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ment, they had become enmeshed
in a tota lly alien, ungodly society.
They bad lost contact with the true
principies and laws of God.
Therefore, when they carne out of
Egyptian slavery, God reiterated to
them his Ten Commandments and
codified them so that the whole na–
tion would realize those commands
carne directly from him.
The Ten Commandments, con–
trary to popular teaching, are not
" Moses' law." They were not a code
of ethics which Moses devised under
a hot desert sun. The scriptural rec–
ord states: "And
God
spake all these
words ..." (Exodus 20: 1). God gave
the Ten Commandments directly to
the people of Israel.
The book of Exodus also relates
that Moses was on Mount Sinai for
40 days, talking to God. At the end
of this period, God gave Moses,
"when he [God] had made an end of
communing with him upon mount
Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables
of stone,
written with the finger of
God
. . .
And the tables were the
work of God, and the writing was
the
writing of God,
graven upon the
tables" (Exodus 31: 18; 32: 16).
Can there be any justifiable doubt
about whose law this is ifwe believe
the scriptural record?
This law has been in force from
the very days of creation! It was in
force from the time of Adam and
Eve. Whenever people break it, they
sin - they transgress the law. And
the wages or results of sin are death
(Romans 6:23).
But is that same spiritual law still
in effect today, unaltered?
The Ten Commandments
Abolished?
Many theologians teach that
Jesus Christ carne to alter or abolish
the Ten Commandments. "God's
law," they claim, "was a harsh code
of bondage."
Yet, Jesus himself said: "Think
NOT
that l am come to destroy the
law, or the prophets: 1 am not come
PLAIN
TRUTH
June
1973
to destroy, but to fulfil" (Ma tthew
5: 17). To fulfill means to fill up to
the brirn, to observe, to perform
completely - not to abrogate or ren–
der null and void!
Jesus clarified this point when a
wealthy young Jew carne to him,
asking what he should do to inherit
eterna! life. Jesus could have told
him, "Nothing, young man. Tbere is
no law any more. I've abolished the
Ten Commandments. Just believe
on me, and you' ll be saved, my dear
fellow. "
But did Jesus say that? Notice the
account in the book of Matthew:
" ... if thou wilt enter into life,
KEEP
THE COMMANOMENTS"
(Matthew
19: 17).
The young man was dubious.
"Which?" he as ked , stra ig h t–
forwardly.
"Thou shalt do no murder, Thou
shalt not commit adultery, Thou
shalt not steal, T hou shalt not bear
false witness, Honour thy father and
thy mother ..." (Matthew 19:18-
19). Jesus answered his question by
naming severa! of the Ten Com–
mandments!
The Ten Commandments
Today
The apost le Paul, many years
later, and long after the death and
resurrection of Christ, confirmed
that the Ten Commandments were
still in force.
Paul wrote to the Romans: " Do
we then make void the law through
failh? God forbid : yea, we
establish
the
law"
(Romans 3:3 1).
In this sarne letter to the Romans,
he asserted, "Wherefore the law [the
Ten Commandments] is holy, and
the commandment holy, and just,
and good" (Romans 7: 12). The law
he is talking about is tbe Ten Com–
mandments - the law that says,
"Thou shalt not covet" (verse 7).
Then in verse 14, Paul ends all
controversy. He relates, "For we
know that the law [the-Ten Com–
mandments] is
spiritual.
... ' '
And
those things which are spiritual can–
not be abrogated or annulled. They
are eterna! (H Corinthians 4: 18).
The apostle James declared tha t
the Ten Commandments are a law
of liberty (James 2: 10-12). lf we
obey these commandments, we as–
sure and establish liberty. We a re
free from slavery to the throngs of
sin, free from murder, theft , adul–
tery, and all the evils that come
upon a society tha t breaks the Ten
Commandments!
l f the modero world would take
notice and heed this law of God, if
people everywhere would obey this
immutable, inexorable, spiritua l
law, then the whole world would be
filled with radiant happiness, pros–
perity, and love!
Tbe Ten Comrnandments are a
unique law. They are a law of !ove!
Tbey are predicated on the love of
God for man, and teach us how to
share that love and have out-going
concem for God and for our fellow
roan.
Since the Ten Commandments
are a spiritual law, a perfect law,
human beings - who are weak and
carnal (Romans 8:7) - need spiri–
tual help. For any man to keep
them as he should, he must repent
of his past way of life and his trans–
gressions of God's spiritual law. He
must accept God's grace or forgive–
ness , made poss ible by J esus
Christ's death as an atonement to
pay the penalty for sins. And he
must receive God's Holy Spirit as a
begettal in bis mind, empowering
him to obey God's holy law in the
spirit (Acts 2:38 ; 5:32; Gala tians
2:20).
The Spirit of God provides spiri–
tual power to observe the Ten Com–
mandments (Romans 8:5). It sheds
abroad in our hearts the very
!ove
of
God which helps us keep tbe com–
mandments (Romans 5:5).
lf the enti re world would learn
this incredible lesson, then all would
experience real peace, perfect hap–
piness, and universal love. O
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