“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. (Romans 3:19).
AFTER FOUR CENTURIES OF SLAVERY, the calling of Moses, plagues of judgment, the first Passover, crossing the Red Sea and final deliverance from the Egyptian empire, God brought his people to Mount Sinai.
While the Israelites remained at the base of the mountain, Moses traveled up to meet with the God who spoke to him though the burning bush. It was on this occasion that he received the tablets containing the law of God. In the book of Exodus, we read:
“And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:1-17 ESV).
God’s commandments are so raw and elementary that even a child can comprehend them. But what is often misunderstood is not the words themselves, but the intention behind them. God has disclosed a theme and a purpose for his law in the Bible.
For thousands of years, and even still today, people all over the world suppose that by striving to keep the commandments, they better their odds at receiving eternal life.
Like a redemptive karma, we try to do more good than bad in life, assuming that will grant us favor with God when we stand before him. Crossing our fingers, we hope our good outweighs our bad.
And we also count on God being fair, perhaps even lenient, to the point of overlooking our venial transgressions of the law and welcoming us through the pearly gates.
But assertions like these are false assumptions regarding the law. Not only that — misunderstanding God’s intention for giving the commandments will have eternal consequences.
Having said that, the lofty theme and grand purpose behind his law is something far greater than we would expect.
Jesus was once asked by a Pharisee about which commandment was the greatest. Jesus summed up God’s law in the Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 6:5), and replied, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
“The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31).
The theme of the Ten Commandments is love! The law was given to show us how to love our Creator rightly, as well as how to love one another. But why would God have to lay down the law to accomplish this? Simply because we don’t love the Almighty the way we ought.
It’s quite easy to say we love God, but demonstrating it is another story. We humans have an aversion to submitting to the authority of our Maker. And the truth is that we all habitually violate God’s commandments throughout our entire life (Romans 3).
In John 3, Jesus said our problem is that we “love darkness rather than the light.” Furthermore, the Apostle Paul stated that we are slaves to sin (Romans 6 & 7). The allegation is that we can’t stop sinning against God, and we don’t really want to.
Yet God holds us accountable for every thought, word and deed that is contrary to his character and law. And the commandments are a mirror that reflects the reality concerning our spiritual state — we are wretched (Romans 7), spiritually dead to God (Ephesians 2), hostile to God (Romans 8), haters rather than lovers of God (Romans 1).
God’s point is not that we try to keep the commandments to redeem ourselves. We will never succeed because he expects perfection (Galatians 3:10-11). His purpose for the law is to show us that we are not the good people that we think we are (Romans 3:19). We are lawbreakers.
But the beauty of the law is that God uses it to show us our greatest need, that of forgiveness and justification, which is found in the crucified and resurrected Messiah.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph 2:8,9 ESV). G
Robert Michaels is a long-time Benicia resident. He can be reached at robert.eagleswings@yahoo.com.
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What a bunch of crap! Nobody knows if there is a God, Budda.,or Allah, or alians.Keep religious opinions out of the paper!!!!!
These issues have been debated for centuries, but for some reason The Herald is not allowed to be a forum for them? What kind of sense does that make? Ed.
Ruby, Mr. Michaels is entitled to express his opinions of how he sees the world, regardless of how fanciful they may appear to others.
Ruby,
First, thanks for your comment. I had to chuckle because your response, though sarcastic, was honest. I get it. And I even appreciate you taking the time to comment.
like it or not, religion is a part of his world. The majority of Americans are religious. A small percentage forms those who are practicing atheists.
And all kinds of commentary, articles and discourse is attributed to atheism, even in newspapers.
The Herald publishes opinions from all walks of life, religious and non religious, differing political parties, conservatives and liberals, and so on. I
Its the opinion page, Ruby.
A thousand words fairly crafted in commentary will possibly get your opinion published too.
Don’t believe in God? Feel like Christianity is a crutch? Perhaps you believe that evolutionary process has the answer to all life’s questions? Or that everything can be explained by science?
Write about it.
Thou shall not kill, then Moses orders mass murder on the Midianites, men, women and children except for the young women that are virgin. , those are to be shared by the troops,
Moses said ” god told me to do it” Numbers 31 15.
I can think of a couple leaders from the last century with a similar mentality.. WTF is with that
Now you are just cherry picking, RKJ.
I guess, I mean, Moses a prophet , highly revered by many religions and by today’s standards would be considered a mass murderer and a pimp.
An quite possibly a schizophrenic sociopath.
Hello RKJ.
First, the commandment not to kill is in context of “murder.” Sometimes killing is justified, right? Self defense, which is a broad category, is justifiable homicide, not murder.
Capital punishment is the killing of those that have committed specific crimes worthy of the death penalty. This is not murder.
On the battleground, in war, there is killing, which can be justified. Sadly, murder can also take place in the context of war. And we call these “war crimes.”
Are you familiar with all the wars in the old testament? And are you familiar with the context and motives for these wars? Are you also familiar with the enemies of Israel? Do you know the big picture or the reason why the God of the Bible commissioned some of these wars?
There is a purpose behind it all, probably not what you think.
And lastly, do you believe/accept the Bible is God’s infallible word? Or just another book authored by men, with lots of mythological stories, narratives, contradictions and so on? In other words, is it all a work of fiction. If so, than your concerns don’t necessarily matter.
This is the first time I’ve heard anyone connect Moses to Hitler or a pimp. I understand that this is what it might look like from an unbelieving heart. And that’s the problem. Until you come to know Jesus, the Bible doesn’t make sense, looks like a book of contradictions, and is not worthy of concern. Many former skeptics/atheists felt the same way. And now they don’t.
You are stuck on these things, but are neglecting the heavier matter. Who is Jesus? Is there life after death? If so, where do I go after I die? The Bible answers these questions in the new testament.
I believe like some of the founding fathers of this country who were Deist, they believed in a Creator and no more. Thomas Jefferson thought the bible would soon be in the fable section of the library.
Please read about the religious views of our founding fathers, it is quite interesting and a bit eye opening.. Some sources are the Library of Congress, Monticello and other books
RKJ
Good comments.
It is a welcome relief to see comments, with a differing opinion, and not have the insultingly condescending comments which we see too often.
Thanks DDL, I thought you may rip into me for calling Moses bad names, but I can’t look at his actions in any other way, . To me there are certain rights of man that are far above any religion and he violated them, these were babies, children and women . I think he made false claims of God speaking to him just to control people.
“Until you come to know Jesus, the Bible doesn’t make sense, looks like a book of contradictions, and is not worthy of concern. Many former skeptics/atheists felt the same way. And now they don’t.”
And, many former people of deep faith have become skeptics and atheists because of the many cotradiction in the book, as well as the lack of any credibility for the existence of a higher power.
Hi Thomas.
Just a head’s up. A lot of people, almost 80 percent, claim to be Christian. But the reality is that many aren’t Bible believing followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, many who profess Jesus, aren’t really Christians at all.
So when I hear about “Christians” who leave the faith and become skeptics – atheists, I’m not shocked. It was just a matter of time before they deny God’s existence, or radically change their religious preference. Happens all the time.
And typically, it appears that skeptics become skeptics because they were offended by another Christian, or by a church, or deceived, or betrayed, or hurt in some way. Or perhaps they can’t reconcile why God would allow evil and suffering in the world. And so they walk out on God and claim atheism.
Another reason for denying God’s existence (including Charles Darwin himself) is that men love their sin, and don’t want to be held accountable by their Creator.
I typically don’t get caught up in the evolution and creation argument, because I don’t believe atheism is legitimate in the first place.
When I look at a painting, a building, an automobile, or a work of literature, I don’t question their origins. An artist produced the painting. A contractor built the building. An automaker made the car. And an author wrote the book.
When I look at the universe, specifically the world we live in, with all the laws of nature, all the complexities, diversity, beauties, and wonders of it all, I don’t question it’s origin. A Creator created it all. And God is the Great Scientist, who can do with it as he pleases.
And this is what the Bible teaches, that you and I are without excuse. We see the heavens and the earth, all of creation, and we know God is there.
But like Charles Darwin, we don’t like this God. So we say he doesn’t exist. And God calls that foolishness (Psalm 14, 53, Romans 1:18-32)
True believers in Christ (genuine Christians) never permanently forsake Jesus
But many atheists, since Darwin’s time till now, have miraculously been converted from skeptics to followers of Jesus and believers in the Bible they once mocked.
And that is a miracle, as well as the love of God demonstrated toward those that hate him.
robert
Yet another reason a religious person, of any faith, walks away from their former belief, is that they have realized that it is alright to not fabricate explanations for things not yet understood by mankind. They go on to live perfectly rewarding, healthy and happy lives. Many people that find the church do so because they need to pull themselves out of some kind of bitter existence. For me, that’s just called growing up, being strong and taking responsibility.
You are welcome to believe in what you have, or someone else has, convinced you to believe. In my case, my rewards for being good exist right here, during my time. We all get one chance to get it right before the bell rings. Everyone’s time here will end, and when it does they all become part of the earth again. Sure, molecules linger in other forms. There is nothing more beautiful than that reality.
As an aside, you do realize that the theory of evolution’s intended purpose was never to counterpoint 2000 year old flight of fancy. However, over the years people of faith have held it up as such. Do people really believe that disproving superstition played any role in Darwin’s motivation? I doubt he was that petty.
We have 2 choices in life. Jesus said “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
If you’re not on the narrow road that leads to life then you are already walking the broad road that leads to destruction! If you want eternal life, walk the narrow road!
“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
So, if you want to be a saint, persevere in the faith of Jesus and stop ignoring the commandments of God!
When asked how to attain eternal life, Jesus answered “keep the commandments”. He made it clear he was speaking of none other than the Ten Commandments.
Hello jesus.
I would like to ask you some questions pertaining to you comment, “When asked how to attain eternal life, Jesus answered “keep the commandments”. He made it clear he was speaking of none other than the Ten Commandments.”
First, why did the man walk away sad after Jesus mentioned the Ten Commandments? You said that keeping the Ten Commandments will grant people eternal life. And the man said he had kept the commandments since his youth. That means he should have walked away happy and content – not sad.
Second, the man really did not keep the commandments, he was guilty of loving his wealth and possessions. His money was his god, and this is also a form of covetousness. So he was at least guilty of breaking the first and tenth commandments for a long time.
Third, why doesn’t Jesus say that same message to everyone. To Nicodemus, Jesus said you won’t enter the kingdom of God unless you are “born again.” Nothing about the commandments (John 3:3). Furthermore, Jesus went on to say that all one needs to do to have eternal life is believe in the Son of God (John 3:16). No law keeping here either. In Acts 16, the jailer asked Paul what must I do to be saved (to have eternal life)? Did Paul tell him to keep the commandments? No. He told the man to “believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” In Romans 10, Paul said, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved – go to heaven when you die.
Forth, Galatians, Romans and Ephesians flat out say that we are justified not by works (keeping the law) but by faith. Please read those new testament books.
Fifth, if I may get personal, I would like to ask you, have you kept the commandments perfectly since you were born?
1) Have you always loved God perfectly, every second, minute, hour, day, week, month and year of your entire life?
Have you ever made other things your god? Money, sex, sports, family, friends, hobbies, food, power, greed, self-love and so on. Those things often take the place of God in our lives
2) Have you ever owned a statue or picture of anything or anyone in heaven above or earth below. Do you bow down to, pray to, or serve these images (Jesus, Mary, saints, angels, Buddha, etc)
Or have you created a god in your imagination, different from the God of the Bible?
3) Have you ever used the name of Jesus or God as a curse word, or a joke, or take his name lightly? Have you ever mocked God, Jesus, the Bible or Christianity in any way.
Or do you profess to be a Christ follower, but do you live like an unbeliever (hypocrite)? That is taking his name in vain too.
4) Have you always honored the Sabbath day, to keep it holy? Do you ever miss a church service because of work, sports, vacations, sleep in, etc?
5) have you perfectly honored (respected and obeyed with a good attitude) your parents every day of your life?
6) Have you murdered anyone? Jesus said in Matthew 5, that hatred toward anyone, and unjustified anger toward someone is murder in the heart. Have you ever been mad at someone, called someone a name, in your heart wanted to harm someone? Have you ever talked about someone negatively behind their back (or on facebook), gossip and slander is a form of hatred, Ever do that?
7) Have you ever committed adultery? You ever cheated on your wife (if you were or are married)? Jesus said in Matthew 5, that if you have ever lusted in your heart (sexually) you are guilty of adultery. Pornography, fantasizing, etc, is sin. Ever do that in you entire life?
8) Have you ever take something that doesn’t belong to you? Someone’s money, possessions, time from your employer, someone’s virginity, etc. It doesn’t matter how big or small or the value of the thing. Stealing is stealing.
9) Have you ever told a lie? A white lie, a fib, an exaggeration of the truth? Have you ever spread untruths about someone (gossip).
10) Have you been perfectly content with all that god has given you your entire life? Or has your heart ever wanted things so badly that you think about them too much and begin to lust for them.? More money, better house, better job, better cell phone and electronics, better looking mate, someone else’s mate. Have you ever coveted after things, places, people, position and status, etc?
jesus. If you are going to keep the law of God, the Ten Commandments, to go to heaven, than you must keep them perfectly throughout your entire life. And if you can do that, well, than you are perfect like Jesus Christ.
So once again, the commandments are there to show you and I that we are corrupt – sinful – not good in God’s eyes-worthy of hell. And we will never make it to heaven.
That is why Christ came into the world – to save sinners.
robert
Robert,
Only Jesus could keep the commandments perfectly. It is not possible for you or I to do that. But that does not remove the obligation for us to obey God and do our best to keep them. If we say we believe in Jesus yet ignore his instruction then we are not acting in faith. We, then, are practicing sin. With this new covenant, God wrote His laws on our hearts so that we would keep them, not ignore them.
You say “That is why Christ came into the world – to save sinners.” But Jesus said “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” To me, that means he came to save those who sin but repent. We all sin but we don’t all repent. Those who continue to practice sin but fool themselves into believing that they don’t need to repent are treading a dangerous path.
“He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
You, Robert, with most of the Christian world have listened to one of Satan’s greatest lies by believing that you are under grace even when you ignore the commandments. Why did Jesus, our Lord and Savior, instruct us to keep the commandments if He didn’t expect us to obey Him? You tell me to read the teachings of Paul (of whom Peter said are “hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”) but why do you not focus on the clear instructions that came straight from the mouth of God? Paul, by the way, did not teach lawlessness and he kept the commandments to the best of his ability even after he became an apostle of Jesus. What did he mean when he said “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.”? Did he not keep the weekly and annual sabbaths and, thereby, provide the example to his disciples?
The fact that we are not justified by works does not mean we can ignore the commandments. James told us that faith without works is dead. And that is the key. If you truly have faith, you will have works. If you say you believe but have no works then where does that get you?
“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”
Just as God required an act of faith from Abraham who already believed, so, too, does He require us to act in faith by keeping His commandments. Sinning without repentance is not the way to the kingdom.
What good is knowing you’ve broken a commandment and that you are sinning, if you don’t repent of your sins? When you truly turn to God and (attempt to) keep His commandments, His Spirit will reside in you and will help you in your goal to become more like Him. When you fail, you know it, and you repent. When you stop repenting you have entered the broad road that leads to destruction. This is the road that all unrepentant sinners walk.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
When asked “which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus answered “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
But how do you love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind? YOU KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS! (“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”)
In Revelation 14 we read “Here is the patience of the saints who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” It does not say “Here is the patience of the saints who ignore the commandments of God yet keep the faith of Jesus” (because by ignoring the commandments they show God that they do not have the faith that He requires of His saints. If you don’t keep the commandments you do not truly keep the faith of Jesus and cannot count yourself as a saint).
This Friday night at sundown begins the weekly Sabbath. At that time, I’d suggest you ask yourself why am I not observing God’s holy day instead of “fill in the blank”? Keep doing this weekly until you realize that there is no excuse and no grace for those who refuse to repent. When you start keeping the Sabbath because you love God and want to please Him, the Holy Spirit will enter you and show you how your whole argument, above, has been nothing but delusion from Satan. Just as the Sabbath was a test for Israel in the wilderness it is a test for God’s people today. Unfortunately 99.99+% of the world is failing that test on a weekly basis.
JG
I wonder why Mr. Lasiter, the preacher at Crusade Church says it’s not a sin for his daughter and son in law to keep their gym open on the Holy Days and the weekly Sabbath. It’s not closed on those days. They took people’s money for contracts that they would be open, always. That includes the Holy Days. It was all pre-planned, It seems to me they are more into worldly things since they have a gym that is “always open” and give keys to customers so they can use it anytime, even on the Holy Days and weekly Sabbath. If the gym was closed on the Holy Days, they would not allow anyone to use their keys to get in and “sin”. It does not matter if the owners are there or not, they allow people to enter the business and workout. They are providing the way and inviting people in to sin I would say, by what they preach anyway. Not that I believe anything these people say, in my opinion, they are hypocrites and try to be judge and jury-cult style. If they gym was closed like Mr. Lasiter stated in one of his Youtube videos, it would be a crime if anyone went in the business at their own will when the business was closed for business and did not have a business contract or permission given to them to be in there! Vain worship is what they do in my opinion.
Cult Watch,
just wondering who you are?
Please email me. I would like to chat.
robert dot eagleswings@yahoo.com
Jesus. Thank you for your response. I think we are misunderstanding one another, possibly.
I agree that we keep the commandments of God, the Ten of the old testament, as well as the multitude of the new testament commandments.
But we don’t keep the commandments in order to be saved and go to heaven. That was Christ’s work. We simply repent and believe.
As Christians we keep the commandments (not just the ten) because we love him, not out of fear of hell,
Do you understand the difference?
I would like to discuss this more with you.
You can reach me at
robert (dot) eagleswings@
yahoo.com
I would have to strongly agree with J Garcia. I would like to point out that the Bible explicitly tells us what love is, so lets let the Bible define love for us… 2 John 1:6 “AND THIS IS LOVE that we walk according to his commandments.” 1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
The Bible also defines sin for us: 1 John 3:4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. Why would John be writing these things to the church if keeping God’s commandments didn’t matter?
Jude 1:4 also strongly warns the first century church that, “certain persons have crept in unnoticed, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness (a licence to commit sin) and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
In Romans 3:8 Paul says, “And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some say that we claim) let us do evil that good may come.”
The Scriptures must be harmonized! Cover to cover the message has always been turn around, repent, be reconciled to God. On the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D. after Peter delivered his heart piercing message to the large crowd of Jews, they asked “brethren what must we do to be saved?’ Peter said to them, “Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Many Christians in our generation believe the act of repentance is a one time event that takes place the moment a person is saved, therefore every future sin has been payed for, so just go on transgressing the commandments because we’re under grace right? Wrong!
Robert I want you to see that you position doesn’t hold up when put under scrutiny…
For example, I know if I ask you, Is it OK to murder your brother? You would say, don’t be silly, of course not! Or If I asked, is it acceptable for you to commit adultery? You would surely say NO! Right? Well then my friend you are keeping the commandments of God! I am going to post a very comprehensive article bellow. Please Read!
“Saved by Grace through Faith”
By Larry R. Lasiter
© 2003
Can a Person be Saved without Repenting of Sin?
Can a Person stay Saved while practicing Sin?
“For by GRACE you have been saved through FAITH; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God; not as result of WORKS, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for GOOD WORKS, which God PREPARED BEFOREHAND so that we would WALK IN THEM.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)
The Bible makes it clear that you can only be saved by God’s grace by putting your faith in the sacrifice of Jesus not in your own righteous deeds. The Scriptures assert that all have sinned and are guilty before God. No amount of Commandment keeping can save you because Commandment keeping cannot remove sin nor the penalty of committing sin. So it is clear that all people are in need of a Savior to save them for they cannot save themselves from the penalty and judgment of Hell. Without salvation a person is literally on death row awaiting execution.
For example, if a man committed murder, even if he had never broken the law before or after, he would still be guilty of that one crime and subject to its penalty. All the good that he had done before and after could not make that murder go away. He would need an undeserved pardon.
One does not have to commit murder to be subject to Hell, a simple lie or a lustful thought is enough. Some have committed more sins in their lives than others, but the fact remains that all have sinned and are guilty before God. This is where God’s grace becomes important. “Grace” means “undeserved favor.” Even though you deserve to pay your own penalty for sin which is death in the Lake of Fire, God offers to pay your penalty for you through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus. And this is where faith comes in, you must believe that God will show mercy and pardon you. This is what it means to invite Jesus to be your “personal Savior.”
Since we are saved by GRACE through FAITH -Does that mean that we are not obligated to obey God’s Commandments?
If WORKS cannot save us, do they serve NO PART in our salvation?
The first word of Jesus’ message was “REPENT!” To repent means to “change”, to “turn around”. Just what did Jesus want a person to turn from? Well, His common reply to those who received forgiveness from Him was -“Go and sin no more.” Obviously, it was sin that He wanted people to turn from. The Bible defines sin as “The transgression of the Law.” (1 John 3:4)
Now, a person could not receive forgiveness without being willing to repent of breaking God’s Commandments. As Jesus told them, they must go and sin no more. This means that they were to stop practicing sin as a way of life. So the question -Can a person be saved without repenting of their sins, and can a person stay in God’s Grace if they continue in sin?
Let’s go back to the Scripture we began with and examine it closely – “For by GRACE you have been saved through FAITH; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God; not as result of WORKS, so that no one may boast.” God is clearly telling us here that we cannot save ourselves and that no amount of works can save us.”For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus -“In Christ Jesus” means we are alive in Christ, and are spiritual members of His Body now that we are saved and under God’s grace. for GOOD WORKS, -Though we are not saved by our works, as Christians, we were created for the purpose of doing good works. which God PREPARED BEFOREHAND -The works we were created to do were prepared by God beforehand. What does it mean “prepared beforehand?” Before what? Surely these “good works” is God’s standard for living which He prepared before Grace was realized through the sacrifice of Christ. so that we would WALK IN THEM.” -God wants us to “walk in them.” That is, to live according to a standard which was prepared even before Jesus brought us grace by giving His life. (Ephesians 2:8-10
What is God’s Standard for living?
Once a young rich man came to Jesus and asked -“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied -“Keep the Commandments.” The young man asked -“Which ones?” And Jesus began quoting some of the Ten Commandments which God wrote into tablets of stone with His own finger. (Matthew 19)
In Matthew 5 Jesus said, -“Never imagine that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to destroy but to fulfill. And until Heaven and Earth pass away not one comma shall pass from the Law til it is full in force. Anyone who relaxes a single one of the least of these Commandments and teaches others to will be ranked least in the Kingdom. But whoever keeps them and teaches others to will be ranked great in the Kingdom.”
In John 14, verse 21, Jesus said, -“He who has My Commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
In 1 Corinthians 7:19, Paul said, -“Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the Commandments of God.”
In Revelation 22:14, Jesus said, -“Blessed are they that do His Commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the City.”
But Why did the Apostle Paul tell the Galatians that if they were circumcised and turned to the Whole Law that they would be cut-off from Christ?
Judaizing Christians were telling the Gentile converts that they must be circumcised and keep the “whole Law” of Moses, which is the 613 Commandments, Laws and Statutes in the Book of the Law were added to the Ten Commandments because of transgressions. (Galatians 3:19)
Christians are not obligated to keep the “Whole Law” given to Moses at Sinai, but as Paul wrote -“Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the Commandments of God.”
These are the Commandments written by the Finger of God into tablets of stone, not the Laws and Statutes written by Moses onto animal skins.
Paul wrote in Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10 that if you come to the knowledge of the truth, receive the holy spirit and then continue or begin to practice sin as a way of life, you will perish. So, a person can lose their salvation if they refuse to repent when God leads them into truth.
Why the Ten Commandments?
Jesus said that all the Commandments are summed up in two great Commandments. Love God with all your heart, and love your fellow man as yourself. The Ten Commandments teach us to become like God. The first four direct us to love and obey God, the next six teach us to love our neighbor. Jesus magnified the Commandments by showing us that they mean much more than what is seen in the letter. He said, not only are we not to commit murder but it also means do not even hate your enemy. He said, not only are we not to commit adultery in the letter, but we are not to even look upon another person with lust in our heart.
By keeping the Ten Commandments, we learn to put away our selfishness. We learn to put the interests of God and our neighbor above our own interests. Paul told the Corinthians that true love does not seek its own interest. John said that the way we know that we love the brethren is by keeping God’s Commandments. Notice John verse 6, -“And THIS IS LOVE, that we walk according to His Commandments. This is the Commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.”
These are the “GOOD WORKS” that we were “CREATED” to do; which “WERE PREPARED BEFOREHAND”, that we should “WALK IN THEM.”
Notice the Apostle Paul’s answer to this question – “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in SIN so that GRACE may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2) Christians who are forgiven and under grace are not to continue to practice sin. Remember -“SIN IS the transgression of the Law.” (1 John 3:4)
“Though you were slaves of SIN, you BECAME OBEDIENT from the heart to that FORM OF TEACHING to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:17)
This “form of teaching” is the “works prepared beforehand” for us to “walk in.” It is God’s holy standard for Christian conduct. Remember Paul’s teaching, -” What matters keeping the Commandments (1 Corinthians 7:19)
If we do not submit to God’s STANDARD we will create our own. We will come to believe that we can please God and develop His Character through the precepts of mortal man. Jesus calls this “VAIN WORSHIP.” (Matthew 15:9)
There are many churches and ministries who teach that Christians should obey the Ten Commandments but who themselves practice breaking the fourth Commandment. To keep the Sabbath (seventh day) holy is a Commandment of God. To observe Sunday (the first day) is a tradition of men.
Jesus said in Matthew 15 that if you forsake a Commandment of God for a Tradition of men, your worship can be in vain. This is why the Crusade Church of God obeys God by assembling for services on Saturdays. Join us, as we worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4)
Hello Sandy,
I just saw that you made a lengthy comment challenging my piece. That’s great. Thank you. I’m going to read it and respond.
Jesus Garcia and I have exchanged emails to continue our conversations. Would you consider the same? I would like to send you a response via e-mail.
Thank you. And I look forward to hearing from you.
Robert
robert (dot) eagleswings@yahoo.com
Sandy. Just read your comment. Most of what you wrote is in the wrong context of my piece. My piece wasn’t about repentance. That’s another piece for another day.
It simply was that the law cannot save a person from hell, judgment and sin.
I totally agree that the law of God should be kept by those that call themselves believers. And true believers strive to do so. Its a part of our sanctification.
The law is good, it brought me to Jesus.
Good works are the fruit of being a Christian, but it doesn’t make people Christians.
I can see that both you and Jesus Garcia are clinging to the Saturday sabbath. Actually, the Jewish sabbath starts on Friday I believe.
That is another discussion vie email. Thank you, Sandy