There is much to be said on God's Law, but today I'm focusing on the Ten Commandments. When I was growing up there were many things that were either not explained to me or I never quite understood. The Ten Commandments were one of the things that I never really understood. I often wondered about these commandments. It seemed to me that everyone broke them all the time and everyone around me seemed to tolerate it. Except for murder and adultery of course. Lying, stealing, envy, dishonoring parents... those sins occur so often that for the majority of my life they were tolerable sins. Everyone had this idea that murder and adultery were really the only ones that were intolerable, because they have bigger earthly consequences. But then why did God include them all in one list of commandments, if they were all equally as bad, equally as sinful? Is it possible that one commandment is more important than another?
| For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. | |
| For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. |
So there we have it. The answer is no. All sins are equal in the sight of God because each time we sin we are deliberately breaking the law and that is how God sees it. There is no such thing as a little lie. A lie is a big deal, in fact check out Revelation 21:8.
We have all broken at least one of the commandments and therefore, we are guilty of disobeying God's perfect law and we will be held accountable for our actions. This is why Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We cannot even compare to God because we our hearts are deceitfully wicked.
You might say, "Well I'm not wicked. I'd say I'm a pretty good person actually. I don't do drugs, I don't intentionally hurt people, I stayed a virgin until I was married, I'm faithful to my spouse, I don't lie all the time..." But what if you were to compare yourself to God's standards? Do you still think you are a good person?
Why are sins so bad?
Because we are talking about an infinite, holy, and perfect God. God is all that is good. Good and evil cannot be combined. Therefore if God is good, how could a sinful being be good as well? God cannot sin because he is good. We are sinful beings (obviously) and that automatically makes us wretched and evil at heart. Sins are simply things that go against God's very nature. If God states that something is wrong, then it is wrong. If we go ahead and do it, that is disobeying God who has ALL authority over everything. We are disobeying the law. It's all a matter of justice. In our society today, if you break the law, there is punishment. The same goes when we break God's law. God will hold us accountable for our actions.
You know how you feel when you know you are disobeying your parents or you are doing something you know your parents would never approve of? That feeling of guilt? That is how we should feel (only about a million times worse) when we sin against God. In the Bible it says, "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23) Which means that if have not been "cleansed" of our sins we absolutely cannot enter in the presence of God after we die. That is why there is a Hell. We are all guilty, and we all deserve to go to Hell.
Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4).
The Ten Commandments serve as a purpose. What is that purpose?
Romans 7:7 "...Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. ..."
It is the law that shows us that we are sinners. These are not rules, they are a direct reflection of everything God is not, and therefore He has commanded these things to reveal our sinful nature. The Law's rightful purpose is simply to act as a mirror to show us that we need cleansing.
If you've never truly examined yourself to see where you stand with God. Today is the day to do it. Go through the 10 commandments (and know that God considers hatred to be murder and lust to be adultery). See if you have violated any of them. If you have, you are guilty. If you are guilty, what should happen when you die? Where should God send you?
No comments:
Post a Comment