The Ten Commandments
In the recent past, the Ten Commandments have been quite controversial. Are they still applicable today? Are they offensive? Should they be displayed? These are just a few of the concerns.
Why are there Ten Commandments? Depending on the survey you read, as many as 70% of people think they are going to heaven because they keep the Ten. It is my firm conviction that the only people who believe that have never read them. Not really.
Recently I had an opportunity to test my position. I asked everyone in the audience to stand up if they had the ability to do so. They hesitated. I assured them this was not a trick. They all stood to their feet.
In my Bible I turned to Exodus 20. Then I said, “Here are the instructions: I am going to begin reading through the Ten Commandments. When I reach a commandment you have violated you must sit down.”
Beginning at the first verse of the chapter, here is how it reads, “And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Then I said, “If there has ever been a time when something or someone was more important to you than God …” I did not even have the opportunity to finish my sentence. Do you know what happened? Everyone sat down. People looked around the room to see if anyone was still standing. Everyone was sitting. After reality sank in, we all had a good laugh.
Here we were, a gathering of “good people” and we did not even make it beyond the first commandment. I said to them, “I am shocked. I thought you were good people.” They all laughed again.
I am not certain, but I believe they will remember that experience for a long time – the day they admitted they could not even keep the first commandment and for sure they had not kept all ten.
So, why were they given? Were they given as a pathway to heaven? Were they given to prove we could be good enough to get to heaven on our own without God’s help? Sadly, that’s what many people think. But the only people who believe that are the people who have never read them.
The Apostle Paul gave us a simple but very clear purpose for the Ten Commandments. In Galatians 3:24 we find these words. “The law was our tutor [schoolmaster] to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
The Ten were given to prove we could not obtain a relationship with God on our own. After reading through them, what our response ought to be is a cry out to God, “GOD, I CAN’T DO THIS. I CAN’T KEEP THEM ON MY OWN.” God’s response would be, “You are right. You need Me. You need a Savior.”
