they reinforce my iniquity before the Lord.

Number three, they reiterate my accountability to the Lord. And number four, they reveal my necessity for the L. They reveal my necessity for the Lord. I need God. And when I come up against God's law and real that I cannot keep His holy standard, I come to the realization that I need God. Because I cannot do what he has asked me to do. I cannot keep from coveting. I cannot keep from lying. I cannot keep from stealing. I cannot keep from taking God's name in vain. I can't keep myself away from other gods.

I cannot do that. And God knows that. And that's why he gave us the law to show us that we cannot do what he's asked us to do. The law doesn't help anybody. It just leaves you in a helpless state. And that's where God wants you when you see Him. And you see his law. God's law reveals sin. God's law does not remove sin. Only God does that. Turn with me over to Galatians chapter 3.

And Paul says in verses 24 and 25 these words. Therefore, the law has become our tutor, our schoolmaster, to lead us to Christ that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. You see, God's law had a purpose. God's law had one main purpose, and that was to drive us to God. The law is his perfect standard. And without that perfect standard brought before an imperfect man, he does not recognize the fact that he needs a Savior. J. Vernon McGee, in his commentary on the Ten Commandments, says this: When you see your hopeless, helpless condition, the law then becomes the one who takes you by the hand and brings you to Christ.

Christ is the one who kept the law, and because he died on the cross, paying the penalty for your sin, it is possible for a holy God to accept you without lowering his standard. The penalty is paid, and now he can receive you, a vile sinner, a lawbreaker, a transgressor, and bring you into the presence of God. That's why it's so important that when you present the gospel of Jesus Christ that you preach the law of God You can't go out and tell people listen God wants you to have joy. God wants you to have peace God wants you to have love.

You need to come to Jesus so you can have those things. My friends, that's not the gospel presentation. Those are byproducts of the gospel. But if you go out and preach that to people, which we do, it's no wonder they yawn. It's no wonder they say, no big deal, I'm not interested. Why? Because they got that. They got love, or a semblance thereof. They got peace, or a semblance thereof. They got some kind of joy. And if they don't find in this marriage, look at joy in that marriage.

They't find joy in that job, look at joy in that job. So you can't go out and tell them that, hey, listen, God's got a wonderful plan for your life. No, God's got a diabolical plan for your life. You're on your way to hell. And you're going to burn in hell unless you repent from your sins and follow him. That's why, when you go out and you preach the gospel, you preach the law. That's what Christ did with a rich young ruler, right? What must I do to be saved? He said. And what did Jesus say? Keep the commandments.

Now, is that how you get saved? No. So why did Jesus say that? Because the rich young mul said, Well, which ones? As if he was to categorize them. So Jesus gives him the second half of the commands.

He doesn't give them anything set around the first four because they deal with God. He gives in the second half man's relationship to one another.

They're a little bit easier to keep, relatively speaking. What did a man say? I done that. What's next? What else do I lack? So, what did God say? Sell your possessions. Let me ask you a question: Does selling your possessions save you?

No? Didn't save you. So why did God do that? The man went away grieved, didn't he? Why? You see, God was still giving him the law. He says, let's back up a minute. What's the first commandment?

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. He says, You've got a God before me. And that God's materialism. That's the God you worship. That's the God you serve. That's the God you adore. That's the You want. So God says, you sell your possessions.

Selling possessions had nothing to do with salvation. Because salvation is by grace through faith. But God confronted him, the Lord Jesus confronted him with the law of God. Because the man refused to see that he was a sinner. And that he could not keep the law of God. And in order to do so, he needed a Savior. Because it's the Spirit of God who helps us fulfill the righteousness of the law. You see, when you preach the gospel, you can't deal with man's felt need, you've got to deal with man's fallen need.

And that's what saves the man when he realizes that he can't save himself. In Romans 8, what's it say? Romans chapter 8, verses 1 to 4. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did. Sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, he condemns sin in the flesh in order that the requirement of the law might Be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.

You see, the law is important. Because the requirements of the law still must be fulfilled in man. And the only way the requirements of the law can be fulfilled in man Is when the Spirit of God indwells man and enables him through his power to accomplish what God has set up. You see that? Because God's standard is perfection. And God's standard is righteousness. And God's standard is holiness. He's not going to lower his standard. So he sent his perfect son to die for your sins. It's so he can lift you to his level of righteousness positionally and giving you a spirit so that practically you can begin to live out that righteousness for People to see.

The cross frees us from law's condemnation, but it does not free us from law's obligation. Which leads us to our last point. The law of God not only reflects the personality of the Lord. It not only reinforces my iniquity before the Lord and reiterates my accountability to the Lord and reveals my necessity for the Lord, but lastly, it reassures my quality. And longevity in life as I serve the Lord. This is great. What God told the nation of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter 5 and Deuteronomy chapter 6 is great.

Great. But I want to read to you what the Lord said in the book of Deuteronomy, the 28th chapter. Listen to his words. Now it shall be, if you will diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments, which I command you to-day, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you will obey the Lord. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall you be in the offspring of your body, in the produce of your ground, in the offspring of your beasts, and the increase of your herd, and the young of your flock.

Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and shall flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing upon you, in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to. And he will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you. The Lord will establish you as a holy people to him, as he swore to you, if you will keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways.

So all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity. In the offspring of your body, and in the offspring of your beast, and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand, and you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow.

And the Lord shall make you the head and not the tail. And you only shall be above, and you shall be, or shall not be underneath. If you will listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today to observe them carefully. And do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.