The Ten Commandments

Title: The 10 Commandments: Part 4 Scripture: Exodus 20:14&16

Type: Expository Series Where: GNBC 10-27-19

Intro: Here is a great quote on the Moral Law of God by Dr. Steve Lawson: Can you imagine a Christian couple actually praying about living together before marriage? Can you fathom a young woman who professes Christ even bothering to pray about whether she should marry an unbeliever? Can you grasp a Christian businessman having to pray about whether he should tell the truth in a transaction? When the Word of God is so clear, praying to discern God’s will becomes a convenient excuse—or even a prolonged filibuster—to avoid doing what Scripture commands. Many who profess Christ today emphasize a wrong view of grace that makes it a free pass to do whatever they please. Tragically, they have convinced themselves that the Christian life can be lived without any binding obligation to the moral law of God. In this hyper-grace distortion, the need for obedience has been neutered. The commandments of God are no longer in the driver’s seat of Christian living, but have been relegated to the backseat, if not the trunk—like a spare tire—to be used only in case of an emergency. With such a spirit of antinomianism, what needs to be reinforced again is the necessity of obedience. For all true followers of Christ, obedience is never peripheral. At the heart of what it means to be a disciple of our Lord is living in loving devotion to God. But if such love is real, the acid test is obedience. Jesus maintained, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Genuine love for Christ will always manifest itself in obedience. This does not mean that a Christian can ascend to sinless perfection. This will never be realized this side of glory. Neither does it imply that a believer will never disobey God again. Isolated acts of disobedience will still occur. But the new birth does give a new heart that desires to obey the Word.

Prop: Today we will examine the 7th and 9th Commandments.

BG: 1. Today will examine Commandments 7&9. Pastor Richard putting 8&10 together next week.

2. Said this 1st week. OT had different types of Law: The ceremonial law, the dietary law, the civil law, and the moral law. It is a useful distinction to distinguish the moral law from the ceremonial law, because we know that the ceremonial law has been fulfilled in the perfect work of Christ. And we know that the dietary laws have been set apart.

3. In American Law, Law cases are usually divided into two categories: criminal and civil cases. In Israel, criminal, civil, and religious violations were considered by the same “court.” A man could not only be accused of murder or rape (a criminal case), but of damaging property (a civil case), or of idolatry or witchcraft. One prisons. Only financial restitution or physical/capital punishment.

Prop: Let us look at Exodus 20 to better understand and apply the 7th and 9th Commandments.

I. Thou Shall not Commit Adultery – v.14

A. The 7th Commandment Protects one of the most important relationships in life.

1. This passage has to deal with Sexual Ethics.

a. Sexual Ethics – Huge area of confusion today. How this, more than any other area of life the 21st century man and woman has decided to despise and reject the Moral Law of God. There is no concern for what God has designed, what God has declared, or what God has decreed. Sexually transmitted diseases, domestic violence, and relational dysfunction and gender confusion are off the charts and yet no one seems to cares to read what our Maker designed and intended for our pleasure and benefit. Worse are those who know the Word or God or teach the WOG and yet due to cultural and political pressure and correctness, attempt to change the plain teaching of Scripture so as to appease the itching ears of their apostate congregations. The Law of God is an expression of His character. God is immutable (He does not change.). When modern pastors and theologians declare changes in God’s teaching on sexual ethics, they unwittingly are saying that God has changed, which He cannot, because He would then be doing violence to His own character!

b. Looking at v. 14 we see that the passage deals directly with the prohibition for any person to have sexual relations with anyone other than his/her husband/wife. That is the narrow teaching of the verse and the meaning of the Hebrew word: “lotinaf”.

2. Adultery is Condemned because it is Covenant Treason.

a. Illust: Let me remind us of the importance of this command. The foundational building block of society is the nuclear family. That relationship is essential to society. God takes it so seriously and realizes its importance for societal stability that He declares one of the 10 Commandments in relation to its preservation.