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away with this command today. But
Jesus showed that ít is more encom–
passing now than before the New
Testament period. He also empha–
sized its importance and the spiritual
application today when He said that
it is wrong now even to lust after a
woman. " But 1 say unto you, that
whosoever looketh on a woman to
lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his
heart" (Matthew 5:28). Paul repeat–
ed this same command and showed
that it was still binding even on the
Gentiles (Romans 13:9).
The eighth command prohibits
stealing. Jesus said, " Thou shalt not
steal" (Matthew 19:18), and this
same command is repeated word for
word by Paul in Romans 13:9. He
said: "Let him that stole steal no
more: but rather let him labour,
working with bis hands the thing
which is good ..." (Ephesians 4:28).
Clearly this command is also bind–
ing today, j ust as it was at Mt.
Sínai.
Today it is difficult to find a com–
pletely truthful person.
lt
almost
seems that the whole world consists
of people who shade the truth, tell
"white lies" or just plain "black lies."
Christ commanded His followers to
never lie (Matthew 19:18) . Paul
taught this same doctrine in Romans
13:9. "Wherefore putting away ly–
ing, speak every man truth with his
neighbour: for we are members one
of another" (Ephesians 4:25). lt is
stíll a capital or major sin to líe!
The tenth commandment, against
coveting, was not mentioned by Jesus
in Matthew 19. Did He do away with
this command? No, you will find it in
Luke 12:15: "And he said unto them,
Take heed, and
beware of covetous–
ness:
for a man's life consisteth not in
the abundance of the things which he
possesseth." Paul wrote to the Gen–
tiles at Rome:
" 1
had not known sin,
but by the law: for 1 had not known
lust,
except the law had said, Thou
sha1t not
covet"
(Romans 7:7).
Paul also gave this same command–
ment in Romans 13:9. In fact, thesixth
through the tenth commandments are
al/
given here: "For this, Thou shalt
not commit adultery, Thou sbalt not
ki li , Thou sbalt not steal, Tbou sbalt
not bear false witness, Thou sbalt not
26
covet; and if there be any other com–
mandment, it is briefly comprehended
in this saying, namely, Thou shalt !ove
thy neighbour as thyself." Notice that
he agreed with Jesus and summed up
the keeping of the last six command–
ments by stating this is the way to !ove
our neighbor (Romans 13:9-1O).
How to Love God
If
it is sin to violate
one
of these last
six commands, then it surely must be
sin to violate any of the first four,
which explain the right way to love
God. Certainly our relationship to
God is more important than our rela–
tionship with other people.
God said, "Thou shalt have no
other gods before me" (Exodus
20:3). Jesus showed plainly that this
command was still in effect when He
rebuked Satan (Luke 4:8).
This command against jdolatry is
mentioned many times elsewhere in
the New Testament. Notice Paul's
instruction to the church at Corinth,
in 1 Corinthians 10:7: "Neither be ye
idolaters, as were sorne of them [tbe
ancient Israelites] ...."
The second commandment, wbich
prohibits the worship of or bowing
down before images, is given in detail
by Pau1 in Romans 1:18-25. In tbis
place he shows that the pagan philos–
ophers, who knew God, did not wor–
ship Him as God. Instead they began
to worship the things that they made
witb their bands. These people were
violating the command of God
against making images and using
them in their religious worship.
Jesus taught that God is a Spirit
and we must worship Him in spirit
and in truth (John 4:24), not through
idols,
or the things made by man.
The third command prohibits us–
ing God's name in vain. It is often
referred to as a sin of blasphemy.
This sin is mentioned severa! times,
including Paul's statement
in
Colos–
sians 3:8: " But now ye also put off a ll
these; anger, wrath, matice,
blasphe–
my,
filthy communication out of your
mouth."
Jesus showed that this command–
ment and severa! of the others are
still in force today by the following
teacbing: "For out of tbe heart pro–
ceed evil thoughts, murders [sixth
commandment] , adulteries, fornica-
tions [botb of these last two a re in–
cluded in the seventh command–
ment], thefts [eighth command],
false witness [ninth command], blas–
phemies [third command]" (Mat–
thew 15: 19).
There are many additional scrip–
tures which p1ainly show that these
commands are sti ll in effect. The
most thought provoking of these is
found in 11 Timothy 2:19: "Let every
one that
nameth the name
of Christ
[that is, calls himself a
Christian
-
taking the name of God] depart from
iniquity [iniquity is sin, and sin is the
transgression of God's Ten Com–
mandments - 1 John 3:4]."
ls the Sabbath Forgotten?
" Remember
the sabbath day, to keep
it holy ... " is the fourth command
and the one which most people have
forgotten!
This is the command that
many people falsely claim was for–
gotten and left out of the New Testa–
ment. ls ít reasonable that God
would have left out
any
of the Ten
Commandments in the New Testa–
ment when David said these com–
mandments "stand fast for ever and
ever"? (Psalm 111:7-8.)
The fourth commandment is
shown plainly to be in the New Tes–
tament. Have you ever read this in–
spired scripture? " It is therefore the
duty of the people of God to keep the
Sabbath" (Hebrews 4:9,
New Testa–
ment from Aramaic,
Lamsa).
You probably have not known
about this important scripture be–
fore, because the King James trans–
lation of the Bible, along with certain
others, has sought to hide the real
meaning of this verse. The original
Greek writings and sorne marginal
renderings make it very clear.
Notice it in the King James trans–
lation: "There
remaineth
therefore
yet a
rest
to the people of God." This
chapter tells of the millennial rest to
come for God's people who are
faithful and inheri t the promises of
God. A "rest" is mentioned severa!
times prior to verse nine. The Greek
word for "rest" in the first part of
this chapter is
katapausin;
however,
in verse nine the word "rest" comes
from an entirely different Greek
word,
sabbatismos.
This word literai-
(Continued on page 37)
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1979