Exodus 20:1–21 (ESV):
Exodus 20:1–21 (ESV):
20 And God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “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. 5 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, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “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.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 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. 11 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.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “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.”
18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
Today we begin a 10 week series on the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments are perhaps the most widely recognized teaching in the Bible, even among non-Christians. They are iconic––and for good reason. After all, they represent God’s moral standard for all of humanity whom He has created.
And yet, it’s not always clear how they relate to us as Christians.
You may have heard it said that as followers of Jesus, we are ‘no longer under the law but under grace’ (Rom. 6:13 and elsewhere).
You may have heard it said that Christ Jesus Himself is the ‘end of the law’ (Romans 10:4), meaning that He is the goal or purpose of the Law, and that He has brought it to completion.
Jesus Himself said that He came to ‘fulfill the law’ (Matthew 5:17).
On the other hand, the Bible also tells us that ALL scripture is “God breathed and profitable for correction, for reproof and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16), and when Paul wrote those words he was referring to the Old Testament which included the Law.
You may remember Jesus Himself re-iterating much of the Mosaic Law in His famous Sermon on The Mount… ‘You’ve heard it said, but I say to you…’ Which by the way wasn’t His way of replacing Old Testament commandments but rather restoring them to their proper understanding.
In fact, Jesus said explicitly that anyone who obeys and teaches God’s law will be commended, and anyone who disobeys it and teaches others to disobey it will be condemned.
So which is it? Are we free from the law as summarized in the Ten Commandments now that we are under grace… or does it still have relevance for us?
For the believer, even though Christ has fulfilled the Law for us and we are no longer under its burden, it still serves several crucial purposes.
Purposes of the Ten Commandments for the Follower of Jesus:
1. So that we can know God’s Character and Will
In the Ten Commandments we have a clear depiction of what God is like, and what pleases Him.
This is especially relevant in a society that has lost sight of absolute truth, of right and wrong, and is increasingly morally bankrupt. The Ten Commandments bring us back to center and remind us of God’s great standard.
This application of God’s law is also useful on a civil level.
1 Timothy 1:9-10 The law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless… to restrain ungodliness and sinners.
So having an absolute moral standard from God is not just applicable to the individual but to society at large. It helps restrain sin in society.
But what happens when we begin measuring ourselves up against God’s perfect standard? We quickly realize we fall short.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
Which brings us to our next use of the law:
2. So that we can know our great need for God’s Grace through Jesus
The law exposes our sin.
Romans 3:20 Through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Galatians 3:24 The law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”
Augustine wrote: The law orders that we, after attempting to do what is ordered, and so feeling our weakness under the law, may learn to implore the help of grace.
It is by knowing God’s moral standard and how we fall short of it that we realize our great need for God's forgiveness and grace through Jesus Christ.
But then once we repent of our sin, place our trust in Jesus, are justified by faith, adopted into God’s family, no longer slaves to sin but slaves to righteousness… once we are moved from the category of ‘unrighteous’ to the category of ‘righteous’ because we belong to Christ… Once we have a NEW IDENTITY in Christ… then God’s Word calls us to begin behaving like the new people we have become.
Which brings us to the third use of the law…
3. So that we can know how to live for God’s Glory
Once we are justified by faith apart from works of the Law, the law becomes a guide to help us better behave like who we have already become in Christ.
Romans 6 says, how can we who died to sin still live in it?
If we are in Christ, we have a new identity; so we need to behave like it.
As born-again children of God, the law shows us what pleases our Heavenly Father, and what He requires of us as His children. Not so that we can be saved, but so that we can live a life of worship unto Him.
Jesus said, if you love Me you will keep my commandments (John 14:15).
Paul, speaking to Christians, said, The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. (Romans 7:12)
Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.
If you’ve got kids, you know that one of the first lessons we teach them is to share. Share your snack! Share your toy! Share your seat!
But actually, there are some things in life that are not meant to be shared.
-Your toothbrush.
-Your Social security number
-Your Netflix login… right?
-A one person hammock (don’t test physics and friendship at the same time)
-A bite-sized candy bar
More serious example:
-Your love for your spouse.
See, we all know that while sharing is generally commendable, there are some things that are inherently not for sharing.
God is the most sharing, generous person in the universe. The Bible says every good and perfect gift is from Him. And that He loved the world so much that he gave His only Son.
Yet, there is one thing God is not willing to share, because it would go against everything right in the universe, and against His very nature to do so: God will not share His glory.
Romans 11:36 From Him, and through Him, and TO HIM, are all things. To HIM be the GLORY forever.
Isaiah 42:8 (ESV): 8 I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
Isaiah 48:11 My glory I will not give to another
The reason it would be wrong for God to glorify another besides Himself is because it would violate the fact that He alone is supremely worthy. Since God is perfect and truthful and pure in all of His ways, He will not do something false… and to glorify another instead of Himself would be false worship. To promote that would violate His own character.
This commandment comes first for a reason. It is fundamental to understanding all the others. It lays a foundation for everything moral in the world because it tells us what God is like. He is supreme. He is ultimate. He has no equal, no rival, no competition.
When He gave this commandment to Moses, the Israelites had just been delivered from slavery in Egypt where they had been immersed in polytheism. The Egyptians worshipped many gods. They had a god for everything: fields, rivers, light, darkness, sun, storms, love, war… on and on.
And unfortunately, over time the Israelites began worshipping those false gods as well.
Ezekiel 20:8 they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.
So when God delivered His people from slavery, it wasn’t just from social oppression; it was from spiritual oppression. He was restoring them to rightful worship of Himself as the only true God.
Notice how He leads into the first commandment: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
That is God’s standard, given to God’s people.
Did they continue in unadulterated, pure worship of God after that commandment was given?
Absolutely not.
Shockingly, if you flip over to Exodus 32, you see them do the unthinkable.
Their fearless leader Moses goes on a little retreat up Mount Sinai.
And while he’s away, this is what happens…
Exodus 32:1–6 (NLT):
When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”
2 So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron.
Keep in mind that Aaron was established as a priest back in chapter 28. His job, as given from the Lord, was to lead others in worshipping the true God.
4 Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
So they’re taking the credit for their salvation that belonged only to God, and giving it to this false idol they’d invented with their own hands.
5 Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf.
Just keeps getting worse… And that’s how false worship tends to go. It tends to spiral.
Idolatry begets idolatry.
But here’s the most shocking part:
Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the LORD!”
LORD represents the Hebrew ‘tetragramaton’ YHWH (which we tend to pronounce Yahweh).
Aaron, the one who was supposed to be set apart to bring true worship to the one true God, is now bringing false worship to false gods, but he’s calling the false god Yahweh.
6 The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.
Virtually the entire Old Testament is the story of God’s people abandoning Him and His ways over and over again and ascribing their devotion and worship to other things besides Him.
…Which, unfortunately, is an accurate metaphor for our personal lives.
Each of us, if left to our own devices, will invariably worship and pay homage to other things besides Yahweh.
Calvin: the human heart is a perpetual idol factory
Luther: whatever your heart clings to and relies upon, that is your god.
Tim Keller: an idol is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God.
If you want to identify what your idols are, just ask yourself a few simple questions:
What occupies my mind when I don’t have to think about anything in particular?
What do I trust for my security and happiness?
What do I fear losing the most?
What do I sacrifice the most for?
“If I only had____ then I’d be ok.”
Idols can come in all shapes and sizes, and they can also be abstract.
A relationship you either have or wish you had.
A job or a pursuit.
A hobby.
Stuff or the acquisition of stuff… or maybe it’s what that stuff represents: a sense of security and value.
Status.
Whatever it is, if it is elevated above God in your life, it is idolatry, and God wants to de-throne that thing.
What’s more: the worship of that thing instead of God is a transgression of His first commandment and enough to send you and I to eternal condemnation.
The wages of sin is death (not just physical death; spiritual death… eternity apart from the One who is the giver of life).
It’s not just the Israelites who were desperate for a Savior… we are desperate for our Savior.
When we come face to face with our inability to keep God first in our hearts, we are driven to the Savior.
Romans 5:1 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
As Christians, when we look at God’s law and remember our tendency to put other gods before Him, it reminds us how desperately we depend on the forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ, and His righteousness that is credited to us by faith alone.
But that’s not all.
It also reminds us that the God who has saved us and brought us out of our proverbial, spiritual Egypt… freed us from the bondage of slavery to sin… has a standard for us as His children. We are to actively put to death what is earthly in us. We are to crucify the flesh with its desires and passions. We are to actively cast down our idols before the Lord on a daily basis. Not to earn His love… we already have that in Christ… but to live in a way that reflects what He has done for us.
“Walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received.” Ephesians 4:1
Titus 2:11–12 (ESV): 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
Romans 12:1 (ESV): 12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
1 Peter 1:14–16 (ESV): 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”