December 3, 2001
Explore the Bible Series for Dec. 16
EXPLORE THE BIBLE:
God's laws are keys to freedom, not chains
___Deuteronomy 5:1-21
___By Pete Freeman
___First Baptist Church,_The Woodlands
___I remember a high school geometry teacher, Mr. Penney, who had a special impact on my life. I wasn't doing very well the first few weeks of class. I decided to drop the class and take something easier. When I asked Mr. Penney to sign my drop slip, he refused. He told me the reason I wasn't doing very well in class was my lack of understanding. He then told me that when I began to catch on to the relationships of theorems and postulates that I'd do well in the class. In refusing to sign the drop slip, he said, "I'm doing this for your own good." I didn't understand his words at the time, but later on I realized that dropping from the geometry class would have been a big mistake. It was for my own good that he refused to sign the drop slip. I actually ended up doing well in that class.
___Humanity has difficulty in understanding the value of laws and limits. In our day, "personal liberty and independence" are highly prized freedoms. We often view restraints on personal behavior as unnecessary and harmful to our own well-being. Ever since the '60s, our culture has viewed moral absolutes as a sign of weakness and insecurity. Some writers believe one of the difficulties in reaching the post-modern generation is their disdain for absolutes. It could be they are more turned off by our application of absolutes than by the existence of absolutes.
___The first half of Deuteronomy 5 deals with the role of the Ten Commandments in the life of God's people. It is obvious from the biblical perspective that God has given us his laws "for our own good." They have been designed to promote "well-being and joy" among humanity. They are written with the purpose of enabling each of us to relate meaningfully with both God and one another. When these commandments are linked with love, they make good sense and make for a good life.
___Moses makes a connection between the stated commandments and something we call a "covenant." A covenant is an agreement between two parties that binds them in a dynamic relationship. Moses reminds them the covenant has both a historical relevance (with us at Horeb) and a personal relevance (not with our fathers but with us). The Ten Commandments are not to be viewed as archaic laws to be worshipped but as "living laws" to function by. Although they can give direction to the ethic of a nation, they are primarily aimed to give personal direction for believers. As Christians, we, like Jesus, are interested in the spirit of the law as well as the letter of the law.
___Moses divides the Ten Commandments into two sections--those that relate to God and those that relate to people. Both are very important. If I am rightly related to God, I will be rightly related to people. And if I'm rightly related to people, it shows I'm rightly related to God. To separate the two is to deny the truth of God's word (1 John 4:7-12).
___Deuteronomy 5:7-15 fleshes out our relationship with God. In this section we find references to no other gods; idols; misuse of God's name; and the Sabbath. All these are worth our best consideration as believers and should be taken as a whole. Let us not make the mistake of many who have so legalized and defined what these commandments mean that they have violated the spirit of the laws. When we think we are doing a great job in fulfilling them, let us remember the words of the Psalmist, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (139:23-24).
___Some believers have difficulty understanding the meaning of the command to "keep the Sabbath day holy." There is so much legalism about this day with all of its accompanying little laws and traditions, many are unsure about what it means to "keep it holy." Obviously, most of Christendom has no problem in worshipping and emphasizing Sunday as "the day of rest." Paul cautioned us about the temptation of judging one another over the matter of how and when to observe the Sabbath (Romans 14:4-6; Colossians 2:16-17). Therefore, worshipping God on a Saturday night is as good as worshipping him on a Sunday morning. And if a church chooses, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, not to have Sunday night services, that doesn't make them either liberal or in violation of the fourth commandment.
___The final verses of this section address the matter of relating to people. Without failure, the violation of all of these laws is daily news in our land. The sad thing is many Christians are the violators.
___Space will not allow us to articulate on each of these. Let's consider the "honor your father and mother" commandment. We Americans are major violators at this point. We wonder why our kids don't respect us more. We blame it on many things, including the lack of official prayer in our schools. Let's be honest. It's not the absence of prayer in our schools, it's the absence of parents in the lives of kids that's the problem. As well, we abandon our parents in a more sophisticated manner than do other cultures, but it's still abandonment. They deserve our respect and care right up until the day they die. We need to break the cycle and get back to the basics of obeying the Ten Commandments.
___Questions for discussion
___
___
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
