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