Revisiting the Ten Commandments. I NEVER expected this!

The Ten Commandments. What do they mean to you? Law? A chain around your neck? Something long since passed away? Something on the court house wall to be debated?

The Physical and financial crisis' in my life over the last few years have driven me to seek God's truths more than I ever have before. There are only two choices to take during times like this; Life or Death. I have chosen life. My cry to our Father is to know His ways, to walk in His ways, to please Him, and to be 'detoxed' of all religiosity that may be destroying me. He is always faithful to answer.

Having attended church almost my entire life you would think I knew the Ten Commandments by now. I recently read them again, but it seemed to be for the first time for some strange reason. In the back of my mind I thought reading the Ten Commandments would be like reading Leviticus. Sure, a good and noble thing to do, but why? (not to mention boring). I could not have been more wrong!

Here they are again as a refresher.

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17 NKJV)

1 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.

2 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.

3 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

4 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

5 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

6 “You shall not murder.

7 “You shall not commit adultery.

8 “You shall not steal.

9 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.”

I am not sure at what stage the Ten Commandments became 'law' in my mind. I think what I have always done is take small 'sound bytes' from preaching to form my opinion. (Maybe I am not alone in that?)
Anyway, I have had the idea in the back of my head, that the Ten Commandments are the old law, and we are under grace now, not law. I am referring to the Ten Commandments in particular, not the Levitical law. The Levitical law is more complex than today's NFL rules and regulations. For example, we are not to kill sheep or cows for the temporary remission of sin anymore. For food, sure! For sin, however, Jesus became the final sacrifice, once and for all.

I always realized that you had to obey the last six commandments, which are the ones always quoted and readily remembered. (Thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, steal, etc.) That was kind of obvious, but for 'the rest of the story', that was all ancient law, and we are now under grace instead. At least that was my perception. It is the perception I hear a lot, so I am not alone in this.

I am not sure how the church justifies differenciating between grace and law, but I believe I know why, and will explain in a minute. Oh I know all the scriptures to prove that point of view of a 'grace covering' that somehow super-cedes law, believe me. I think the Bible has been used like no other book to prove our desired beliefs.

Let us sit back and consider a few things. The Ten Commandments were given in Moses' time, yes, but they were with us from the beginning. Cain would not have been guilty of murder if the law had not been written, since it is the law that reveals sin. That alone is proof that the Ten Commandments were with us from the beginning. Another example is that God declared the Sabbath for rest after six days of creation, which took place long before Moses' time.

The thing that came to me while reading and contemplating God's commandments, is that they are only 'law' to those who do not know Him. When you know the Father, His commandments are life, not law. They are a delight, not grievous. They are easy, not a burden.
You do not 'obey' them in order to be saved, you keep them because you are saved! The accuser is so good at twisting things! It is a privilege to keep the Father's commands. It is an honor to keep the Father's commands. It is LIFE to keep the Father's commands. His commands are not a burden, and they are not grievous.

The Pharisies of old are a perfect example of an institution that did not know the Father. For example, they turned the Sabbath into a burden that they themselves could not even keep without others to disobey it for them. They could not prepare a meal, therefore someone else had to. They could not help a neighbour get an ox out of a ditch, therefore someone else had to. They could not come to the aid of the sick, the poor, or the abused, therefore someone else had to. They could not invite a poor family over for a meal because that would involve preparation work that someone else had to do. They could not pray for the sick, therefore someone else had to. They could not help someone change a tire on the side of the road, therefore someone else had to.
Jesus gave sight to the blind on the Sabbath, and on purpose. He healed the sick and the lame all the time, so how would resting for one day change things? He did it to prove a point to the religious leaders of the day is why. "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" was His reply when accused of breaking the law. He went about His Father's business, gladly, and on the Sabbath, because he knew His Father, and kept His Father's commands.

There seems to be two sides to this discussion, as always. One side says you have to 'obey' the law in order to be saved. That side includes ancient Judaism, ALL pagan religions (whatever their law says) as well as a few modern denominational institutions.
The other side says that we are under grace, so we do not need to obey the law. That side includes most of today's protestant institutions (No matter how 'scripturally sound' they state it, that is the essence of it)
Neither side sees the Father's commands as anything but law to be obeyed or to be escaped by grace. What a grievous state of affairs we are in!

Jesus said: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." -Matthew 5:17-19 (NIV)

Let's read that again: "...Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven..."

That says two things to me. One: Keeping the commandments is NOT what gets you to heaven. To those who would teach obeying law for justification of sin, there you have it, and from the mouth of the Messiah Himself. Secondly it tells me that not only should I keep them all, I should encourage everyone to do the same. I do not want to be called 'Least'; I want to be held close to His bosom.

Friends, YHWH's commandments are not law to be dreaded, but commandments to be kept. They are life, they are liberty, and they are the pursuit of happiness! Do not let anyone turn them into a law in your heart, either by teaching them to be obeyed on pain of judgment, or water them down to some sort of ancient agreement that is passed.

"Father, teach me your ways that I might know You. Dispel all deceptions that would hinder me. Thank you for your commands. Thank you for loving me so much that you considered me important enough to even write them in stone, and even more so to write them on the tablet of my heart. Forgive me for any thoughts I have had that your wonderful commands are a law or a burden, and forgive me for ever teaching such a thing to the least of anyone who crossed my path."