Which of these statements best describes the Christian life?
“Being a Christian means obeying a list of dos and don’ts!”
“Being a Christian is the freedom to do as I please!”
Neither of these statements is true. In our women’s bible study we just looked at the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. At face value, you read all the “you shall not’s” and all the “do not’s.” If you were to isolate this chapter from the previous chapters or if you simply stop short of what comes after you will have a misguided understanding of God’s laws. This is exactly why so many will misinterpret the heart of God!
If studied rightly, there’s much more beneath the surface!
The Ten Commandments seem almost irrelevant in our day. We have chosen our own humanistic standard to live by. As a result, the fight for global warming, rescuing animals and embracing gender identity, is the religion of the day.
Globally we are watching nations and peoples being torn apart on political and lifestyle issues! People are screaming for peaceful co-existence or what we now call “tolerance”, yet intolerance, anger, and violence is everywhere.
We have gullibly drunk from the cup of deception that says truth should be personal and individual. As a result, my truth and your truth may be completely different.
Even in many Church’s biblical truth is being gentrified and watered down. The church has become far more interested in finding themselves and building up our poor self- images, and the house of God has become the forum of feel-good religion.
In the giving of the Law, God makes clear His purposes.
Our God is a Holy God and He alone determines the standard between good and evil. Second, the Lord meant for His commandments to be the principal means in which His people would maintain righteous living in relationship with Him and others. Philippians 2:15-16
We need to understand that the law was never the means of man’s salvation. Salvation was and is God’s gracious gift to us through faith, Ephesians 2:8-9.
But here is another truth we often forget. The bringing in of God’s laws came to insure our freedom from the slavery of sin. Not to bind and restrict but liberate His beloved from the snares of the unredeemed world. And let’s not forget that God also established rich blessings to those who would love Him and obey His Word!
But we must understand one thing more. The blessings of the covenant were not just for the enjoyment of the Hebrew people; they were also to be an attractive force for bringing others to faith in the Lord.
In Exodus 19:5-6 the Lord makes this clear when He said, “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the people, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
The church today seems to be living in FOMO, the fear of missing out! We have embraced all the trappings of this momentary life seeking to fit in rather than standing apart. In the name of grace, we have forfeited our identities as those who’ve been redeemed from the shackles of sin and settled for the images that will have no place in eternity.
How then should we live? We must ask ourselves “what does the world see in me?”
Women of God, let’s be sure that our lives show clear and detectable, undivided devotion to the One Who has chosen us in grace, mercy, and love. If we sing “He is worthy” with our lips, then let’s order our daily living in such a way that will declare the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light! 1Peter 2:9