Breaking
the Law
I moved my car out my home garage in order
to make a short video with my library of books behind me, because that is what all the professionals do! During the season of
coronavirus my wheelie bin car was getting out more often than my car! There
are sixty-six books in the Bible, and one of my favourite books is Ecclesiastes.
Speaking of books, the tail end of that book says,
The words of the
wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails,
given by one Shepherd. And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making
many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh. Let us
hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including
every secret thing, Whether good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:11-14 NKJV.
I would like to highlight the words, “Fear
God and keep His commandments.”[1] What are the commandments?
Well, there are ten of them, the Ten Commandments. They are listed in Exodus 20.[2] But, briefly, the Ten
Commandments are a summary of the character of God. And to sum up the Ten
Commandments, the first four are about loving God, and the last six are about
loving your neighbour as yourself. Therefore, the Decalogue shows you your duty
towards God, and towards your fellow man.[3]
God is the God who loves God and His
neighbour as Himself.[4] God is the Triune God, the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.[5] The Father loves the Son
and the Spirit. The Son loves the Father and the Spirit. The Spirit loves the
Father and the Son. And each Person in the Godhead loves God and His Neighbour
as Himself.
We’re made in the image and likeness of
God.[6] And we are supposed to
mirror God. But you can tell when you look at God’s Ten Commandments, that we
are not doing a very good job of that.[7] There is something wrong
with us![8]
Threefold
Use of the Law
The first use of God’s Ten Commandments, God’s
Law, is to show you up as a sinner. The Apostle Paul says, “I would not have
known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness
unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’”[9] God’s Law is to be a
mirror. You look at it and you see your reflection. It is like walking through
a room full of mirrors, the ones that make you look fat in this one or skinny
in that one or distorted in another one. Well, that is what God’s Law does. It
shows you how distorted you are.[10]
You, of course, need the Holy Spirit’s
help for you to see yourself as God sees you.[11] And that is what the Ten
Commandments are doing. So, the first use of the Law is to be a mirror to show
you up as a sinner.
The second use of the Law is to restrain
sin in society.[12]
Talking about cars. If I drive too slow, people make rude gestures at me. They
may cut me off. They mistreat me on the road. (Not that I ever do any of this
kind of stuff!) You are supposed to be loving your neighbour as yourself.
Therefore, the second use of the Law is to restrain evil in society, and that
was just a simple example.
The third use of the Law is, How should
I, as a Christian, a believer in Jesus Christ, live my life?[13]
Well, Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”[14] What are the
Commandments? Well, there are ten of them. People argue about the 4th
Commandment, you know, the remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
However, there are still Ten Commandments, and they still apply to your life
and mine. As a Christian it is not all right to murder and all the rest of it.
So, back to the first use of the Law.
Jesus, for example, has something to say regarding the 7th
Commandment, about the adultery Commandment. I live in sunny Queensland. I am a
male. If I walk across a beach in sunny Queensland, there are all these females
lying around in skimpy bikinis, and you are trying not to look at them. Jesus
says that if you look at a woman to lust after her in your heart,
you have committed adultery, you have broken that commandment.[15] You have committed
adultery in your heart. That is what Jesus is saying. It is a spiritual thing.[16] It shows you up as a
sinner. That is the first use of the Law.
The first use of the Law points you away
from yourself. It points you to Jesus. Who is Jesus again? Jesus is the saviour
of sinners. If you think that you are good, that you are OK, and you are
going to stand before God with your toilet roll, your expensive toilet roll
list of all the good things you think you have done, what is Jesus going to do
with them? He is going to flush them down the toilet, because your good works
are like filthy rags before God says Isaiah,[17] if you try to use them in
that way.
So, Jesus is the saviour of sinners. God’s
Law, as the Spirit applies it to you, convicts you of your sins.[18] “I’m a sinner! I need a saviour
of sinners!” Jesus is your saviour if you are trusting in Him to save you from
your sins, and not you yourself.
To summarise the three uses or threefold use
of God’s Commandments:
The First use is that of a mirror. It
shows you up as a sinner, a sinner in need of a saviour. And you are the exact
person that Jesus came to save.
The Second use of the Law is to restrain
evil in society.
The Third use of the Law is, How should
I then live my life as a Christian? Keep God’s Commandments!
“Let us hear the conclusion
of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NKJV.
That is how we know good and evil.
It is by looking at God’s Commandments.
[1]
Ecclesiastes 12:13b.
[2]
Exodus 20:1-17.
[3]
Mark 12:30-31.
[4] 1
John 4:8.
[5]
Matthew 28:19.
[6]
Genesis 1:26-28.
[7]
Romans 3:23.
[8]
Romans 3:9-20.
[9]
Romans 7:7b; Exodus 20:17.
[10]
James 1:23-24.
[11]
John 16:7-11.
[12]
Romans 13:1-10.
[13]
Romans 6:1-2.
[14]
John 14:15.
[15]
Matthew 5:27-28.
[16]
Romans 7:14.
[17]
Isaiah 64:6.
[18]
John 16:8.
No comments:
Post a Comment