THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #127 | THE LIFE OF MOSES #108
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3812
THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #127
THE LIFE OF MOSES #108
MOSES AND MT.SINAI #7
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS ( Part 2)
Why do we still obey the Ten Commandments?
God gave the commandments that they might be obeyed—not to earn salvation but because of who we are, who God is in himself, who he is to us, where we are, and what he has done.
Reason 1: Who We Are
Don’t miss the obvious: Exodus 19 comes before Exodus 20.
God has already identified the Israelites as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6).
They are a people set apart. The same is true of us.
As Christians, we too are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9).
We must be prepared to stand alone, to look different, and to have rules the world doesn’t understand.
We are God’s people, set apart to live according to God’s ways.
Reason 2: Who God Is in Himself
The law is an expression of the Lawgiver’s heart and character.
The commandments not only show us what God wants; they show us what God is like.
They say something about his honor, his worth, and his majesty.
They tell us what matters to God.
We can’t disdain the law without disrespecting the Lawgiver.
Reason 3: Who God Is to Us
The God of the Ten Commandments is revealed not just as the Lord, but as the “Lord your God” (Ex. 20:2). We are his treasured possession (Ex. 19:5; 1 Pet. 2:9)
He is a personal God, and in Christ He always is for us (Rom. 8:31).
Reason 4: Where We Are
The biblical definition of freedom is not “doing whatever you want.”
Freedom is enjoying the benefits of doing what we should.
We forget that God means to give us abundant life (John 10:10) and true freedom (John 8:32). His laws, as 1 John 5:3 tells us, are not burdensome.
5. What He has done.
The Israelites were an oppressed people, and God said, " I hear your cry. I will save you because I love you. And when you are saved and free and forgiven, I am going to give you a new way to live."
Salvation is not the reward for obedience. Salvation is the reason for obedience.
Jesus first washed the feet of His disciples and then says, " If you love me, you will keep My commandments ( John 14:15).
All our doing is only because of what He has first done for us.
