The editor of a newspaper was interviewing a man who
applied for the job of being a rewrite man. "Are you good at
condensing"? the editor asked. "Sure", was the snap reply.
"All right then, take this and cut it short", he said , as he
handed him a copy of the ten commandments. The applicant
was momentarily startled, but then he took his pencil, wrote
briefly, and handed it back. The editor looked at it and said,
"Your hired!" He had written one word--don't.
This story illustrates the popular misconception about the
ten commandments. They are seen as negative, and can be
summed up in the philosophy that says thou shalt not enjoy
life. Whatever you like, don't do it. Now it is true that 8 of
the 10 are negative, but as we shall see, this is for a very
practical reason. Jesus summed them up, not with a don't,
but with a twofold positive do. Do love God with all your
heart, and do love your neighbor as yourself. The first four
commandments deal with loving God, and the last six deal
with loving our neighbor.
But if these most famous laws in the world can be stated
positively, why were they given in a negative form
originally? Those who do not care to look for an answer just
dismiss them as being irrelevant for a positive thinking
world. They claim the negative nature of them leads to
excessive negativism. This is illustrated by the mother who
said "Go see what Johnny is doing and tell him to stop."
One little boy under this kind of atmosphere thought his
name was Johnny don't. There have been many Christians
who have measured their piety by the number of things they
don't do. The Pharisees were experts at this sort of thing
also, and they were able to compile a list of several thousand
things they did not do. It was a negative religion.
Too many negatives lead to a life of emptiness. The
absence of evil is a good thing, but when good is also absent,
one is not living a life pleasing to God. Jesus told of the man
who had all of the demons that possessed him driven out,
and all was swept clean. All the evil was gone, but no positive
good filled the vacuum, and the result was the evil returned
in greater power than it had before. Those who try to live on
negatives often take great falls into sin, for negatives are just
not a good foundation. The negative is only of value when it
is a means to a positive end.
A missionary in Africa was trying to explain the Ten
Commandments to an old native chief. "You tell me I'm not
to take my neighbors wife?" "That's right" said the
missionary. "Or his ivory or his oxen?" "Quite right!"
"And I must not ambush him on the trail and kill him?"
"Absolutely right" said the missionary. "But I cannot do
any of these things," said the savage, "I am too old. To be
old and to be Christian are the same thing." This illustrates
how weak a mere negative religion and morality would be.
Righteousness would be equivalent to inability. If negative
become ends in themselves, then one becomes more and
more Christian the less he is able to live, and death would
bring perfection. This is, of course, nonsense. Negatives
cannot be ends in themselves, but must be means to a
positive goal.
We fail when we lose the positive, for it is the positive that
gives authority to the negative commands. People demand
to see the positive value in having their freedom limited by
prohibitions. If you say don't, they want to know why, and
the why had better be positive if you expect people to respect
the authority of the negative. Robert Kahn, a Jewish Rabbi,
points out that the Declaration of Independence has this
great positive statement-"All men are created equal and are
endowed by their Creator with rights to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness." Then, in order to preserve these positive
values, a Bill of Rights was a appended to the
Constitution. When you read them you notice they are of a
negative character. The gist of each is-
Congress shall make no law
The right of the people to bear arms shall not be infringed
No soldier shall be quartered
the right--to be secure shall not be violated
No person shall be held to answer.
No fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined
Excessive bail shall not be required
The enumeration of certain rights shall not be Construed
These are the eight negatives of the ten amendments called
the Bill of Rights. They are negative commandments for the
preservation of positive rights. We see from this, that when
negatives are the means to positive ends, they do not destroy
our freedom, but become foundations for freedom. Without
these negatives to protect us we would be far less free as
Americans.
Now if we go back to the Ten Commandments, we see the
same principle involved. It is almost as if the Constitution
and Bill of Rights were patterned after the 20th chapter of
Exodus. In Exodus 20:2, we see the positive statement of
God, which gives authority to His Commandments, and
which is the basis for their existence. "I am the Lord your
God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage." God did not impose this list of laws
upon a people to suppress them and their liberty. They were
the gift of a wise God to a people He had set free, and who
He wanted to remain free.
John Locke said of the law, "The end of the law is not to
abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom."
This was certainly God's intention in giving the Ten
Commandments. If oppression and suppression was His
motive, He could have done no better than to have left them
in their bondage in Egypt. The whole atmosphere
surrounding the Ten Commandments is one of positive
liberty. Liberty so new and fresh and complete that it could
only lead to chaos and disaster without the limitations of
law. All of the negatives are like the Bill of Rights negatives.
They are to preserve the great liberty which God had given
them.
By forbidding murder, for example, all are free to live.
By forbidding stealing all are free to possess property
without fear. Each negative is for the protection of a
positive value. Freedom is dependent upon the limiting and
the guiding of man by law. Total freedom is a paradox, for
it leads to total bondage. Total freedom is when every man
does what is right in his own eyes, and has no responsibility
for the rights of others. It is absolute individualism, which is
anarchy.
During the French Revolution they took the not out of the
Ten Commandments, and they put it into the creed. They
had, thou shalt kill, steal, commit adultery, lie; and I do not
believe in God the Father Almighty. The results of this
misplaced not was one of the worst periods of history. The
anarchy and blood bath, that came because of the absence of
this not, was a classic example of the positive value of
negative limitations. Remove the negative and you destroy
the power of the positive. This is true in many realms of life.
If you take the negative cable off your battery the positive
cable will not start your car. The two must work together to
achieve a positive goal. That is why negative laws are also
needed to achieve positive goals in human society.
When the Ten Commandments are seen in the proper
perspective they become foundations for freedom, and not
hindrances to freedom. They hinder and restrain only that
perverted freedom which leads to bondage. If there is a
world where all goes well without respect for life, property,
and purity, it has not yet been discovered, and until some
space traveler charts it on the map of the universe, the Ten
Commandments will be relevant and essential to the good
life and best society.
Cecil B. DeMille, in preparing the script for his well
known production of the Ten Commandments, caught
something of the meaning of God's eternal Word when he
said, "Our modern world defines God as a "religious
complex" and laughed at the Ten Commandments as old
fashioned. Then, though the laughter, came the shattering
thunder of great world wars, each more terrible than the last
and a blood-drenched world, no longer laughing, cries for a
way out. There is only one way out. It existed before it was
Engraved upon the tables of stone. It will exist when stone
has crumbled. The Ten Commandments are not rules
to obey as a personal favor to God. They are the
fundamental principles without which mankind cannot live
together. Armies are mighty, atom bombs are mighty.
Ideologies born of blind pride and passion are mighty. But
the truth of God is mightier than all, and it shall prevail."
Remove the laws that limit the earth to its orbit around
the sun, and you gain a liberty which would hurl it into
extinction. We are only free to live and breathe as we do,
because of the limitations of law. So it is with the Ten
Commandments. The New Testament does not repeal them,
but rather, lifts them to an even higher level by summing
them all up in love. Paul in Gal. 5:13-15, gives us a perfect
example of the necessity of the law being fulfilled in love.
"You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use
your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one
another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single
command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep
on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be
destroyed by each other." This shows us that the Ten
Commandments are as essential for the survival of the
Christian Church as they were for the survival of Israel. The
only difference is, the New Israel stresses the positive aspect
of love in the fulfilling of them.
When they were given to Israel, they were given to a very
immature and undisciplined people. They had been slaves
for hundreds of years, and were not an advanced and highly
civilized people. Negatives are necessary on this level of
development. We see this in raising children. When they
are young and immature, and do not understand ideals and
positive values, you are limited to saying "no, no" to guide
them. The positive replaces the negative only as they
become mature. This is the pattern we see in God's dealing
with men. The Old Testament has a focus on the "no, no",
but the New Testament focus is on the "yes, yes." The more
mature people become in their relationship to God the more
valuable and precious the commandments become. An
unknown poet put it-
"The truth that yesterday was mine is larger truth today;
It's face has aspects more divine, it's kinship fuller sway
For truth must grow as ages roll, and God looms large upon
the soul."
When we see the Ten Commandments from the true
Biblical perspective, we see them as gifts of grace. They
came from God who first delivered Israel, and then gave the
law to preserve that liberty He gave them. The origin of the
law is God's love. The goal of it is that we might love Him
who first loved us, and our neighbor whom He also loved.
As given to Israel, however, they were exclusive and not
universal, for God had delivered and redeemed only Israel.
The Ten Commandments as given in Exodus were only for
Israel, but since the coming of Christ they are universal, and
all men are obligated by them, especially those who believe.
Jesus died for the sins of all men. He became the universal
Savior, and now all men can be led out of bondage to sin and
Satan by faith in Him. This becomes the New Testament
basis for obedience to the Ten Commandments. All who
have been delivered are obligated to express their gratitude
by obeying the laws of their Deliverer.
Laws become the foundation for freedom. Obedience to
God's laws is our expression of love to Him who first loved
us and set us free. Love and law are partners in the
Christian life, and they work together for the good of man.
As we study the Ten Commandments, we must be aware
that we not just studying what was relevant to ancient Israel,
but what is relevant to our daily life. What is old is not
obsolete just by being old. The laws of nature are very old,
but I never heard of a movement to stop keeping them. I
never heard any parents say, "my folks always told me not to
touch a hot stove, but that is old fashioned. I let my kids
touch the hot stove, and don't push any of that old stuff on
them." The reason some things are old is because they are
essential for all generations. The law of gravity is as old as
time, but just as fresh and new and vital to life as it was on
the first day of time. The Ten Commandments are old, but
they will never be outdated. Break them today, and it is just
as foolish as trying to break the law of gravity today. D. L.
Moody said, "The commandments of God given to Moses in
the mount at Horeb are as binding today as ever they have
been since the time when they were proclaimed in the
hearing of the people."
We are saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ, but saved
people must still obey the laws of nature and the laws of
God. Law does not save, but there is no way to live a life
pleasing to God, and one that leads to happiness, apart from
obedience to law. The very angels of God, who never sinned,
live in obedience to God's law. In Psalm 103:20 we read,
"Bless the Lord ye His angels that excel in strength, that do
His commandments, harkening unto the voice of His Word."
The Christian sees the Old Testament law as a means of
fulfilling the New Testament law of Christ, which is the law
of love. It is not a way of being saved, but a way by which
we express our love to God for being saved by grace. Our
freedom in Christ, limited by our obedience to the Ten
Commandments, will lead us to live a life worthy of our
Lord. The greatest freedom in life is the freedom to please
God. Thus, in studying the Ten Commandments, we are
studying the Foundations For Freedom.
