Why the Ten Commandments

Adapted from Pastor Tony Evans.

Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ

Galatians 3:24

 One major lesson as a parent needs to learn is that rules without relationship create rebellion.

 Im sure you have seen the kids who lived with restrictions all their lives go wild once they left the house or went off to college.  If all they have ever known is dont do this and dont do that, most likely, they will run from those rules as soon as they can.

 Now, dont misunderstand  It's not that rules are bad. Discipline and expectations are necessary to raise up godly children.  But as a father or mother you have to learn that rules can drive a child away from you if you dont back up the rules with a loving relationship.

 Its no different with our heavenly Father.  God gives us the ultimate example of how rules and relations work hand in hand.

 If you had a pen and paper and were told to draw a perfectly straight line, you would not be able to do it.  The line would either be slightly slanted or wavy, depending on how steady your hand is.

 But what if you were given a pen, paper and a ruler?

 You could always draw a straight line every time because the rulers edge is straight.  The ruler sets a standard for straightness so if you follow the rulers edge with your pen you're going to draw a straight line.

 This was the purpose of the Ten Commandments they were a standard for righteousness.  They were the rules to help Gods people live a straight life and make morally correct choices.

 Remember that God gave the law after the Hebrew children were set free from the bondage of Egypt.  Basically, that bunch went crazy in the desert they were even making a golden calf to worship when Moses came down from the mountain with the stone tablets.

 God gave the Ten Commandments to help keep them from destroying themselves.  The Thou shalt nots became the law Thou shalt not kill.  Thou shalt not commit adultery (Exodus 20:1-17, KJV).  But ultimately, Gods desire was that His people would have a heart for righteousness and a relationship with Him not because of rules, but because of a desire to live holy and right.

 Humans respond to rules especially in religious practice.  Islam, Buddhism and Judaism all have systems of rules to keep them righteous.  But as Christians, we must not fall into the trap of believing that keeping a moral code is how we are saved or put in right standing with God.

 Did you catch that? It is huge.  The Ten Commandments are not Gods requirement for us to have a relationship with Him.

 There are millions of people, including Christians, who falsely believe that keeping rules, doing right and avoiding wrong, are what God really wants from them.  If only I do enough good things, surely God will be pleased with me!

 But the Scriptures clearly teach us, For by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:8) and without faith it is impossible to please [God] (Hebrews 11:6).

 If you fully understand what is being said here, you may have just exhaled a big sigh of relief!  It is impossible to fully keep the Ten Commandments.  All of those Thou shalt nots are hard to obey day in and day out.  It is exhausting to even try especially when we discover that these are just the minimum requirements of Gods standard of righteousness.

 God gave the commandments to bring order to the lives of His people lives which were out of control.  In the Old Testament they set a standard of performance, but Jesus took spirituality to another level completely when He said that it is not enough to keep from murder; we should not even hate (Matthew 5:22).  It is not enough to not commit adultery; we should not even lust (Matthew 5:27-28).

 To really fulfill all of Gods law, we cannot just appear to obey.  Our hearts have to be completely in it as well.

 In giving us the law, and knowing we are hopeless to fulfill it in our own strength, God opens our eyes to the reality of our desperate need for Him.

 The law shows us what is really going on inside of us and in the world around us.  When compared to the holiness of God, we are completely missing the mark.  But the law is not what fixes us it only shows us that we are broken.  Its like mirror that shows us our flaws, reflecting who we are.

 But God not only gave us a mirror and said, Take a real look at your heart, He provided us the way to be righteous in His eyes and find fellowship with Him.

 Paul says in Galatians 3:24, Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.  Jesus came to completely fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17).  And, according to Colossians 2:10, if we have Jesus in our hearts, we are complete in Him.

 Jesus met Gods standard of righteousness and paid the price once and for all, and that is why God is not waiting around for us to finally get it all right (keep all the rules) so that He can accept us.  In Christ, we are already fully accepted.

 Thus, for every Christian, the Ten Commandments are still Gods boundary lines for righteousness, indicator for us to measure whether we are allowing Christ to live righteously through us.

 The good news is that we have the Spirit of God living in us to enable us to strive for righteousness.  What we could not do before, God gives us the grace to live out.  With the Holy Spirit, we can have the power to say no to sin and yes to Gods ways.

 You see, when you try to keep the Ten Commandments in your own strength, they are burdens.  But when you are enabled to keep them by the power of the Spirit, they are a joy!

 Thus, by asking myself, Am I coveting my neighbors house? or Do I worship anything besides God?, I am holding the mirror of righteousness up to my face.  The Ten Commandments allow us to apply the standard of Gods ruler to our lives to see whether we are walking in the Spirit.

 When seen for what they are, Gods Ten Commandments show us how rules and relationship work together: God places restrictions on us, not to drive us away, but to provide a way through His grace to obey Him from our hearts.  We can then be closer to Him and live holy and pleasing lives.

 When we look around the church and this nation, it is obvious that the ruler got thrown out.  Our society reflects what is in the book of Judges where every man did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6).

 We've taken the Ten Commandments out of our courts, out of our schools to ultimately take them out of our lives.  You can see the results clearly.

 The Commandments are more then just rules; they are a road map for life.  When seen through the eyes of grace and lived out by the power of the Spirit, Gods law becomes the very righteousness of God revealed in our lives.

 If ever there was a day when we should be teaching our children the basics of morality and right from wrong, it is today.  The spirit of the age is Ill do it my way; don't fence me in!  But ultimately, were going to pay the price for our freedom from moral restraint.

 This is not preaching about keeping rules; people need to know the love and joy of relationship with their Heavenly Father!

July 2007