GLEANINGS - ExodusSample

What is the relevance of the ten commandments for us today?

Some Christians ask the question “We’re not under the law, so why should we keep the commandments?” Here are some reasons why they matter. First what it is not and then what it is.

1. The commandments are not designed to bring you into relationship with God.

The Ten Commandments are not designed to bring you into relationship with God. Israel was already in relationship with God when he gave them the Ten Commandments.

2. The commandments are not designed to serve as some type of entrance exam to get into heaven.

This is probably the biggest misconception of all about the Ten Commandments. Some people think that by keeping the ten commandments, they can get to heaven. That is not the purpose for the Ten Commandments. No one is justified before God by observing the law. Observing the law will not gain you acceptance before God. The law is not designed to be an entrance exam into heaven.

3. The commandments are designed to reveal to us God’s character.

Psalm 19:7-11. The commandments teach us the beauty, perfection, sweetness and holiness of God’s character. Do you want to know what God is like? Look at the Ten Commandments.

4. The commandments provide an objective standard of right and wrong.

We live in a day when the very concept of objective morality is being questioned. In a post-modern culture, we need an absolute standard—one that is unchanging and unchangeable. That absolute standard must be—and can only be—God.

5. The commandments are designed to convict us of sin and show our need for a Savior.

Romans 7:7-14. God has given us his law, but we cannot keep his law. Knowledge of the law is not enough. Knowing what’s right does not confer power to do what’s right. It was not given to remedy our sin but to reveal our sin and point us to our need for a Savior. They are like a mirror. A mirror has the power to show you that you’re dirty, but it has no power to clean you up. And so the law leaves you hanging, helpless, pointing us to a need of a Savior.

6. The commandments are not suggestions but commands because God gave it.

Exodus 20:1. These are not moral suggestions. These are divine commandments.

7. Jesus summarized the commandments under two main headings: Love for God and love for our fellow man.

There is both a vertical and a horizontal component to the Mosaic Law. These are not given as the pathway to salvation but as the righteous expression of a heart that has been transformed by the grace of God. God designed each of the Ten Commandments to help us love him and love others.

God spoke all these words—therefore they have lasting moral authority.

God spoke all these words—therefore we don’t have to wonder about his intentions.

God spoke all these words—therefore we must take all of them with utter seriousness.

God spoke all these words—therefore we must give these words our primary attention.

Since God has given it, we must keep it.

Application Questions:

1. How do you view God?

2. What gets in your way of keeping your priorities straight?

3. What are some ways you might have 'stolen' another person's reputation or sense of well-being through social media?

Quote:

Because we live in a period known as the age of God’s grace, it has become a popular thing to declare that the Ten Commandments are no longer valid, no longer relevant in our society....But everything that is morally commanded in the Ten Commandments still comprises the moral principles that are the will of God for His people. God’s basic moral will for His people has not changed! - A.W.Tozer

Prayer:

Lord, I do understand that the ten commandments have been given as a standard. Knowing that I cannot keep them on my own, I ask that you help me to love You and love my neighbors, as you have commanded me to. Amen