When we speak or hear about the law of God or the Ten Commandments, love is usually the last thing that comes to our minds. We tend to picture large stones and towering inscriptions laid out before us, written by the hand of an angry God, a Just Judge. We see the bold words “THOU SHALT NOT” and cower in fear. We tend to correlate the law of the big ten with the halls of justice, cold, insensitive, exacting, condemning. We see them devoid of all emotion, warmth, endearment, understanding, forgiveness. Instead, we put our heads down in fearful expectation, waiting and cringing at the sound of that gavel of justice. We hang our heads low in shame, cast in the shadow of the law. Guilty, condemned, and at the same time, down deep at the gut level, we despise such commands and restrictions, feeling intense stirrings of rebellion in our hearts. “Who are you to tell me what to do,” We say. For in our minds we regularly separate love from law, for they seem diametrically opposed, antithetical to one another. This is simply not true. Lawlessness is really lovelessness. God did not hear the cries of Israel, solely to impose strict commands on a severely oppressed people, enslaved under a cruel dictator; no, God did not deliver a people from one form of cruel slavery, only to bring them under another kind. That is not salvation. Yes, this new freedom has boundaries, albeit, only because love has boundaries. So then, it is equally true we were slaves of sin and now in Christ have become slaves to righteousness. Slavery compelled us to act in rebellion, now love constrains us from such unspeakable things, for love now leads us into active submission to our “new” Master.
This is a glorious paradox of freedom. Do you not know that if you presen...
... middle of paper ...
...inst us, cursing us and condemning us. Jesus came to fulfill the righteous requirements and receive all the blessings of covenant keeping. As a matter of fact, Christ became the inheritance, the promise land, the Sabbath rest for all who would enter in. Look with me at this great biblical doxology: Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. (1Timothy 3:16) God can never be less than God Himself.
My prayer then as you read this book is to look at the Ten Commandments in the light of redemption, as a covenant of love, like a marriage covenant, boundaries in our relationship with the Heavenly Father through the blood of His Son, and the Spirit as our guarantee. God is saying, “I love you, do you love Me?”
Everyday we have the chance to make her own opinions and give reason to our own voice. We have the chance to live in a country that encourages freedom in society, which separate ourselves from any restrictions imposed upon by authority, actions or any political views. liberty is the power we possess to act as we please through freedom and independence. But what happens when we choose to give away our basic liberties for temporary safety? Benjamin Franklin once stated, “They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Those who decide to give away their personal freedoms for something that is temporary do not see the value in the long-lasting gift called freedom. In
Plans are revealed to, “hold a separate service on Sundays for [the slaves’] benefit,” in which pointed sermons were to be delivered to the slaves (Jacobs 57-58). One such sermon is inherently accusatory and meant to instill fear in its slave audience. Statements such as “God is angry with you,” “You tell lies”. God hears you,” and “God sees you and will punish you” serve to foster a sense of guilt and fear within the slaves, casting disobedience in any form as an affront against God, one that merits divine punishment (Jacobs 58). The sermon creates an emotional tie to profitable slave behavior – obedience stemming from fear – which it goes on to enforce as the will of God: “If you disobey your earthly Master,” the preacher claims, “you offend your heavenly Master” (Jacobs 58).
Obeying God’s commandments is where we obtain this freedom. Many people feel that having to live by “these set of rules” (the ten commandments) is debilitating but as a matter of fact, it is sin that is crippling us. Plantinga (2002) stated that “Sin traps people and makes them wilt; godly obedience liberates people and helps them flourish” (p. 74-75). In Exodus 19:4-5, it says to “obey my voice,” the commandments were not given to us to rescue us, but because we have already been rescued. “God rescues people and then lays down the law,” said by Plantinga, perfectly reflects these thoughts. Grace is a tremendous word that is used more than 150 times in the New Testament to speak of divine favor granted to undeserving people. MacArthur (2014) writes in God’s Sufficient Grace that, “We are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8) and in grace we stand (Romans 5:2). Grace upholds our salvation, gives us victory in temptation, and helps us endure suffering and pain. It helps us understand the Word and wisely apply it to our lives. It draws us into communion and prayer and enables us to serve the Lord effectively. In short, we exist and are firmly fixed in an environment of all-sufficient grace”
Gentry, Peter J., and Stephen J. Wellum. Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical Theological Understanding of the Covenants. Crossway, 2012. Google Scholar: Subject relevance
Humans are sinful by nature, but at what point does the Lord tolerate inconceivable sin? When does He look down and say, “Enough is enough?” Investigating the act of lynching, makes one truly wonder about the evils of mankind. This monstrosity occurred in America, and in the South alone, ferociously ended the lives of nearly 4,000 individuals (Robertson). Although baffling, this disturbing incident is a major part of our history. Our educated ancestors took part in these crimes that plagued our land for many years for the specific reasons of lack of law enforcement, influence of previous generations, and unimaginable fear.
... as to allow sin to be a part of their lives, but they are deceived. Jesus has made it very clear, “I am the way, the truth and the light.” He also tells us “no one gets to the father except through me”. This cannot be made any clearer.
The Old Testament law is seen as irrelevant by most modern Christians today. Christians are now under the blood of Jesus Christ which is said to abrogate the Law. Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” The law of Christ is to love God and your neighbor as yourself. This does not mean, however, that the Old Testament Law does not apply to Christians today. Author J. Daniel Hays expounds on this topic in his article, “Applying the Old Testament Law Today,” and focuses on the hermeneutical approach of Principlism. This approach allows the Old Testament Law to be viewed in light of the New Testament.
The Ten Commandments is a movie about the book of Exodus and Moses. The movie began at the first order to kill all Hebrews under the age of two. Here Moses is cast off into the Nile and the story begins. It ends with the end of Moses’s life and Joshua taking over. The movie, for the most part, stayed true to the book of Exodus, but some detail and major plotline were different. The movie was good, but the added love story and power struggle made the movie a little off topic. The story itself, Moses being adopted, raised, sent away, and then came back and freed the people is the same, so Exodus is followed in a general way. Some detail is not, like some of the plagues are different (Plague seven was just hail, not hail on fire), and some characters are not existent in the Bible, but appear in the movie. The movie was very good and is one of the best Moses and Passover movies of all time. The only flaw was the details that the movie lacked or were incorrect.
I feel inspired and patriotic every time I see a car’s back bumper sticker featuring an American flag stating, “Freedom Isn’t Free!” The moral clarity of those words rings as true as the Liberty Bell. Those Americans that do not fathom the significance of the motto Freedom Isn’t Free suffer from the very problematic “victim/slave mentality,” which ultimately will become a future reality should more citizens not heed the simple message the sage language conveys. Yes it indeed bears repeating, “Freedom Is Not Free!” Its acquisition from King George’s England involved struggle, its maintenance throughout the first two and a quarter centuries of our Great Republic required sacrifice and its continuation demands perseverance. Wise people fully realize that struggle, sacrifice and perseverance are the vital characteristics of freedom, democracy and independence.
Much like the laws in the Old Testament, the law is God solving a problem before it occurs (Maxwell, 2010). As Reggie Joiner reminds us: “Relationship comes before rules” (Maxwell, 2010, 176). If a relationship forms, rules are easier to embrace. Rules are a tool to keep the ship and everyone on it going in the same direction. Shared systems of values strengthen partnerships minimizing the possibility of comprise. Values determine our actions. Our conscience can be a fickle thing if not tended to. A good study of 1 Timothy 1:5 will sharpen the cause for keeping the conscience in order and know that a good conscience is the product of a pure heart. Finally, we trust fully in God’s promises to comfort us, but need to share that same comfort through an empowerment to do so from God himself. Kept promises are the glue that holds all the guidelines together and shuttles them into the heart and soul of mankind by building
[to the pagan,] "this command 'You shall love' will not only surprise him but will disturb him and be an offence to him. [p.41] It may perhaps offend you — well, you know it anyway, that Christianity is always accompanied by signs of offense. Nevertheless believe it .... Do not stop believing because the command almost offends you." [p.74]
The Ten Commandments are a set of Commandments, that were inscribed on two stone tablets, which were given to Moses, during the New Testament, Exodus 20:1–17. The 10 Commandments are known to be
The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory. The glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus was perfect; he did not even yield to the temptations of his nature unlike the people around him. It says in John 14:30 that “but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
Additionally, it is important to understand Luther’s distinction between the Law and the Gospel in order to further explore Luther’s understanding of human freedom. The Law is God’s commands; it allows humans to coexist, limits chaos and condemns sinfulness, though it is not God’s road...
Tarwater explains that even through the small snippet of information how “the God we serve in the New Testament is the same God who worked on behalf of the people of Israel in Exodus.” Through the last chapters, I began to appreciate Jesus’ teachings and the correlation to the commandments of the Old Testament. Before this book, reading through the Old Testament did not bring about the importance within the books of Leviticus or Numbers. However, the author’s strong statement “the laws were meant to demonstrate how obedience and holiness were to permeate every aspect of the people’s lives” highlights the nature of the Bible to be a continual work highlighting God’s mercy and forgiveness. Digging deeper into the context of the stories through the author’s visual narrative that I could see how the theme of each book extended into another. Ultimately, the book of Leviticus is clarified with the realities of how sinful the people are and why God had to ultimately bring to earth His son to take away our