“Law & Order: SPU – Why All the Fuss?”
2 Kings 17:1-23; Romans 1:18-32
It hits the news on a fairly regular basis. Someone, somewhere, is upset because the 10 commandments are posted in public view in a public place – and they want them taken down. Meanwhile, another party, just as passionate, battles – even through the court system – to keep them right where they are. Why all the fuss? Why do people get so excited about these 10 commandments? Why are there such passionate feelings? Why are some people so offended by them? Why all the fuss?
I suspect that the commandments produce such passion and fuss because merely reading them, and knowing the claim that they come from God, forces people to make a choice – to choose whether or not God has any right to rule their life. And that arouses great passion. But I’m actually glad that there is such a fuss because it keeps before us the role of law and order in society. And that’s a good place to begin.
The truth is THERE IS A NEED FOR LAW AND ORDER. Without law and order, there is only chaos and only the strong survive. Just read the book of Judges and see what happened every time there was no righteous judge – each person did what was right in her own eyes, and there was chaos. LAW MAINTAINS ORDER. As has been said, law is the cement that holds societies and groups together. So law maintains order, first of all, SO THAT WE CAN EXIST TOGETHER PEACEFULLY. If there were only 2 people in the world, they would need some laws in order to exist in peace together. How does each expect to be treated? What will happen when they’re hungry, or when their clothes get dirty? Who will sleep where? What will they do if they cannot agree on something? There must be some laws to maintain order or they will not live in peace.
Think about a busy freeway, like those in Chicago, Los Angeles, or Washington DC; 6 or 8 lanes of traffic on one side of the median, zooming along at high rates of speed. Imagine the chaos if there are no laws. What’s to stop me from going only 25 mph or going up to 100 miles an hour? What’s to stop me from deciding to turn around and head in the other direction? I could just decide to stop and make a phone call, or eat, or get out of the car to take a picture. All of these behaviors are possible – but they all would lead to chaos and injury. Law and order are needed to make the freeway system work.
We need these boundaries in our activities and our lives. Can you imagine playing basketball, football, hockey, soccer, or baseball – any game or sport – with no boundaries? It doesn’t work. Law and order make it work. Law maintains order so that we can exist together peacefully.
We need law also TO GUIDE US THROUGH LIFE. When we travel we use a map or a GPS. Why? So we know how to get where we’re going? A ship has a compass. Why? So it knows which direction to go when there are no other signs or markers. Detour signs are posted when construction takes place on our roadways. Why? So we know how to get around the blockage and get back on course. When a doctor performs surgery, there are certain well-delineated steps or medical laws she follows before, during, and after surgery. Why? So the patient receives the best and healthiest care. Good laws get us where we need to be safely. Law gets us through life safely.
This is why NATIONS HAVE LAWS. Let’s look at Israel as an example. ISRAEL actually had three types of law – civil, ceremonial, and moral. The CIVIL laws were those that governed Israel as a nation. They included guidelines for waging war, land use, regulations for debt, prohibitions against things like murder, and penalties for specific violations. Many of their civil laws may still exist but they are not binding upon us because we live in a different state under different civil laws.
The CEREMONIAL laws included regulations for celebrating religious festivals, for worshiping God in the sanctuary, for the conduct and duties of priests, and for offering sacrifices. These laws are no longer in effect because they all pointed forward to Jesus Christ. As Col 2:17 states “These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” As such they are no longer binding upon us.
The MORAL law is what is summarized in the 10 commandments and it pertains to the standard for righteousness and contains rules about one’s relationship with God and others. Our passage in 2 Kings is all about the moral law and how Israel failed to obey it. These laws have not changed and are still binding on us today. They still represent what the Bible calls ‘perfect righteousness.’ The New Testament teaches us that the law was fulfilled in Jesus and that this moral law is written on our conscience so that no one has excuse for breaking this law.
Let’s consider THE UNITED STATES for a moment. In the history of America there has been an interesting RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OUR CIVIL AND MORAL LAWS. Governor Morris wrote, “Religion is the only solid Base of morals and that Morals are the only possible Support of free governments. … Therefore education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man towards God.” Samuel Adams said, “All men are equally bound by the laws of nature, or to speak more properly, the laws of the Creator. … Religion and good morals are the only solid foundation of public liberty and happiness.” And listen to Thomas Jefferson: “And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever. … The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend to all the happiness of mankind.” Our founding fathers believed that the CIVIL LAW WOULD NEVER HOLD OR BE EFFECTIVE IF NOT SUPPORTED BY GOD’S MORAL LAW.
More recently theologian John Stott wrote “Where the law’s moral absolutes are not respected … people cease to respect themselves or each other … humanity is deformed … society slides into the killing decadence of mutual exploitation and self-indulgence.” The Apostle Paul, in Romans 1:18ff. similarly wrote that because people disregard and disobey God’s law, God gives them over to the consequences of and judgment on their sins and then tells what the resulting deformed and uncivil humanity looks like. Nations have laws because law maintains order, and moral law is an essential ingredient.
So GOD HAS GIVEN HIS LAW. Since the civil law alone was not enough God’s law had, first, a SPECIFIC PURPOSE. God told the Israelites (Ex. 19:5-6), “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” God gave the 10 commandments to Israel so they could BECOME A SPECIAL NATION, or unit of people. That’s why this series is entitled SPU – Special Persons Unit. God gave his law to make His people special in the eyes of the rest of the world. Centuries later Peter told Christians the same thing (1 Pt. 2:9): “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God…”
In other words, God’s law SHOWS US OUR IDENTITY. To follow and obey the 10 commandments is to be caught up in God’s great purpose for the world. And as the Old Testament, especially the book of Deuteronomy, demonstrates if we obey the law we will experience blessing. God’s law is intended to make us, His people, special and blessed so we will be a showcase to the world that demonstrates who He is.
Yet beyond this purpose God’s law also has some SPECIFIC POWERS. First, the 10 commandments have the power TO CONVICT US. The Heidelberg Catechism addresses this (#114 & #115) Question 114. Can those converted to God obey these commandments perfectly? Answer. No. In this life even the holiest have only a small beginning of this obedience. Nevertheless, with all seriousness of purpose, they do begin to live according to all, not only some, of God's commandments. Question 115. Why, then, does God have the Ten Commandments preached so strictly since no one can keep them in this life? Answer. First, so that the longer we live the more we may come to know our sinfulness…” Robert Phillips wrote of his first college course in chemistry. His first exam came after one week. Of the twelve in the class 6 got “D’s” and six failed. The professor told them, “I did not give you this test so that you could tell me what you know about chemistry. I gave you this test so that I could show you what you don’t know about chemistry.” Similarly God’s law show us not how good we are but how sinful we are – how far short we are of being righteous like God. THE LAW MAKES US CONSCIOUS OF OUR SIN.
Suppose you are driving down the highway. You go around a curve and there in the median is a State Policeman with his radar gun. What’s you first reaction? Step on the brake. Why? Because he is the law and you’re immediately aware that you may be breaking the law and you don’t want to get caught. The police car is an instant judge on your life. In the same way the law makes us conscious of and judges our sin. As Paul wrote (Rom. 7) “If it has not been for the law, I would not have known sin.”
The late Donald Grey Barnhouse drew a wonderful picture. He pointed out that the law of God is like a mirror. When we look into the mirror we can see that our face is dirty. But when I see my face is dirty I do not then try to wash my face with the mirror. The purpose of the mirror is to drive me to the water. And that brings us a second power of the law – the 10 commandments CONVERT US. It’s more than just the fact that obeying them bends us towards God. The Heidelberg Catechism states that not only does the law convict us of sin but that it pushes us to “…eagerly look to Christ for forgiveness of sins…” The law converts us by DRIVING US TO CHRIST.
And what does Jesus Christ say? (Mt. 5:17-19) "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” But doesn’t that still sound like a conviction, since we know we cannot live up to this perfectly? Yes – except that we recognize it is Jesus who is speaking. And Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. As Paul wrote, Jesus was crucified “in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us.” (Rom. 8:4) IN JESUS CHRIST, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, WE ARE RIGHTEOUS. I love how the late Charles Spurgeon put it: “As the sharp needle prepares the way for the thread, so the piercing law makes a way for the bright silver thread of divine grace.” If I do not know the law I cannot know about sin. And if I do not know about sin, I cannot know the Savior. The Law converts us by driving us to Christ.
Thirdly, the law has the power TO SUSTAIN US. If you’ve ever seen Fiddler on the Roof you will recall the opening song, sung by Tevye. He is standing with one leg on a steep roof, playing a fiddle. He says, “We are all fiddlers on the roof, trying to scratch out a pleasant little tune without falling down and breaking our necks.” And how do we keep our balance? Tevye sings, “In one word I’ll tell you, tradition! Because of our tradition, everybody knows who he is and what God expects him to do.” The law of God, the 10 commandments, let us KNOW WHO GOD IS AND WHAT HE EXPECTS US TO DO, how He expects us to live.
Additionally, Paul, in Romans 8, informs us that as we seek to live according to the law, THE HOLY SPIRIT HELP US. “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their mind on what the Spirit desires…You, however, are controlled not buy the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.” The law drives us to Jesus who gives us His Spirit. The Heidelberg Catechism concludes its answer about why we strive to keep the commandments by teaching, “So that, while praying to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit, we may never stop striving to be renewed more and more after God’s image, until after this life we reach our goal: perfection.” God’s laws, His rules for living, convict us of our sin, convert us to Jesus Christ, and sustain us in living like and becoming like Him.
I read a while ago that the word rule comes from the Greek word for ‘trellis.’ A trellis is a tool that enables a plant or vine to get off the ground and grow upward, so it can be as productive as it’s meant to be. That’s a good description of the 10 commandments, God’s rules for life. As we obey the law it holds us upright and enables us to grow upward, all the while becoming more and more productive as we become more and more like him, and makes us more visible to the world. The law is all about Jesus Christ.
So why all the fuss? Because the law of God is important to us – it is our lifeline to becoming holy, to being like Jesus Christ. And, believe me, that’s worth fussing about.
