THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE LOVE OF GOD

 

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE LOVE OF GOD

I didn’t want to really hear it, but now I’ve seen that to serve God properly, I can’t avoid it. Paul says: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:2). I ask myself, “Why couldn’t he have said: “Love, pastor, be nice, be gentle.” Those are good things, but here it says “reprove, rebuke and exhort.” According to God’s Word, they are good things too. No one really likes reproof or rebuking, and exhortation to do better isn’t that popular either. But, admittedly, we all need it.

 

To “reprove” in this verse is translated from a Greek word meaning “to convict, to expose, to call to account, show one his fault” and “to demand an explanation.”  “Rebuke” is “to award, in the sense of merited penalty, to charge sharply, to restrain or forbid.” And to “exhort” is translated from the Greek word “parakaleo,” which means to call to the side, to console, to beseech, beg, entreat, to invoke, encourage, strengthen, instruct and teach.”

 

So what Paul is telling Timothy is that, as a leader, he needs to call people out on their sins, make them own up to them, and then beg them and encourage them to change, letting them know that he totally believes they CAN do it!

 

Paul was a great example of this, and we see many examples in the epistles of him reproving, rebuking and correcting. And good parents are well practiced in this task, as well.

 

But as we get older, we not only get tired of correcting others and figure someone else will do it, but we also get lazy in our own lives and start letting things slip without correcting ourselves. We have to stop doing that.

 

Second Corinthians 5:20 says: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ.” As representatives for Christ, we can’t afford to get lazy. We should be the examples of holiness, virtue, honesty, integrity, kindness and all the good things the Bible says about how we should and can be living.

 

John 8:44 tells us the devil is the father of lies, so he loves it when he can get Christians to compromise on truth, even in the smallest ways. Satan is quick to offer us convincing excuses and justifications for doing things that are against the good practices of the Bible. And we buy into them.

 

I had a male friend, Jacob, who had the saddest, most honest-sounding story of his and his wife’s relationship. He bemoaned that she never wanted to have sex and only conceded because she wanted children. But after their three children, she was finished having any physical relationship with him. He said he still loved her, but he was a man with physical needs as well. He was very up front with his situation and I almost felt sorry for him. But when I heard that he used this same story with every single woman he met, I realized this was his “come hither” story—well rehearsed and it actually worked on at least two women that I knew of. Jacob had a convincingly compelling story, but his “reasons” weren’t from God.

 

In the USA, schools used to have a poster of the 10 Commandments on the wall. The kids knew what they were. They learned that it was good to obey your parents and bad to steal. How many of the Ten Commandments can you name? I tried to recite them and I only got 6 of them right, so I figured I better  review them every once in awhile!

 

They’re found in Exodus 20:1-16 and Deuteronomy 5:7-21.

1.You shall have no other gods before Me.

2.You shall not make idols.

3.You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

4.Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

5.Honor your father and your mother.

6.You shall not murder.

7.You shall not commit adultery.

8.You shall not steal.

9.You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10.You shall not covet.

 

People say that all the Old Testament law was fulfilled in Christ and that love is a greater law than what they had in the Old Testament times. They quote Galatians 5:14: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” But if we don’t know what the old laws are, then we don’t really understand the scope of  what the New Testament love covers.

 

That’s why the New Testament apostles, prophets, teachers, etc. had to write things like, “lie not one to another,” etc., to remind us of the details God wants us to get right in showing His true meaning of love. Love includes admitting that we’ve believed wrong things, and acted in bad ways. We accept God’s forgiveness, but then we need to change our minds and actions to go along with what the Bible says, no matter what.

 

But when are we most willing and even happy to make perhaps radical changes? We should be willing all the time, but it usually doesn’t happen that way.

 

But when we are convinced that we are loved unconditionally and uncondemned, we’re much more willing to take reproof. When we know that God will always love us and never give up on us, we’re more willing to change our thinking, knowing that it’s better to be right with God, than right with men.

 

Matthew 5:8 says: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” A genuine metal is purified by fire and water. The fire burns away the impurities and the water washes away all that’s left. Let’s ask God to purify us with His fire, wash us clean with the water of His perfect Word.

 

Love, Carolyn