Always Remember The 10 Commandments
1. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
images.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord
thy God in vain.
3. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
4. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy
days may be long.
5. Thou shalt not kill.
6. I am the Lord thy God, ... Thou shalt have
no other gods before me.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbor.
10.Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.
Make no
mistake the ten commandments are as real today as they were the day they were
written by God in stone and given to Moses. These are the living words of our
God given to man to live by. Make no mistake there is no other God and our God
is a living God therefore his word is living word. Given freely to follow by
all whom are called to follow. The seed is planted will it grow or wither and
die? Are you living as sucklings or are you eating meat and bread? Feed
yourself of the word of God and drink from the well spring of life which is the
word of God. For we all have everlasting life, an eternal spirit which will
live for ever. You decide if it is to be in heaven or Hell each is the captain
of his own ship. If you believe you are the temple of God for God dwells within
you. Do not defile the temple of God his living word tells us how to live it is
up to us to follow his word.
Many
people mistakenly look at the Ten Commandments as a set of rules that, if
followed, will guarantee entrance into heaven after death. In contrast, the
purpose of the Ten Commandments is to force people to realize that they cannot
perfectly obey the Law (Romans 7:7-11), and are therefore in need of God’s
mercy and grace. Despite the claims of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16,
no one can perfectly obey the Ten Commandments (Ecclesiastes 7:20). The Ten
Commandments demonstrate that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23) and are
therefore in need of God’s mercy and grace, available only through faith in
Jesus Christ.
Jesus was asked this very question by a
Pharisee who was considered to be “an expert in the law” (Matthew 22:34-36).
Jesus answered by saying: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important
commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law
and the Prophets depend on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).
Jesus
gives us two commandments that summarize all the laws and commands in
Scripture. The Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 deal with our relationship with
God and then our relationship with other people. One naturally flows out of the
other. Without a right relationship with God, our relationships with others
will not be right either. The cause of the world’s problems is that man needs to
be reconciled to God. We will never love our neighbor as ourselves if we do not
first love God with all our heart, mind and soul. All of man’s best efforts
towards world peace will fail as long as men are living in rebellion against
God.
Because
Jesus answered this very question and His answer is recorded in Scripture, we
don’t have to wonder or search for the answer ourselves. The only question left
for us to answer is do we live according to these commandments? Do we truly
love God with all our hearts, all our souls, and all our minds, and do we
really love our neighbor as ourselves? If we are truthful with ourselves we
know that we do not, but the good news is that the law and commandments were
given as “a tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by
faith”(Galatians 3:24). Only as we realize our sinfulness and hopelessness will
we turn to Christ alone as the only hope of salvation.
The Ten
Commandments are not a set of rules which will guarantee salvation if followed.
They have been given for an entirely different purpose. Galatians 3:24 says
that the law is a schoolmaster that guards us, teaches us and leads us to
Christ. What that means is that when we look at the Ten Commandments, we should
see that we have broken them and recognize our utter helplessness to do what is
right in God’s eyes. We have all sinned and fallen short of His glory and
goodness (Romans 3:23), and therefore we need His love and mercy (Romans
7:24-8:1). Thankfully, we have been given the amazing gift of forgiveness
through Jesus Christ, and all who believe and trust Him can say, with King
David, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are
covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin"
(Psalm 32:1).
As
Christians we strive to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and as our
hearts and minds are transformed by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit
we are able to begin to love others as ourselves, yet we still fail to do so
which again drives us back to the cross of Christ and the hope of salvation
that stems from the imputed righteousness of Christ and not from any merit of
our own.
Blessings,
Raj
Kosaraju
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