This is Vision for Christ World, Toledo, Ohio, USA. My name is Tim Taylor. Every nation in the world has laws, whether enacted by a king, a military group, or a legislature. People know they must obey those laws or suffer the punishment. In the spiritual world, God is the great lawgiver. Among other aspects of his nature, and long ago, he set down his laws. A concise summary of them is found in what we call the Ten Commandments, found in the Bible in Exodus chapter 20. Our program, though, is not about law-keeping as a way of salvation. In fact, no one has ever been saved by keeping any Old Testament law. The law gives us a baseline standard for morality and daily living, so we can measure our lives against it. Salvation still is found through the grace of God and by faith in Jesus Christ. The law shows us how bad we are and from how much Christ can save us when we believe. I always begin our talks with a brief prayer to God. Father God, let me show everyone who you really are and reveal your only Son, Jesus Christ, to those who are listening. Praying in Jesus' name, Amen. Let me begin today by noting that some source material for this program was derived from material at GotQuestions.org. Our website works on your internet-enabled mobile phone as well as your computer. You can listen to past, present, and future programs there. Just click on Programs at the top of the page. Also, Pastor Terry Priestap and his wife Jean have written many Bible blog articles to help you in your Christian life. That website address is www.visionforchristworld.com. And search our Facebook page as Vision for Christ world. The Ten Commandments are ten laws in the Bible that God gave to the nation of Israel shortly after the exodus from Egypt. The Ten Commandments are essentially a summary of the 613 commandments contained in the Old Testament law. The first four commandments deal with our relationship with God, The last six commandments deal with our relationships with one another. The ten commandments are recorded in the Bible in Exodus 20, 1-17 and Deuteronomy 5, 6-21. Here they are. Number one, you shall have no other gods before me. This command is against worshiping any god other than the one true God. All other gods are false gods. 2. You shall not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 3. 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 fathers 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. This command is against making an idol a visible representation of God. There is no image we can create that can accurately portray God. To make an idol to represent God is to worship a false god. Commandment 3 You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. This is a command against taking the name of the Lord in vain. We are not to treat God's name lightly. We are to show reverence to God by only mentioning Him in respectful and honoring ways. Commandment Four 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 manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 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. This is a command given to Jews, specifically, to set aside the Sabbath, that is, Saturday, the last day of the week, as a day of rest dedicated to the Lord. Christians in the New Testament period are exempted from this in Colossians 2.16, though weekly worship is implied in the New Testament. Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. This is a command to always treat one's parents with honor and respect. Commandment six, you shall not murder. This is a command against the premeditated murder of another human being. Commandment 7, you shall not commit adultery. This is a command against having sexual relations with anyone other than one's spouse. Number 8, you shall not steal. This is a command against taking anything that is not one's own, without the permission of the person to whom it belongs. Commandment number nine, you shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. This is a command prohibiting testifying against another person falsely. It is essentially a command against lying. And finally, commandment number 10, you shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor. This is a command against desiring anything that is not our own. Coveting can lead to breaking one of the commandments listed above, murder, adultery, and theft. If it is wrong to do something, it is wrong to desire to do that same something. Many people mistakenly look at the Ten Commandments as a set of rules that, if followed, will guarantee entrance into heaven after death. In contrast, the purpose of the Ten Commandments is to force people to realize that they cannot perfectly obey the law. Read Romans chapter 7. People are therefore in need of the mercy and grace of God. Despite the claims of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19.16, no one can perfectly obey the Ten Commandments. Ecclesiastes 7.20 states, For there is not one truly righteous person on the earth who continually does good and never sins. The Ten Commandments demonstrate that we have all sinned and are therefore in need of the mercy and grace of God that is available only through faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 3.23 in the New Testament says, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So let me ask you this. Do you consider yourself to be a good person? How many lies do you think you've told in your lifetime? Have you ever stolen something, regardless of how little in value? Have you ever taken the Lord's name in vain, used God's name carelessly or thoughtlessly? Have you ever looked at a woman with lust? If we honestly answer these questions, we have to admit we have all sinned against the perfect standard of God. It is impossible to have perfectly kept the law of God at all times in our lives. If God were to judge you by the standard of the Ten Commandments, do you think you would be found innocent or guilty, and would you be going to heaven or hell? The answer, quite frankly, is that we are all found guilty, and therefore naturally headed for hell. People tend to think that only really bad people go to hell, and that since they are mostly good, God will overlook their wrong and let them into heaven anyway. This is a horrible distortion of the true gospel of Christ. God does not overlook wrongdoing, but he forgives wrongdoing when people confess faith in his only son Jesus, who died a gruesome death almost 2,000 years ago, in order to pay the penalty for the sins of those who trust in Jesus to take away their sins, making them acceptable for God and life in heaven. In the New Testament book of John, chapter 3, we read a good summary of how God gave up His Son, Jesus, to die so that those who believe could have their sins forgiven and then have eternal life. It reads, For this is the way God loved the world. He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. Now this is the basis for judging, that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. In the book of 1 John, chapter 2, we get a further explanation of salvation. I am writing these things to you, that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, and He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. The book of 1 Peter 3, verse 18 tells us, Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh and by being made alive in the Spirit. Nine of the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20 are repeated in the New Testament numerous times in different ways. The only commandment not repeated in the New Testament is the fourth one, the one about Sabbath-keeping. There is no direct or indirect command for believers in the Church Age to observe the Sabbath as a day of rest or worship. In fact, Colossians 2.16 releases the born-again true Christian believer from the Sabbath rule. Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, has become for us our Sabbath rest, according to Hebrews chapter 4. Here are the Ten Commandments and where they are found in the New Testament. Number 1, do not worship any other gods, is also found in 1 Corinthians 8, 6 and 1 Timothy 2, 5. 2. Do not make idols, is also found in 1 John 5.21. 3. Do not misuse the name of the Lord, is also found in 1 Timothy 6.1. 5. Honor your father and mother, Ephesians 6.1-2. 6. Do not murder, Romans 13.9, 1 Peter 4.15. Number seven, do not commit adultery, is also found in 1 Corinthians 6, 9 and 10. Commandment number eight, do not steal, is also found in Ephesians 4, 28. Number nine, do not give false testimony, Revelation 21, 8. And finally, do not covet, also found in Colossians 3, 5. Jesus restates the law and even intensifies it by showing that the attitude toward sinning is just as bad as doing the act. Read Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. Now let me pray for you. Father God, in the name of your one and only unique Son, Jesus Christ, I ask you to send your Holy Spirit to touch the heart and mind of every person listening to me right now. Cause them to desire to have their sins taken away, to pray and ask to be granted repentance that leads to life by God, and to repent of their sins. Honestly, sincerely repent, to have that penalty for sin removed, so that through the faith you give them They may believe in you, Jesus, and have eternal, never-ending life, starting today, by having personal, saving faith in you, Lord Jesus. Amen. Our Vision for Christ broadcast began as a shortwave broadcast from a Florida radio facility to Sub-Saharan Africa. This is still our primary audience. We have since expanded to Asia and Europe on AM, medium wave radio, FM, local area radio, as well as on shortwave radio. our website address www.vision4christworld.com. Our website works on your internet-enabled mobile phone as well as your computer. You can listen to past, present, and future programs there. Just click on Programs at the top of the page. Also, Pastor Terry Priestap and his wife Jean have written many Bible blog articles to help you in your Christian life. That website address is www.visionforchristworld.com. And search our Facebook page as Vision for Christ World. Until the next broadcast, this is Tim Taylor praying the great blessings of God with joy and peace upon your life as you embrace Jesus Christ in personal saving faith. I will leave you today with this text from James 2.10. For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.