The Ten Commandments and Living in the Grace of Christ

Romans 7:7-12

⁷What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

⁸But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

⁹For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

¹⁰And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

¹¹For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

¹²Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

I have heard many people say that they no longer have to abide by the Old Testament because Christ fulfilled the law and it is no longer relevant. My first question to them was always, "What about the 10 Commandments?" I was surprised to find that some people said they didn't need to follow the 10 Commandments anymore. Some said that those are now just "guidelines" not law. And others agreed that we should live by them, but just because they were good enough for God's people once and they are still good ideas.

I always knew in my heart that we are to still follow the 10 Commandments. I had heard that the law is a "mirror" of the heart. But I never knew where in scripture to point people when we had this "debate". God led me to what I needed to know this morning!

We do not know sin until we know the law. I'm not saying that before we know the 10 Commandments that it isn't sin to commit adultery, murder, etc., but that without the standards to know what is right or what is wrong, there can be no judgment. Knowing the law shed light on our actions (and the actions of others).

Some people are put off by preachers who talk of hell. They think we should only witness to people telling them about God's love and grace. While those are both very important aspects of who Christ is, we also need to warn them about the danger of living eternity in hell.

What is the best way to do that? Why teaching them the "law". The law will open their eyes to why they need a savior; it points to life-eternal life. Without knowing why they need saved, they will not seek Him. Without knowing that what they are doing is wrong, they will keep on doing it. Without realizing what their eternity could be, they will keep living in ignorant bliss.

It is our job to reveal Christ to them. What better way to reveal Christ than to reveal why Christ came--to save us from our sins!

The Way of the Master is a great program that teaches you how to bypass debate on Christ and who He is and get right to the logical mind. You will speak to a person's conscious and heart instead of debating the intellectual.

Don't throw away the Old Testament. God gave it to us for a reason (actually many reasons). The law is still relevant today. Study it. Know it. Live by it. Share it. The law leads to the Life Giver--Jesus Christ!