The Seventh - Tenth Commandments

The Seventh Commandment

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
EXODUS 20:14

God commands us not to commit adultery. Jesus said if we lust after anyone, we commit adultery with them in our hearts (MATT. 5:28). Lust is strongly desiring a person or thing more than we desire God.

I’m guilty of lusting after another person, and only through trusting in God I can overcome all of my misplaced desires.

The Eighth Commandment

“Thou shalt not steal.”
EXODUS 20:15

God commands us not to steal. The value of the object we stole or “borrowed without asking” doesn’t matter. Whether it was a piece of fine art, or a paper clip, it still makes us a thief.

The Ten Commandments give us God‘s standard. Even if I take a penny from the richest man in the world, I need to repent. Without Jesus I would never meet this standard.

The Ninth Commandment

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
EXODUS 20:16

God commands us not to lie. In God’s eyes, there is never any reason or situation where it is best to lie. In the same way we only need to commit one murder to be a murderer, we only need to lie once, to be a liar. It doesn’t matter how “small” the lie is or how long it has been since we lied, God demands restitution.

I have lied many times, and each time nothing good has resulted from my lies.

The Tenth Commandment

“Thou shalt not covet…”
EXODUS 20:17

God commands us not to desire another person’s things. Not their house, not their spouse, nor their wealth, nor any thing that is theirs.

This commandment is very difficult to keep. The main point of advertising is to make us want what someone else has. I must pray diligently for God to make me content with what I have.

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
ROMANS 3:19, 20

This study has really challenged me. I have given examples of how someone who has been raised a Christian, in this case myself, can fail to meet these laws. Even if I was somehow able keep all but one of the commandments, the bible says it would be same as if I had broken them all (JAMES 2:10). I also recognize that time doesn’t forgive either, even if you live completely sinless for 70 years or more, you’ll be just as guilty now as you were the last time you sinned.

But the law can’t save; it just tells us we are guilty. The bible says the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ (GAL. 3:24) and as Christians we are no longer under the law (ROM. 6:14). Jesus gave only two commandments in MARK 12:30, 31: “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

“For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.”
ROMANS 2:13

The Third - Sixth Commandments

The Third Commandment

“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain…”
EXODUS 20:7

God commands us not to use His name without reverence. When we use His name without some form of respectful fear, let alone as a curse word, we are using His name vainly.

Though I haven’t used God’s name as a curse word, I have used His name for frivolous requests, without even considering the fact I was talking to the creator of the universe.

The Forth Commandment

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
EXODUS 20:8

God commands us to set aside one day a week to reflect on Him. On that day, we should forget our worries and “Be still and know that I am God…” (PSALMS 46:10). Now someone’s way of being still may look like work to us, but that is between them and God.

I haven’t kept this one either. Forgetting God on Sunday, by going to church out of habit, not to worship Him.

The Fifth Commandment

“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
EXODUS 20:12

God commands us to respect our parents so that we may have a long life. This is said to be the only commandment with promise. If we honor our father and mother, we’ll have a long life.

I’ve been guilty of disrespecting my parents, by being argumentative, not doing my chores or even just by doing them half-heartedly.

The Sixth Commandment

“Thou shalt not kill.”
EXODUS 20:13

God commands us not to murder. We think we would be safe from this one, but Jesus says if we are angry with someone for no reason, we are in danger of the judgment (MATT. 5:21, 22) and the bible says whoever hates another person is a murderer (1 JOHN 3:15).

Who can say they have kept this commandment. I certainly can’t. I have been angry at many people for no reason. I can say it makes me human, but God says it makes me a murderer.

"One man's bold step has shaken the world."

Hussain Andaryas said the publicity surrounding the Abdul Rahman case has resulted in a surge of interest in Christianity among Afghans.

Sunday, Afghan officials said that Rahman would likely be released soon while the case against him was examined further. Reports have said variously, that this is due to lack of evidence or doubts about Rahman’s sanity.

Andaryas said he understood from well-placed sources inside Afghanistan that Mr. Rahman is not insane. And of the possibility that Kabul may declare him mentally unfit to stand trial, he said it is simply a matter of politics, a convenient way to “get rid of shame.”

Andaryas runs a collection of Christian websites in Afghanistan's Dari-Persian tongue as well as daily radio programs and a weekly television program.

He is in daily contact with individuals in his homeland, and has been reporting for several years about the risks faced by Afghan Christians -- all converts from Islam and thus considered apostates worthy of death, according to Islamic law (shari'a).

He said the websites normally drew about 300 unique visitors every month, but since the Rahman story emerged had attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors.

The number of emails received also has risen enormously, and 13 people are now tasked with responding to them.

The majority of emails are negative and many are abusive, coming from Muslims who felt that Rahman and other apostates -- including Andaryas himself -- should be severely punished. But there also are many messages of support.

And then there are emails coming from Afghans wanting to know more about Christianity, asking where they can get a Bible in the Dari or Pashto language, or sharing the news that they had become believers in Jesus Christ.

Among the most stirring messages are those from Afghan Muslims marveling about a faith for which a man was willing to die and wanting to study the Bible further.

"I strongly believe God is using this situation for His glory," Andaryas said
"One man's bold step has shaken the world."

Read the article - here

Afghan Court Drops Case Against Christian

An Afghan court on Sunday dismissed a case against a man who converted from Islam to Christianity because of a lack of evidence and he will be released soon, officials said...

Read the rest of the article - here

What a wonderful answer to all our prayers!

I read this update on Unconformed.

The Ten Commandments

“…I did not know sin, but by the law…”
ROMANS 7:7

PSALM 19:7 says “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul.” According to this verse, the Ten Commandments are perfect and converts men’s souls from their sin.

Therefore the Ten Commandments are very important in evangelism. Paul says that if it wasn’t for the law, he wouldn’t have even known what sin was.

I find it interesting that the law, as important as it must be, isn’t preached very often. Maybe because it makes us uncomfortable, makes us look at the dark side we don’t want anyone to know about.

We should feel uncomfortable, we have all done wrong; we have all broken the commandments. Conscience means “with knowledge”, and everything we do, is done with our knowledge. When we are convicted by God’s law of what is wrong, we can only stand there speechless. There isn’t anything we can say against God’s perfect law, in no way can we justify ourselves.

The First Commandment

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me”
EXODUS 20:3

God commands us to put Him first in our lives. Jesus said we should love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength (MARK 12:30). To the point that our love for our parents, siblings, spouse, and even our own lives should seem like hatred when compared to the love we have for God (LUKE 14:26).

No one can say they’ve kept the first commandment. It’s impossible to do without God’s help. I don’t naturally love God or put him first in my life. Until I trusted in Jesus, I despised Him, even if it was subconscious.

The Second Commandment

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them…”
EXODUS 20:4,5

God commands us to not form our own god or worship any of His creation. This is similar to the first commandment, but different in that God tells us not to make a graven image and call it God. Graven means both, to engrave something, and to fix in the mind. So, a graven image can be an engraved, or carved, piece of stone, wood, ect., or an idea of what God does or is like, that we form in our head.

I am guilty of breaking this commandment too. Thinking God is like this, or that, allowing my imagination to form what I thought God should be, not what he is. We know what God is like from the bible and no place else.