the basic message #E291
12/9/04
Romans 3:10-11
As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God."
I've heard this passage hundreds of times in my life, and it's always used to emphasize that each of us need Jesus Christ to release us from our sins. I can't and won't argue that there is anyone out there that is righteous, but what I can do is pose a question: "Just how righteous are you (and me)?" How would we determine our level of righteousness?
The average American Christian has a love affair with the Ten Commandments. They cheer on men like Judge Roy Moore in Alabama who refused to remove the Ten Commandment monument from his courtroom. They love to present the Ten Commandments as "the foundation of America", whatever that means. Personally, I think Roy Moore is a nut, but I've already stated my feelings on that more than once (E277). The point is that the vast majority of Christians hold the Ten Commandments in high regard, so since that was the original "law" or "rule system", can we agree that they're a good measure of righteousness?
Perhaps you think it's silly to consider your level of righteousness, but quite frankly, is there anything more important that you should consider? "Oh, but I'm saved by the blood of Jesus Christ." Oh? May I ask another question? Do you think Jesus Christ, if he knocked on your door today, would say, "awww, don't worry about the rules I made up 6000 years ago, just live however you want and I'll clean up whatever mess you make." If that's the kind of doctrine you adhere to, please return to Charles Stanley or Ken Copeland's website. For those of you who take your Christian walk seriously, may we proceed?
Exodus 20
(1) You shall have no other gods before me.
How do you define this? Most folks would erroneously say, "Well, I don't worship Buddha or any other god, so I'm in good shape on this one." Sorry, but many people have gods that are much more common, such as money, power, cars, relationships, etc. A "god" can be anything that you put on a pedestal and worship.
(2) You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
The second commandment follows closely on the heels of the first. The message is simple- our God is a jealous God and he is very insistent about keeping it that way. How are you doing so far? Can you put God first in your life? If you're like me, you can, but will you?
(3) You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Most folks automatically assume that using the profanity, "God dammit" is what this commandment is about, but I think it encompasses more than that. Think about this: if a person sits in the witness stand in court and is sworn in saying, "so help me God", but then goes on to lie under oath, that person is misusing God's name. Can you and I refrain from misusing God's name? I think so.
(4) Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
One of my favorite radio preachers, Rusty Tardo, says that we're not under any obligation to keep the Sabbath, since that was a law for the Jews. While I certainly don't want to question Rusty's thoughts on the subject, I do have some views of my own. First of all, I agree with Rusty that the Lord should be first and foremost every day- not just Sunday. But I must say that refraining from working on Sunday has been good for me. I really look forward to relaxing and "recharging my batteries" that run down during the week. By setting Sunday aside for leisure, I automatically allow plenty of time for attending a worship service. I drive about 20 miles to our church, and if I treated Sunday as "just another day" I wouldn't dream of spending that much time driving to church. Can we keep the Sabbath? Sure.
(5) Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD you God is giving you.
Now I'm in trouble. For whatever reason, my relationship with my folks has been........strained over the years. I won't air my dirty laundry here, but suffice to say that there is fault on both sides. I decided a few years ago that the best way to honor my parents is to keep a certain amount of space between us. When we visit these days, things are better simply because our visits are fewer and farther apart. Whoever said "absence makes the heart grow fonder" knew what they were talking about. Can we honor our parents? Yes, even if we have to get creative to do it.
(6) You shall not murder.
Do we even have to discuss this one?
(7) You shall not commit adultery.
We really shouldn't have to discuss this one either, but considering the epidemic proportions of this problem, we will. What is so difficult about keeping our marital vows? I'd venture to say that most affairs are a result of opportunity more than anything- that's why office romances are so common. Once again, we have the power to simply stay away from anyone who is tempting us. What's more important to you- your marriage or your job? If your job is going to cause you to end up in divorce court, get another stinking job, for goodness sakes.
(8) You shall not steal.
This is probably the most complex commandment out of the bunch. Please don't misunderstand- theft is wrong, pure and simple- but how do we define theft? Some of you might think I sound like Bill Clinton when I say this, but defining theft varies widely from one person to the next. Even Christians seem to have a hard time understanding that they are frequently in the realm of thieves. Like what? I can remember vividly visiting my uncle in the early 1970's and seeing him dump a bag on new wrenches out on his home workbench. He smiled and said that they were courtesy of the industrial plant he worked for. Translated: he stole them. I know a lady who has Scripture on the wall of her office that professes to be a solid Christian. Would she steal a bag of wrenches? No way- but she is still a thief. How? It's the most common form of thievery in the world: time theft. Now right about now the folks that sat back smugly thinking they know the definition of theft are about to get their feelings hurt, because they're probably time thiefs too. Let me explain. Your employer pays you for your labor, right? Whether you're hourly or salary, it really doesn't matter- your company pays you for a certain volume of labor, be it hours or volume. Whenever we goof-off or take care of personal business we're stealing time. Yes, we all need some time to handle a personal issue that can't be done during our off time, but that should be rare. Some employees surf the net all day long, having the fastest finger in the west to hit the mouse should the boss walk by. That works okay for the "lost", but Christians are being watched by someone much bigger than the boss-man. The theft of time is a major problem in America, but what we frequently hear is that Americans are working longer hours than ever. There's a big difference between working long hours and simply being on the job long hours. Don't confuse the two. As long as I'm hurting your feelings, remember that copy machine paper, printer ink cartridges, WD40 and anything else your company uses isn't there for your home use. Theft, as you can see, takes on all sorts of angles. Can we keep ourselves from stealing? Sure, but watch out for time theft- it's the sneakiest one of all.
(9) You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
More commonly know as "thou shalt not lie". Lying is almost as slippery as time theft. The old joke goes like this: The wife asks her husband: "Honey, does this dress make my butt look big?" A totally honest man might answer "yes" and maintain his truthfulness, but what did that do for his wife's feelings? Little "white" lies are sometimes needed, but unfortunately most folks can't discern when the white begins to get a dingy gray. The time thief might call in to the boss and sniff "boss, I'm really feeling bad today" and then take off and go fishing. Can we refrain from lying? We can certainly minimize it.
(10) You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
You might not have a neighbor that has an ox, a donkey or servants, but your neighbor has something you'd like to have. Is it a Lexus? Is it a Ranger bass boat? Maybe you're a simpler type of person- you might really be envious of that nice John Deere lawn tractor. By the way, don't let that "neighbor's wife" category slip by you. God just reiterated how he felt about adultery in a subtle way. Can we avoid coveting? While we can't make our brain not consider what other people have, we can certainly pray for God to allow us to be satisfied with what we have.
So how did you do? Keeping the law isn't something that a Christian has to be worried about since Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law. But don't be mislead, folks. Being a Christian doesn't lessen the load of accountability- it increases our accountability many times over. Like what? Like this:
Matthew 5:43-45
You have heard that it was said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I tell you: Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
In Old Testament days, people were expected to love their neighbor, but they could treat their enemies any way they wanted. The higher standard of Christianity says we must love our neighbor and our enemy. While the "law" is left behind, following the commandments of Jesus Christ are still very much a duty of a authentic Christian.
The Old Testament law went from 10 commandments to over 600 by the time they were finished. Could you and I keep the whole law? Nope, but to simply take the attitude "I'm not under law" is a dangerous one. If you're one of the millions of Christians that believe that Jesus paid for your past, present and future sins, I ask you this question: Can you embezzle a million dollars from your employer and expect Jesus to cover that? Of course not, but we expect him to cover a multitude of other sins that might one day equal a million dollars in damage. I personally believe that adhering to "the law" allows us to be better Christians. Can anyone disagree with that?