The Ten Commitments

Long gone are days of Charlton Heston and the epic classic: "The Ten Commandments". I remember watching that movie as a kid with my parents at the Aztec Theater in San Antonio. The parting of the Red Sea was awesome and the special effects were way before it's time. The immense drama which enfolded on the big screen seemed real and yet surreal. Now that we are all grown up our perspective on the Ten Commandments may have changed somewhat. As we read today's headlines it is obvious that we need the Ten commandments more than ever. In fact, if it wasn't for God telling us what is right and wrong and instilling that in our brain, Television shows like "Judge Judy", COPS, and others would be out of business. But because we clearly know what sin is, what is right and wrong, sin is still big business all across the world.
Recently Steven Hawking, a physicist from a major university announced that there is no personal God but only scientific law. Simply put: "God is not there". If He is not there, He certainly has left a huge footprint on society, because everybody knows what sin is and what it does. They know it because they don't like it when it is done to them. Sin in any language is still sin. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 2:1-3 " 1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?"
The Ten Commandments are God's revelation and explanation of this war within us that tears our lives apart. He is good. He is just and merciful. The Ten Commandments are a beginning, not an end to the full picture. Sin destroyed us and condemned us before a Holy God, Jesus Christ destroyed the penalty of sin (which is death) on the cross and by faith we are justified before God. Romans 8:1-4 says: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
As Christians we are fully justified before God. We have life, we have freedom, we have relationship with Him. So what about the Ten Commandments? Are they irrelevant? Just a nice story? A good DVD to watch around Easter time? No, they are much more than that for us. In order to fully enjoy and embrace the life God has designed for us to have and enjoy, they must become "commitments".
Now when I speak of commitments, some might think of "legalism". That is, a returning to the Ten Commandments so that we live back in the days of antiquity. Where we deny ourselves and live in poverty. No, that is not what God wants. God says that it is impossible for us to complete the Ten Commandments to fulfill them, for we are all sinners. However, God has given us a secret weapon, it is the "Holy Spirit of God" which dwells in the hearts of believers. Romans 7:12-13 says: "Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." This is the commitment I am talking about. Not the moral obligation which leads to slavery to the law, but a new empowering relationship with the Spirit of the Living God in our lives. Once you understand the power of the Holy Spirit who wants to work in our lives, then we can become unleashed to fulfill the letter of the Law. "For man, all things are impossible, but for God, nothing is impossible." Jesus said (Matthew 19:26).
I want to challenge you to work through this mindset and lifestyle with me. As I begin to preach through this series on Sunday Morning, concerning "The Ten Commitments".