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commit no adultery, yet if t hou kili,
thou art become a transgressor of
the law. So speak ye, and so do, as
they that shall be judged by the law
of liberty" (James 2: 10-1 2). There
are points to the T en Command–
ments. 1f you break even one, you
have broken the whole law.
Note also that it is called the
faw
of liberty.
How can a law bring
liberty? Let's understand.
How lt Works
The last six of the T en Command–
ments tell us how to !ove our neigh–
bor. How could these points of the
law bring liberty?
Open your own Bible to Exodus
20, verse 12 and see for yoursel f:
" Honour thy father and thy moth–
er: that thy days may be long upon
the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee." Magnifying this com–
mandment, Jesus Christ inspi red
the apost le Paul to write: "Chil–
dren, obey your parents in the
Lord : for t his is right" (Ephesians
6:1 ).
" Wow!" sorne parents might
exclaim.
"If
our c h ildren really
honored and obeyed us, what a
relaxed, peaceful, happy life we
cou ld have as a family! Why, we
could take them places without
fighting and frustration. We could
have pleasant family gatherings and
meals at home. The children would
help with the dishes, housework
and chores. And, so very impor–
tantly, they would respect us and
respond to our wishes concerning
the kind of friends they run around
with, the places t hey go, the things
they do--even the way they dress,
fix their hair and so on. Think of all
the hours of worry and frustration
we wou ld be spared if our children
really honored and obeyed us."
Parents, does it sound too good
to be true?
Don't kid yourself! Don't say it is
impossible or out of date. To sorne
ex tent t hat comma ndme nt was
obeyed in millions of homes in past
generat ions all over the wor ld.
Even today, t hough they may break
many othe r spiritual principies,
millions s t ill follow t hat principie to
a g reat extent in homes in the
Orient, parts of Western Europe
and other arcas of the world . Not in
October / November 1981
all homes. Not perfectly either, of
course.
But to the extent that this law is
obeyed, parents have rest, confi–
dence andan amount of joy in their
home and family, even though thei r
standard of living may be low.
Many parents are s imply following
this principie of God's revealed law
without fully realizing where it
carne from.
But like the law of gravity, this law
works. You can't reason around it , act
like it does not exist or avoid it.
Liberation for Both Parents
and Children
Obviously, if parents everywhere
would teach their chi ldre n to
res pect these princ ipies, there
would truly be a " Parents' Libera-
~~
It is the way that would
solve all the world's
majar problems. It is
the way of !ove, of
giving.
' '
tion " movement of unparalleled
proportions!
Parents could then concent rate
on teaching, training, loving and
having delightful family activities
with their c hildren. They could
quit worrying abou t teenage delin–
quency, juvenile dropouts, drug
addiction, d runkenness, premari tal
sex and pregnancy and a veri table
host of other youthful maladies.
Millions of heartaches and tears
would be spar ed mothers a nd
fathers everywhere.
But what about th e young
people? How would this law work
for them? W ould they feel
oppressed and thwa rted ? Would
their personalities fai l to blossom if
not given complete and unl imited
expression?
Absolutely not!
Remember the promise: "that
t hy days may be long upon t he
land." How many millions of young
people today are dying befare their
time. either fi gu ratively or literally
because they have not been taught
to honor their parents?
How many are taking d rugs and
are damaging or wrecking God's
highest physical creation on earth?
How many are serving their lusts–
whether in illicit sex, gambling,
crime or a host of other related
act ivit ies, which, for the vast
majority, lead to unnecessary suf–
fering and premature death?
Within a well-regulated, loving
bu t disciplined fa mil y, yo un g
people could have the t rue freedom
they yearn for and talk about , but
that somehow always el udes thei r
grasp. By honoring a nd obeying
t heir parents, they need not end up
as addicts, penitentiary inmates or
young people with broken mar–
riages, broken hearts and broken
dreams.
The "law of liberty" alone can
guarantee all the blessings mankind
yearns for!
An End to War?
In Exodus 20: 13, the Creator who
g ives us life commands, " T hou
shalt not ki li. " This is the second
commandmcnt that shows us how
to love our neighbor.
Again, J esus Chris t magnificd
the law and revealed its spiritual
intent. He said : "Ye have heard
that it hath been said, Thou shalt
!ove thy neighbour, and hate thine
enemy. But 1 say unto you, Love
your enemies, bless t hem that curse
you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despite–
full y use you , and persecu te you"
(Matthew 5:43-44).
Fi rst, then, the New Testament
magn ifi cation of t h is command
shows that we are not to kili any–
body, any time, for any purpose.
God would fight our batt les were
we to lcarn to believe in Him, obey
Him and trus t Him as our shield
and protector .
Can you begin to imagine the lib–
erty this suffering world would
enjoy if- suddenly and unexpected–
ly-everyone started obeying this
law and you could count on it?
Consider t he fantastic liberty
and blessings t hat would be auto–
matically enjoyed by millions of
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