Monthly Archives: August 2020

Is This True?, The Law of God

ONLY NINE COMMANDMENTS “BROUGHT OVER?”

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Living in the Bible Belt, I hear things that don’t ring true. Statements from the pulpit and the radio compel me to verify from the Bible. I once heard a preacher say, “Jesus taught more about hell than heaven.” After detailed research, I found this to be completely false. The results of the comprehensive work can be found at this link:

Did Jesus Really Teach More About Hell Than Heaven

Luke, the writer of Acts, described a group of people who verified from Scripture statements from Paul and Silas. They were the “Fact Checker” or “Snopes” of the time!

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.. Acts 17:11 (NIV)

The followers of Jesus, as a witness, need more people like this who “live not by bread along but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”. There would likely be less schisms in our midst and we would come to know more truth about Jesus which would lead to more real faith based on the word of God.

Recently I heard a pastor on American Family Radio say these exact words: “Only nine of the commandments were brought over in the New Testament.” I had heard this before and ignored, but I could not let it ride any longer.

First, I had to understand what “brought over” meant? This is a vague statement. It must mean one of the following:

1.) Repeated in the New Testament from the Old Testament with actual verbiage as in a list.

2.) Scattered in the New Testament with exact or verbiage close to what was said in the Old Testament and/or

3.) An example or demonstration through Jesus

A List?

It is true, that the list of the Ten Commandments as found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 can not be found in the New Testament. So in this case, all of the Ten Commandments are not brought over. Does that mean as a New Testament Christian, I am free to break any of them as I desire? Of course not!

Let’s take the first commandment as an example:

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3 and Deuteronomy 5:7 (KJ).

This commandment does not appear, anywhere in the New Testament. But, there are allusions to it. Example:

“No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (money).” Luke 16:13 KJ

The same goes for the second commandment:

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,  but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20: 4-6 (KJ)

Again this commandment is not repeated in the New Testament. I researched the two main words (image and bow) using Strong’s exhaustive concordances in the King James versions and found that the word” bow” is used four times in the New Testament but not once is it used in reference to the Ten Commandments. However, it is used in reference to bowing to Jesus twice. For example:

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. Romans 14:11 (KJ) (Note: the “It is written” phrase points us back to the Old Testament writer Isaiah who originally made this point about Jesus. See Isaiah 45:23.)

Praise God for this fact. The only person who is worthy to have worship through bowing is Jesus Christ. But, the context of making an image and bowing down to it is not found in the New Testament?

Why? Because the habit of making things with their own hands and then bowing down to worship them was the downfall of Israel many times as recorded often in the Old Testament. The golden calf is a great example (See Exodus 32).

A new testament version of violating this commandment can be found in the Catholic church where images of “saints” including Mary are standing while the sinner bows and prays to the image and asks for help or forgiveness. This is a pagan tradition brought into the church hundreds of years ago.

Did you notice in this second commandment the phrase: “showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20: 6 (KJ)

Embedded in this commandment is the reason for obeying ALL of God’s commandments, “love.” The “thousand generations” is not a finite number that ends at one thousand and one, but is a Hebrew’s way of saying “every generation.”

Jesus’ said the same thing about the connection of love for God and obedience to the commandments!

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15

Someone will say, “well this is Jesus’ commandments. It is not the ten commandments.”

Without a doubt, Jesus did not negate all the ten commandments, but rather expanded on them to show how sin is from the heart and the letter. A prophecy concerning the coming Messiah said this,

The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable. Isaiah 42:21 (KJ)

It does not say he came to destroy, but to fulfill (acutally do them). This we will expand more below.

Now let’s move to the third commandment:

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Exodus 20:7

Again, this commandment is not repeated in the New Testament verbatim. If fact, the two keywords “name” and “vain” are not found together in the New Testament. The Hebrew word for “vain” is shav’. It is used 53 times in the Old Testament. It means primarily “empty.” In our day, we have translated only part of the true meaning limiting to the phrase God damn (Sorry for the directness). But, whenever, we use God’s in a meaningless empty way, we show great disrespect for our Creation. A perfect example is saying “Jesus” as an exclamation point. Often, you will hear someone say, “Jesus! Why did you do that?” When I watch a movie and someone says that, I turn the channel as well as the traditional curse word using God’s name in a derogatory way.

Now we come to the fourth commandment. This is the one that modern preachers want to say did not come over. Why? Because this commandment cuts across tradition and the convenience of modern society.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Exodus 20: 8-11

Like the others described above, this one does not appear in the exact words. However, the keyword “Sabbath” is found more in the New Testament than the keywords of the first three commandments: 55 times! By contrast, the 1st Day of the week is found only 9 times. Only two verses about the 1st Day of the week have any semblance to worship and church.

Notice the 4th commandment does not say anything about worship or which day you go to church. It is primarily about resting yourself and your household by treating this blessed day differently. This commandment is not a “thou shalt not,” but a “Remember”

This commandment is a problem for the reader. Most churches can agree that obeying the first three is not legalistic (unless we claim it for righteousness and salvation) and is expected from God. But the fourth commandment is something altogether different. All kinds of attempts to dismiss it through nailing it to the cross, claiming it was for the Jews only, claiming it is not limited to a certain day and making your own day holy and a rest day. Legalism is claimed if you want to follow it even though legalism is not claimed if you want to follow any of the others.

So in conclusion none of the first four commandments can be found in the exact verbiage in the New Testament nor are they actively taught separately but as a whole. Using the assumed logic of the preacher who said “only nine of the ten commandments are brought over in the New Testament” we can say that only six of the commandments are “brought” over. This is without studying the last six commandments. But even that is not true! Why?

The Ten Commandments (as a Group) ARE Taught in the New Testament:

Teachings about the law and commandments as a group are made in many places in the New Testament. There is never an indication that only nine or six are valid or *”binding” on the New Testament Christian. (Note: Be careful in your study that you don’t confuse the eternal Ten Commandments with temporary sacrificial laws and ceremonial laws that ended when Jesus died on the cross. They were a “School Master” meant to teach about the sacrifice and character of Jesus. Always read in the context of the book, chapter, and overall context of the topic).

For example, in James, he cautions us as follows:

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.  James 2: 10-12

Eight of the other ten commandments are left out here. That does not make them any less important. It is reasonable to assume the “whole law” is inclusive of all Ten Commandments.

Jesus grouped all Ten Commandments under two great principals of love for God and love for our neighbor:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22: 36-40

The first four commandments fall under the grouping of love for God. For example: If you love only Him, you will not have any other gods, take His name in vain, et.c

The last six are grouped under “loving your neighbor as yourself.” Again, the example is that if you love your neighbor, you will” do unto them as you would yourself” by not stealing, lying, coveting their wife, etc.

Jesus Did Not Eliminate Even One of the Commandments

The words of Jesus could not be clearer:

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 

We still have heaven and earth, so nothing has changed in the law. Some will try to claim by fulfilling, both the Law or the Prophets, that they are no longer meaningful for the New Testament Christian, but let’s let Jesus speak for Himself:

Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5: 17-19

Now I don’t know which of the commandments are “the least,” but it is clear that Jesus didn’t come to change one little letter (jot) or one little stroke of a letter (tittle) from the law contained in the Ten Commandments. So this is the entire Ten Commandments as a group. No indication of only nine being “brought over.”

Jesus’ Disciples Do Not Claim That Any of The Ten Commandments were Eliminated or Changed by Jesus

We have already seen from James that the law is a group, when he refers to the “whole law.” John is even more adamant about the commandments of God:


He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2: 4

Some might be tempted to say these are the commandments of Jesus which is different from the Ten Commandments, but these words from the disciples indicate clearly that Jesus did not have a different set of laws by which the Christian should go by:

He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. 1 John 2: 6,7

Paul made it clear that faith does not replace the law. It establishes it:

Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. Romans 3:31

This passage comes as a clarification of his Paul’s argument in the previous verses. This argument is very important to understand, lest a person becomes legalistic. Obedience to the Ten Commandments is not a path to salvation. It cannot give a person righteousness. Obedience is a result or evidence of salvation through the faith God provides:

…the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3: 21-23

All of us have sinned (broken the law of God) in the letter and the spirit. So how could we possibly make ourselves righteous by obeying the letter or even the spirit of the law? It is impossible, but this does not eliminate the law as our standard for living the Christian life. It is still sinning to transgress any of God’s Ten Commandment law either by the letter or the spirit of the law.

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John 3:4

Jesus Lived a Life in Obedience to the Ten Commandments and the Sprit of Them As Our Example.

We cannot go wrong if we “walk” as did Jesus. He set the example whether we are a Jew or Gentile. It was prophesied of Jesus that He would expand the law and make it honorable:

The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will exalt the law and make it honorable. Isaiah 42:21

How did He do it? First of all, He honored it and lived by its principals and the spirit. But listen how he magnifies or expands on the law:

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.  Matthew 5:21, 22

Is it not clear that murder begins with anger? Jesus expanded the law to include what goes on in your mind which is the “heart.” The heart is a symbol of feelings and thoughts of the mind.

Jesus expanded the law regarding sex:

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  Matthew 5: 27-28

Jesus is not taking away from the law (nor the letter), He is magnifying it. He is making it clear that disobedience starts in the sinful mind. If a person is to live by the letter and the spirit, they must be born again in order to have a spiritual mind. If they do, they obey because they love God not with a legalistic mind, but a spiritual heart.

What if I told my wife I live only by the spirit of the law and not the letter. Then I went out and slept with every woman who was willing? How do you think she and God would feel? It is sin just as much as looking at a woman and wanting to have sex with her! You can’t live by the spirit and ignore the exactness of the commandment.

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:13

One Commandment is the Problem

The preacher who said only nine commandments that came over to the New Testament has a motive that is not Biblical. It is an attempt to rearrange or eliminate the fourth commandment. It is more than changing a jot or a tittle…it is modifying the entire commandment!

Jesus and the disciples set the example for “Remembering the Sabbath.” Sunday or the first day of the week is never described as the Sabbath.

Now let’s talk about The Lord’s day. This exact phrase is mentioned only once in the New Testament:


I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, Revelation 1: 10

This does not connect the first day of the week or Sunday with the phrase “The Lord’s Day.” But Jesus refers to Himself as Lord of the Sabbath! So the Sabbath is the Lord’s day, not Sunday or the first day of the week.


And He said to them, “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” Luke 6:5

It can be shown that it was Jesus at the burning bush and the mountain who gave Moses the Ten Commandments which includes the Sabbath commandment. So, yes, Jesus can claim to be Lord of the Sabbath! In that commandment, it is made clear which day belongs to the Lord and is therefore the Lord’s day.

the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. Exodus 20:10

It is here where many will try to claim that we don’t know which day is the seventh day. This has never been proven and is only an excuse. Additionally, there are attempts to show that the disciples changed the holiness of the Sabbath to the first day of the week by honoring the resurrection which occurred on the first day of the week. But the Bible is silent about such a transfer by letter or example.

Jesus example of remembering the Sabbath and keeping it holy was not to ignore it but to clarifying what it meant. The Jews had assigned hundreds of rules one could not do on the Sabbath. Otherwise they would be working in violation to the words, “In it you shall do no work:” Exodus 20:10

They focused on work rather than rest in God that the day provides.

Jesus addresses this when he heals on the Sabbath:

 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.

 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?  Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”  Matthew 12: 9-12

He didn’t ignore the law, He clarified it and said something that is not in the commandment itself but is spiritual: “it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” He should know, He is the Lord of the Sabbath.

Examples of Obedience to the Sabbath in the New Testament

Jesus’ custom was to be in the Synagogue on the Sabbath.

:So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.” Luke 4;16

Notice it was his custom…his habit…What are our habits? Are they Biblically based or are they based on tradition alone?

Paul had the same custom:


Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, Acts 17:2

If Paul was a “Sunday-keeper,” he missed a great opportunity to demonstrate this when he was in a gentile city (Antioch). Let’s read the story from the Bible:

But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.” Acts 13: 14-15

Paul then gives a sermon in verses Verses 16-41

When the meeting broke up, the Gentiles wanted (in fact they begged) to hear the same sermon. They were very eager to hear this sermon.

So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath Acts 13:42

If Paul and his followers had started to meet on the first day of the week in honor of the resurrection that had occurred many years previously, he could have said, “We are meeting tomorrow. I will repeat the sermon for you then.” But he didn’t say this because Paul’s custom was to honor the sabbath. He was in the routine of ceasing work and being at rest with God for the entire day. He went about preaching and doing good on the Sabbath. Therefore, Paul persuaded them to wait until the next Sabbath.

Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. Acts 13: 43, 44

The whole city surely included Gentiles who were very eager to hear the exact sermon Paul had preached the week before. There was not likely room to meet in the synagogue of the Jews so they l met in the outdoors or a larger venue.

The point is, Paul’s custom was to honor the Sabbath. He didn’t even mention meeting on the first day when He had the perfect opportunity with a group of eager Gentiles.

In another documented example, Paul meets with a group of followers on the first day because he was leaving the next day. But this is not sufficient reason to show this was their normal day of worship or their “custom.’

Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. Acts 20:7

This was more like a going-away meeting because Paul had a ship to catch the next day and he had so much to say that he preached even until midnight!

Keep in mind, the fourth commandment does not restrict worship to only the seventh-day. Rather it is asking us to “Remember” the day He rested and to keep it holy because He said it was holy. Sunday does not come with such a designation. True, Jesus was resurrected on the First Day of the week, but He died for our sins on the sixth day of the week. Neither the sixth day nor the first day of the week comes with an indication that the holiness of the seventh day is transferred.

Another time, Paul went to pray on the Sabbath alone with no Jews around and away from the synagoue.

And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Acts 16:13

Prayer and the Sabbath go together even though we are taught to pray all the time. Pay without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Sabbath Was Made For Man….

The Sabbath was not for Jews alone. Jesus said it was “made for man.”

And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.: Mark 2:27

Indeed the Sabbath was made for man. The Sabbath was instituted long before there was a Jew or Israelite. Like marriage, the Sabbath was created in the Garden of Eden before the fall and to benefit mankind.

Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. Genesis 2:3


For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Exodus 20:11

Most people who have not entered into the rest of the Sabbath tend to look at this commandment as a burden or through legalistic eyes. Some see the observance of this commandment to be works and therefore not of faith. But this is a commandment that is an invitation to rest from works and find joy in the day God blessed and set aside to recharge our physical and spiritual batteries. Its emphasis on rest and not works is the centerpiece on the table of salvation by faith and not works. The Jews of old made it a burden and legalistic by placing man-made restriction on a day that should have been called a delight


“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight...Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth,…The mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58: 13-14

The joy of the Sabbath was brought over in the New Testament through the example of Jesus and His disciples. When God makes a new heaven and a new earth, the Sabbath will be the focus of the entire week and we will all come together on that day to worship.


And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord. Isaiah 66:23

In conclusion, the Sabbath is a commandment has not been changed by its Creator and therefore remains as an opportunity to rest in the Lord.

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest (notice “His rest),…For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works… For if  Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.  There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.  For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.”

Hebrews 4:1, 4, 8-10

His rest is the Sabbath! He ceased from his works as God did from His!” How clearer could this be that there is a Sabbath rest (the seventh day) for the people of God? That is me and you!

Jesus sabbatical invitation is found both in the fourth commandment and the words of Jesus who invites us to rest:

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Are you weak and heavy laden? Come to Jesus. Jesus also invites you to enter the rest He offers in the ceasing of work on the Sabbath as commanded by God and given as an example by Jesus, the Disciples, and the word of God.

Yes the Sabbath was “brought over” to the New Testament! Probably more than any other commandment through the Word and example.

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*As a side note: I don’t like the word binding. It is a very legalistic, restrictive and negative term not used in the Bible in connection with the ten commandments. Using the Blue Bible exhaustive concordance, I found the word binding is used 5 times in the entire Bible, but not in connection to the Ten Commandments. The same can be said of the word bind, which is used 49 times, but never in connection with God’s law. The words “obedience” and “keep” are often used in connection with God’s law. Both of these are “love” responses to Jesus not a “binding” responsibility for salvation:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15

Prophecies for Our Time

A LAWLESS SOCIETY-A SIGN OF THE END

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LAWLESSNESS IN AMERICA

Defunding the Police Reveals Evidence of Lawlessness Overtaking ...

A former New York City Councilman, Earl Brown, wrote back in 1971, “The problem is not police corruption but a lawless society.” The New York Times, November 2, 1971

Is America being driven down the road to becoming a lawless society; a nation where laws are ignored, minimized, or rationalized away without consequence? Or have we already become a civilization of little to no morals where people do as they please without any accountability to their neighbors and God?

Recently, we have seen examples of a lawless society. There are called Permanent Autonomous Zones (PAZ). Areas of separation from laws and police within a city quickly and loosely established by a mixture of protestors and rioters.

The first such zone was established on June 8, 2020, in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle by George Floyd protestors and other people with destructive and hate-filled agendas The six city blocks and a park became a vacuum quickly filled by its new occupants after the Seattle Police Department vacated its East precinct area.

The zone had no leadership and was self-organized. So how did it all work out? Over its short history, the autonomous zone had two gun homicides and four additional shooting victims. All the identified victims were black men—precisely the demographic for whom the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) had claimed to offer protection.

CHAZ came to an end 28 days after it started when police removed barricades, arrested more than 30 people. Trucks were brought in to haul away tents and garbage. The police cited ongoing violence and public safety as the reason to end this experiment in a lawless existence.

A writer for the New York Times wrote this about the PAZ’s:

“Autonomous zones, protest camps, and intentional communities alike thrive on hard work and consensus — and can become disastrous rapidly.”

A question for this writer who seems to force positivity for such zones: Where was the “thriving,” “hard work,” and “consensus” among these camps? What good came from these lawless experiments? This statement by the NY Times writer is a practical example of the sugar-coated message of lawlessness being sent to a dying world.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20

Other Autonomous Zones have attempted to follow the lead of CHAZ in Richmond, Philadelphia, and New York.

Arising at the same time are serious efforts to defund the police with the supposed goal of eliminating police brutality and racism. But whatever the ideal of such movements, the net result is fewer law enforcement officials in a time of rising lawlessness which encourages anarchism. Just to be clear, here is the Webster Definition of anarchism: “a political theory holding all forms of governmental authority to be unnecessary and undesirable and advocating a society based on voluntary cooperation and free association of individuals and groups

What is next? Eliminate courts and judges?

A vast majority of citizens in the US are wise enough to see through the political attempts to fundamentally change this country to mirror their own radical ideas or to copy other countries. But they feel insecure with the irrational thinking of these people with political agendas and the move towards removing enforcement of laws protecting person and property.

American seems to be following the example of the French Revolution back in 1789 and 1799 where even God was thrown out! I recommend you read Chapter 15 of a good book called, The Great Controversy. Contact me and I will send you the link or a free paper copy.

If all that is going on in our world today were not bad enough news, it gets worse and will never get better for the country as a whole. How do I know? The Bible tells me so.

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JESUS VIEW OF LAWLESSNESS IN THE LAST DAYS

CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD: TRICKLED DOWN LAWLESSNESS IN THE USA

Webster’s dictionary describes lawlessness as “a state in which there is widespread wrongdoing and disregard for rules and authority.”

Lawlessness as found in the New Testament of the New King James Bible is translated from the Greek word Anomia. This word means “a condition without law.” King James often translates Anomia as “iniquity.” Both words are applicable, but lawlessness is a more understandable word for the description of our time as demonstrated in our current condition in the large cities of America.

When Jesus saw our day, he said these words:

And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. Matthew 24: 12

Both lawlessness and iniquity as described in the Bible is sin in the eyes of God. Sin is defined as the “transgression of the law.” 1 John 3: 4

Our society is becoming dangerous for its citizens especially those in large cities. It will only get more lawless as time goes on. This is according to the One who is our Creator and Savior.

But here is where it gets interesting. Just as the anarchists want a society without law, a good deal of the churches are doing the same thing and turning their back of God’s eternal law of Ten Commandments.

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Did God Ever Intend For The Church To Make His Church Lawless By Doing Away With The Moral Law?

While the laws of the land cover protection of people and their personal belongings, God’s law includes matters of the heart, put are made evident by a person’s actions. Often the laws of the land intersect with God’s moral law. Both are designed to protect others and bring happiness.

The last six commandments are borrowed from God and modified for most societies in some capacity. These deal with the second table of the Ten Commandments which spell out how we are to relate to our fellow humans. They are meant to provide protection and His will for us in getting along with each other.

The first four of the commandments are different and are not part of the man’s civil law and never should be because it deals with man’s relationship with God. Freedom of religion prohibits the state’s enforcement of these laws.

The Ten Commandments also identify what God calls sin.

Sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John 3: 4 KJ

The New King James Version rightly calls sin, lawlessness. A condition without law. When a person ignores the laws of the land or attempts to abolish them they are considered anarchists. The same can apply to the church.

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

1 John 3: 4

Unlike society, God holds people accountable for unrepentant sin or lawlessness even for those in the church who appear on the outside to be righteous:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV)

Wow! People who are prophets and healers can be lost because of two things: they don’t do the will of God and they don’t know Him!

What is God’s will? The last words from Solomon in Ecclesiastes tell us succinctly:

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Ecclesiastes 12: 14

God is clear that He is to be respected and with a certain amount of fear of the consequences for disowning Him. Also, we are to keep His commandments.

How can we know that we know Him?

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1 John 2: 3,4

Many church members cringe at the phrase, “keep His commandments.” It sounds so legalistic. Some churches have attempted to make the church lawless by saying things like the following and supply a few misunderstood verses while overlooking many. It is like crawling over dollars to get to a penny. They will say things like:

“The Law has been done away with.”

“Christ nailed the law to the cross.”

“We are under grace not under law.“

“We are New Testament Christians. We don’t have to keep the commandments.” It was for the Jews only.

“We can’t keep the law.”

Jesus kept the law for us. We don’t have to keep the law.”

We will talk about these in part 2 next time, but I do want to talk about the one that the Ten Commandments were done away with by his nailing them to the cross. Were they?

We Are Saved By Grace Through Faith Alone. It is a Gift!

No doubt it is clear from the entire Bible (OT included) that we are saved from eternal death because of God the Father’s amazing grace and love for His creation. It is extended to us through the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus and it is our option to believe (faith).

We cannot simply nail the Ten Commandments on the wall then grunt and sweat our way into heaven. We would never be worthy enough. One of the clearest Bible texts on this topic was provided to us by Paul:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Ephesians 2: 8,9

With so much emphasis on grace and faith, the baby is sometimes thrown out with the bathwater when obedience and the Ten Commandments are mentioned. A very clear statement from Paul, James, and Jesus clarify things for us:

Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

Romans 3:31

Notice there was evidently the argument in Paul’s day that faith replaced the necessity for God’s law. He argues the opposite. Faith and law go together. It is a faith that works! They don’t eliminate each other. James clarifies further:

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

James 2:18

James confirms the union of faith and works (obedience included). Works and obedience are evidence of real faith. The first work, or act of obedience, a new Christian performs is baptism. After repenting and being born again the new follower obeys the commandment of Jesus and His apostles by being publicly baptized. Why? Because the Bible tells us so and we have a desire put in our hearts to follow Jesus which includes obedience. We don’t obey in order to be saved, but because we are saved.

Jesus, the spotless lamb of God was not baptized for us, so we don’t have to do it; He did it as an example for us.

Finally, we cannot blame Jesus’ for eliminating the Ten Commandments or any other commandment by Him and His Father:

 Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5: 17-19

We still have heaven and earth, therefore not one jot (smallest letter) or tittle (smallest stroke of a letter) has been altered by Jesus. He goes on further to reveal His displeasure of those who break one of the least of the commandments and teach men to do so.

What commandment would you think you could change or alter? None! Jesus didn’t change even the smallest letter!

Nailed to The Cross?

So why has the church tried to “do away” with the law? It is a misunderstanding of certain passages and not understanding how obedience connects with Grace and Faith. Here is the most popular verse used to render the church lawless:

“…Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” Colossians 2: 14

If you start at the beginning of this chapter, you see Paul talking about spiritual circumcision (without hands) comparing with baptism and the resurrection of those who were “dead in… transgressions”.

Circumcision and baptism are not part of the Ten Commandments. The question is what is the “handwriting of ordinances (requirements) that was contrary (against) us?”

Let’ s get our answer from scripture:

The keywords are “handwriting“, “ordinances”, “against us”. A few questions to start: Are ordinances the Ten Commandments? Are they against us?

When we go back to when Moses on the mountain, God gave Moses two at least two sets of laws: 1.) The Ten commandments which were written on stone by the finger of God, and 2.) Ordinances that Moses wrote down with his own finger.

The Ten Commandments were so important that God wrote them clearly with His own finger on stone. Moses wrote the law contained in ordinances with his own hand on parchment and was told to put them beside the Ark while the Ten Commandments were put in the Ark. Two different sets of laws, written by two different entities and placed in two different places on two different mediums i.e. rock and a book.

Let’s look at the appropriate passages to end this study:

And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God. Exodus 31:18

So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished,  that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: “Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there as a witness against you; Deuteronomy 31: 24-26

Did you notice that this book was a “witness against you.” The handwriting (Moses) was “against us.” The Ten Commandments did not need a book; it needs only two tablets and can be read in a matter of a few minutes.

The whole “book” of the law was to be read every seven years:

And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years,…you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.  Deuteronomy 31: 10, 11

Conversely, the Ten Commandments were to be constantly before the people and in their hearts;

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up Deuteronomy 6: 6, 7

So from this we can see that the handwriting of ordinances that were against us and nailed that to the cross, not the law that is called the law of liberty by James. By this standard all people will be judged:

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. James 2: 10-12

In summary: A society that is lawless can be found on the streets of America and even in our churches! This is a sign of the end! God’s law will be a sign of those who belong to Him and the object of Satan’s wrath in the final days:

And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 12:17

May God bless you as you consider these things.