God gave the Ten Commandments as rules for righteousness to the family to follow so that the home will be a happy and healthy place to raise children and build a strong marriage. Broken homes have broken people inside them who have children that will have broken homes producing more broken people.
The world is spinning out of control in a downward spiral to chaos. The culture worships the unholy trinity of me, myself, and I, and studies me-ology rather than theology of the triune God. Morality is by a majority. Subjective, ever-changing cultural mores continue to creep into the church to replace the Bible as the final and absolute authority in the life of a Christian. The empirical laws of science and mathematics have acquiesced to moral relativism with no absolute binding principles. Up is down, 1+1=3, and emotions have replaced human biological science. A male can say they are a female, or vice versa, even though their chromosomes and anatomy are genetically the opposite of what they say they are. The fundamental issue is right and wrong and not left or right.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1-24). He then created human beings as only male and female in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). Scientific evidence and the natural order of Creation dictate procreation for every species' survival. Based upon the authority of the Old and New Testaments, it is evident that normal sexual behavior is that which functions according to its design.
“Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. It was not with our ancestors that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. The Lord spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.” (Deuteronomy 5:1-4 ESV)
God initially gave the Ten Commandments to establish a covenant with Israel. The Hebrew word most often translated as "covenant" in the Old Testament is ‘berit.’ The meaning is ‘bond’ and means two or more people are bilaterally bound together as in a legal contract and have equal privileges and responsibilities.
The New Testament word for “covenant” is ‘diatheke’ and has also been translated as “testimony” and “testament.” It means a set agreement or contract having complete terms determined by the initiating party, fully affirmed by the one entering the agreement.
The Covenant was unilateral. Israel was a recipient and not a contributor to the contract. They were called to accept God's offer, keep it as He defined it, and receive the results. God assured them He would not withhold His agreement from them.
The Ten Commandments
“And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
(1) “You shall have no other gods before me.
(2) “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
(3) “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
(4) “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
(5) “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
(6) “You shall not murder.
(7) “You shall not commit adultery.
(8) “You shall not steal.
(9) “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
(10) “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:1-17 ESV)
First and foremost, God gave the Ten Commandments to reveal His glory, holiness, and character. They are the only words in the Bible He wrote directly without an intermediary! (Exodus 34:1-4, 27;29; Deuteronomy 10:1-5; 2 Peter 1:21). They were called the ‘Decalogue’ by the early church fathers, which means "the ten words," "the words" spoken by God (Yahweh), or "the words of the covenant." (Exodus 20:1, 34:27-28; Deuteronomy 4:13,5:22,10:2,4).
God, who is love, spoke directly to Moses and said, “I am the Lord” (Exodus 6:2 ESV). He declared His absolute divine authority over all things and His interest in redeeming them from Egyptian slavery (Exodus 15:13). The foundation of what the Ten Commandments are laid upon is love. Jesus said that all the Laws are based on the greatest commandment.
“Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, " ’You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ "This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ’You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:35-40)
God spoke the Ten Commandments to Moses and then personally wrote them on stone tablets to last forever - twice!! (Exodus 20:1; 32:19). The tablets were later put in the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 40:20). They are unchanging moral truths and the personal objective standards for how every individual human is to live. The Commands are at the heart of God’s love relationship with every individual human being and are unique and historically significant for all time.
At first glance, the only motive for obeying the Ten Commandments is to avoid punishment. However, the true motivation for obeying them is to show loyalty and love for God and to reveal His true character by treating fellow human beings as you want to be treated, which is inseparable from your relationship with God.
The Ten Commandments are not arbitrary. They give us the knowledge of right and wrong and define the parameters where love cannot exist. However, they were not given, nor are they able, to make a person righteous, perfect, or to save them (Galatians 3:11; Romans 3:20). The Commandments reveal human sinfulness and show there is no way to keep the law to avoid condemnation. Jesus did not come to abolish or do away with the Ten Commandments. Instead, He came to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17-18).
