Lawfully Part 5 - "Replace" - The Place of the Ten Commandments within the 21st Century.

As we finish up this series of five messages on The Law of Moses let me remind you of the main point of this series. Paul writes to Timothy, "Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully" (ESV). The keys issues that we have been addressing are, what was and is the law and what does it mean the use it lawfully. We have seen that The Law of Moses was the law given to the people of Israel through Moses. This was not only the Ten Commandments though the Ten Commandments seem to have taken on the focus for many. In fact The Law of Moses is what we refer to as the first five books of the Old Testament. The Jews refer to this as the Torah. With this in mind we know come to the point of this final message of our series and that being the place of the Ten Commandment within the 21st century.

As we look at the general landscape of our culture we will see very quickly that the Ten Commandments are being misunderstood, rejected and replaced. This is Paul the Apostles point in the first chapter of his letter to the Roman church. Let us take moment and look at four ways in which Paul describes how the law of God was being rejected in his day. I believe we will find they same thing going on today. The following are four ways that God's law is being rejected.

1. The truth of God that can be seen through nature. Romans 1:18-21

18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (ESV)

What Paul addresses here is the rejection of what God has revealed about Himself through nature. In our day the Bible is being rejected and science is becoming many's basis for truth. The misunderstanding here is that many have come to see it as the Bible or science when it is clear from the words of Paul that is should be the Bible and science for God truly has revealed himself though nature. Some would even argue that science was birthed our of theology. I only mention it here but will not take the time to attend to prove it for it is not my main point. I believe 

2. The glory of God is being rejected and replaced with earthly images. Romans 1:22-23

22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. (ESV)

I believe that this is the case because when we discover truth about God, we often wish that He was more like us or that we could control Him. In fact many Christian behave in such a way that they display a believe that they can indeed control God. For example, if I pray hard enough then maybe God will do what I ask or if I get my body in the right posture then perhaps God will answer. The reality God is has work and expects us to get involved in that. He is not sitting somewhere in the cosmos answering those who somehow seem to get His attention. May we wonder and worship at the glory of God while resisting the temptation to somehow understand God as we would like to create Him. Jesus has already revealed the Father to us and nothing we can say or imagine could do a better job. 

3. The truth about God has rejected and replaced with a lie. Romans 1:25

25They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. (ESV)

If what we believe about God is outside of the example of Jesus that it is wrong and man made. The lie here I believe s that man can do better at defining God than God can of Himself. God has truly define Himself in nature and in and through the person of Jesus. However in our day God is defined in human terms that are inconsistent with the two ways by which God has revealed Himself. God is not what you nor I want Him to be, because if He was then I would form Him by my own selfishness and pride. Here

4. God's decrees have been rejected and replaced by our own selfish indulgences. Romans 1:32

32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. 

Here is where many Christian abuse the grace of our Lord Jesus. It is scary to look at how far we have drifted from the sound law of God in the name of grace. We wrongly apply the fact that Jesus has fulfilled the law. My question here is have you approved sin by your silence?

The above four point were directly taken from the Book of Romans. I want to now turn your attention some things that are currently taking place to further my point. The can be addressed as four ways we currently see our culture rejecting a replacing the law of God. These will be plainly stated along with a couple of links to their original source. 

1. They are rejected because of the misunderstanding of their original and God intended meaning. For example the late Christopher Hitchens displays this very well. If you view this video  please excuse the language.  http://www.openculture.com/2015/04/christopher-hitchens-revises-the-10-commandments-for-the-21st-century.html

2. They are rejected because of our culture's prevailing belief that and individual is free to live however they please and personal happiness is the ultimate goal. 

3. They are rejected because they are seen as an archaic set of rule that should be kept private within the religious lives of Christians and Jews but no held up in public. This is a gross misunderstanding out the first amendment of our constitution. 

4. They are being rejected and replaced by self-contradicting popularly suggested laws. For and interesting example of this please visit: http://www.atheistmindhumanistheart.com/the-rethink-prize/

Following the link above will lead you to a contest that formed the book. "Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart: Discover Your Own Beliefs - Rewriting the Ten Commandments for the 21st Century" By Lex Bayer and John Figdor. 

If you choose to follow these links I want you to know that at Yucaipa Valley Church of the Nazarene we will not shy away from people who believe differently than we do. We believe that all truth claims should be heard because of our confidence in the Word of God. 

May you come to understand that the law of God is good and use it lawfully. May we as His people bring sound truth and logic to those who are suffering from their personal rejection of God's law. Jesus is still the answer and His law still stands.