The Good News of Tomorrow's World
January, 1972
The Apostle PAUL
Commandment Breaker, or Commandment Keeper?
Some
claim Paul taught Christians to disobey the Ten Commandments. Yet, how
many have stopped to personally examine the writings of Paul -- really
prove what Paul taught concerning the Ten Commandments? Have you? What
did the Apostle really teach?
by Eugene M. Walter
MILLIONS
of professing Christians assume Paul taught Christians to disobey the
Ten Commandments. If you keep the Law of God, it is claimed, you are
under a curse! You probably have heard this teaching from childhood and
have assumed it to be true.
To be
sure, many have sincerely THOUGHT and ASSUMED that this is New
Testament teaching. But God commands us to QUIT ASSUMING -- to "prove
all things ..." (I Thess. 5:21).
Does it make any difference to God whether you obey Him?
How to Begin
Some of
what Paul wrote is admittedly difficult to understand. Peter was
inspired to say that Paul wrote "some things HARD TO BE UNDERSTOOD,
which they that are unlearned and unstable WREST, as they do also the
other scriptures, unto their own destruction" (II Pet. 3:16).
But on the
other hand, Paul also wrote much which is CLEAR, PLAIN and EASY to
understand. In those passages it would be impossible to MISunderstand
what he is saying.
The
logical way to understand Paul's teachings about the Ten Commandments
is to go FIRST to his plain, clear, straightforward statements on this
subject. Only when we first understand these, are we ready to
intelligently study Paul's more difficult passages.
However,
because the natural mind of man has a built-in hostility toward God and
His Ten Commandment Law (Rom. 8:7), men don't follow this logical
approach.
Instead of
understanding Paul's difficult statements in the light of his PLAIN,
CLEAR, EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND words, many do just the opposite. They
totally discard, reject and IGNORE Paul's direct, straightforward,
UNMISTAKABLE statements about the Ten Commandments. They then twist and
distort his more difficult-to-be-understood statements to their own
fancy -- and their own DESTRUCTION.
Let's not
be guilty of such a mistake! Let's examine Paul's direct,
straight-from-the-shoulder POSITIVE teaching about the Ten Commandments
FIRST. Only then can we hope to understand those passages which are
more difficult.
What Paul Clearly Taught
Now what
are some of Paul's clear statements about the Ten Commandments? One
such statement is found in I Corinthians 6:9-10. Paul warns: "BE NOT
DECEIVED, neither fornicators, nor IDOLATERS nor ADULTERERS ... nor
THIEVES nor COVETOUS nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners,
shall inherit the kingdom of God."
In this
one short passage the Apostle Paul names the breaking of FOUR of the
Ten Commandments -- idolatry, adultery, stealing and coveting -- and
dogmatically states that any found guilty of breaking these
commandments will not inherit God's Kingdom! And he sternly warns us
not to deceive ourselves by thinking otherwise!
Notice
another unmistakably clear and easy-to-understand passage: "Now the
works of the flesh ... are these: ADULTERY, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, IDOLATRY ... wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
envyings, MURDERS, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which
I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they
which do such things SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD" (Gal.
5:19-21).
This
passage repeats two commandments -- those pertaining to adultery and
idolatry -- and adds one more -- the command against MURDER.
This makes
a total of FIVE commandments which Paul has specifically and
unequivocally stated Christians must keep if they are to inherit or
enter God's Kingdom. And since idolatry, which is mentioned in both of
these passages, automatically breaks the first commandment, which is
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex 20:3), Paul has actually
commanded obedience to six of the Ten Commandments in just TWO SHORT
PASSAGES!
Now turn
to Colossians 3:5-9. This passage reads: "Mortify therefore your
members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate
affection, evil concupiscence, and COVETOUSNESS, which is IDOLATRY: For
which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of
DISOBEDIENCE ... But now ye also PUT OFF ALL THESE: anger, wrath,
malice, BLASPHEMY, FILTHY COMMUNICATION OUT OF YOUR MOUTH. LIE NOT one
to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds."
This
scripture names and CONDEMNS disobedience to TWO MORE of the Ten
Commandments -- BEARING FALSE WITNESS or LYING and TAKING GOD'S NAME IN
VAIN through BLASPHEMY and FILTHY TALK. (See also Ephesians 4:29.)
Next open
your Bible to Ephesians 6:1-2. Here we read, "Children, obey your
parents in the Lord: for this is right. HONOUR THY FATHER AND MOTHER;
which is the FIRST COMMANDMENT WITH PROMISE." This is a direct quote
from the commandment in Exodus 20:12. Yet here Paul explicitly COMMANDS
Christians to OBEY it!
This makes
a total of NINE commandments which Paul has distinctly and separately
named as being binding on Christians. Only the Sabbath command is left.
Let's see what Paul taught about it.
Paul and the Fourth Commandment
Every
argument imaginable has been advanced against the command to keep holy
the day God made holy (Ex. 20:8). Some want to use time as they please.
They don't want God telling them what to do! Some hate this command
more than any other, it seems. It is the "test commandment" to show who
God's people really are.
Did Paul
obey this commandment? Did he personally keep the day God made holy --
and did he teach others to obey it? Let's not just guess or assume.
Let's examine the Scriptures and "prove all things."
In Acts 13
we have the account of Paul and Barnabas coming to Antioch in Pisidia.
There they "went into the synagogue ON THE SABBATH DAY, and sat down.
And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the
synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any
word of exhortation for the people, say on" (Acts 13:14-15).
Then Paul
stood up and spoke, preaching Christ to
them. "And when the Jews were gone out of
the synagogue, the GENTILES besought that these words might be preached
to them THE NEXT SABBATH" (verse 42)
Now since
Paul was preaching "the GRACE of God" (verse 43), here was his
opportunity to straighten out these Gentiles. Notice what Paul did.
"And the
NEXT SABBATH DAY came almost the whole city together to hear the word
of God" (verse 44). Here Paul waited a whole week in order to preach to
the Gentiles upon the day God made holy!
But this is not the only passage showing that Paul obeyed this commandment.
In Acts
18:1-11 there is the account of Paul living with Aquila and Priscilla
for one and one-half years (verse 11). During this time we read that he
"reasoned in the synagogue EVERY SABBATH, and persuaded the Jews AND
THE GREEKS" (verse 4).
Notice it!
This New Testament passage tells us that Paul labored the six working
days and taught in the synagogue EVERY SABBATH for ONE AND ONE-HALF
YEARS!
Likewise
in Acts 17:2, Paul "AS HIS MANNER WAS went in unto them, and three
SABBATH DAYS reasoned with them out of the scriptures."
It was
Paul's MANNER -- his CUSTOM -- to keep God's day holy. Did he follow
Christ in this? Certainly! Jesus, "AS HIS CUSTOM WAS ... went into the
synagogue ON THE SABBATH DAY" (Luke 4:16).
It was
Christ's custom to keep the Sabbath. Paul followed Christ and he
commands Christians: "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of
Christ" (I Cor. 11:1). Paul kept the fourth commandment and he commands
Christians to follow him in this regard.
For a
final clincher of this fact, turn to Hebrews 4:9. Here, according to
the original inspired Greek, Paul makes the direct statement, "There
remaineth therefore a sabbath observance to the people of God."
This
passage is obscured in the King James Version which reads, "There
remaineth therefore a REST to the people of God." But the word
translated "rest" comes from the Greek word "sabbatismos" and, as the
marginal readings in many Bibles show, means "keeping of the Sabbath
observance." Because the King James translators didn't believe this
verse meant what it said, they translated "sabbatismos" by the obscure
word "rest."
This
verse, then, tells us point-blank that those who really are God's
people will be keeping holy the day He made holy. If you want to know
which day is the Christian Sabbath, write for the booklet entitled
"Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath?" It's FREE.
Yes, Paul
commanded obedience to the fourth commandment just as surely and firmly
as he did to each of the other nine.
What Will YOU Do?
The
evidence is overwhelming! Paul personally kept ALL TEN of God's Ten
Commandments. In doing this he followed in the steps of Jesus Christ.
This is why Paul could say, "Be ye followers (imitators) of me, even as
I also am of Christ."
Christ
taught obedience to the Law. In John 15:10 Jesus said, "I have kept my
Father's commandments ...." He says to His true followers, "If ye keep
my commandments, ye shall abide in my love."
The
question for us today is: Are WE willing to follow Christ, too? If we,
like Paul, are CRUCIFIED with Christ (Gal. 2:20) and Christ lives HIS
life in us by His Spirit, Christ IN us will still keep God's Ten
Commandments, for He is the SAME, yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews
13:84). This subject is made plain in the FREE booklet "What Kind of
Faith Is Required for Salvation?"
There are
hundreds of additional New Testament passages covering obedience to God
and His Law, both from the writings of Paul and others. Since space
does not permit them all to be included here, write for our FREE book
entitled "The Ten Commandments". It's full color and fully illustrated.
It quotes many scriptures showing how we are to keep God's Ten
Commandments.
We have,
however, given sufficient information to prove conclusively and beyond
a shadow of a doubt that Paul DID teach obedience to the Ten
Commandments.
Don't be
deceived by those who teach disobedience! Many who hate God's Law are
very skillful at putting a clever twist on certain of Paul's more
difficult passages to make it appear that the Ten Commandments are
"done away."
Heed Peter's warning! Don't be deceived!
