The Two Temples
(A Christian Workbook)
Appendix C: Ten Perfect Promises
(Originally published at
http://creationsda.org/binary/essays/eten.html)
And God spake all these words, saying, “I am the Lord thy
God,
which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
(Exodus 20: 1, 2)
hen asked
what the greatest commandment of the ten was, Christ responded, “And thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second
is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none
other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30, 31)
But how
can someone command love? How can an emotion be required of a human being?
Well, first of all, if we can fully understand what love is in its truest
sense, the saying becomes less burdensome. And in fact, it should not be
burdensome, as declared in 1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we
keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.” Love is more
than just an emotion. It is a commitment. It is a covenant. It is a conscious
decision to be dedicated to someone, and to be willing to do what is best for
that person.
With
Yah, it just so happens that doing what is best “for” Him is actually doing
what is best for US. For this reason, the Decalogue is worded as it is, as
commandments, with all the “thou shalt”s and the “thou shalt not”s. They are an
important part of the covenant we have with the Father, not because He demands
it as some arbitrary form of obedience, of course, but because if we don’t have
these “works,” it is generally indicative that we do not have a Christlike
character. And it is character which will decide our final destiny for good or
ill.
When
Yahshua came to explain the words of His Father’s will more clearly, in both
letter and spirit, He showed us a perfect life – a life that directly resulted
from direct communion with His Father, and from keeping perfectly His law. For
He said, “And He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone;
for I do always those things that please Him.” (John 8:29) The measure of our
character is what we do. Just as “faith without works is dead,” (James: 2:20),
so Yahshua taught that being able to remain within the presence of the Father
is dependent upon doing by faith “those things that please Him.”
And the
Father made it plain what things please Him in the words of the commandments.
And yet, Christ came to magnify the Law, did He not? He came to make it
honorable, says Isaiah in chapter 42 and verse 21. So what exactly does this
mean? As always, the answer is not only in the Word, but in the “words.” Take a
look at the first one, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3)
A command, right? Well, maybe not only a command.
The
wording is very significant, because it does not say “Have no other gods before
me,” but “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Suppose I say to
you, “You will not take this $20.00 I have set before you on this table.” You
can certainly take that as a command, and would be right to do so (it’s MY
money after all). But at the same time, suppose I add something to that.
Suppose I said to you, “If I lock you out of this room, you will not take this
$20.00 that I have set down on this table.” Now that’s not just a command, it’s
a surety. It’s a promise. Your access to the money is restricted, and therefore
it is impossible for you to make off with it.
Let’s
use a more fitting example. Suppose I visit someone who is in prison. If I have
some authority over this person, I can say to him, “You will not desire
freedom.” If this person was dedicated to me, and if he saw a good reason for
not wanting to be free – although I can’t imagine what that would be – he might
just no longer desire freedom. HOWEVER, if I say to this person that is behind
bars, “If I set you free, you will not desire freedom.” Oh! What a different
meaning it takes on! What a blessed promise it has become. Of course
this person will no longer desire freedom if free. It’s just good sense.
Now, if
Christ came to magnify the law, then we can’t leave Him out of the Decalogue,
can we? Let’s see what they become, though, when looked at through the “lens”
of His life and death: Commandment one becomes – “If I shalt set thee free in
Christ, thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Commandment two: “If I shalt
set thee free in Christ, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...”
They are no longer commandments! They are promises, assurances of a blessed
freedom from self and from sin. And what is this, but the Victory?
The
sixth commandment, for example, which would now read, “If I shalt set thee free
in Christ, thou shalt not kill,” speaks no longer of just actions, but also of
motives. And did not Yahshua say, “But I say unto you which hear, Love your
enemies?” (Luke 6:27) Christ taught that hatred is the same as murder, lust the
same as adultery, insincerity the same as bearing false witness. Therefore, if
we read the sixth and other commandments through Christ’s name, we see that we
WILL not do these things. Not only are we not supposed to do them, but
we will not do them, who are within the body of the Redeemer.
“If I
shalt set thee free in Christ, thou shalt not steal.” If we are living a
Christ-like life, with His character, how can we even consider the possibility
that we will ever deal unjustly with anyone? It isn’t a matter of keeping or
breaking the Law anymore, is it? It is a matter of having or not having the
nature of Yah, which will itself forbid the flesh from carrying out these evil
deeds. No longer do we struggle with doing or not doing. Just as in my earlier
example, it is as if we are locked out of the room with the $20 bill. And John
concurs with this assessment: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin;
for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of
God.” (1 John 3:9) Now we see what this means: it is a surety.
We know
we will NOT do these things, because we are promised that as long as we remain
in communion with the Father, we won’t. We are truly justified by faith, if we
can understand this. For it is no longer truly I that live, as Paul says, but
Christ who liveth in me. (Gal 2:20)
Yahshua
taught that the whole of the Law and the prophets hung upon two things: love of
the Father, and love of one’s fellow man. It really is that simple – If we love
the Father, we will automatically keep the first four commandments. It will be natural
for us, because we now have His nature. If we love our fellow man we
will keep the last six. Again, we keep them not because we are merely supposed
to. It’s not a duty anymore, but for those in Christ, it is our nature, our
character. Thus, we are no longer under the Law. It really is that simple – the
commandments are not burdens, but promises, blessed assurance that we know the
Father, and He knows us. And if this be the case in our lives, that is cause
for rejoicing, for another of His promises is, “And I give unto them eternal
life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my
hand.” (John 10:28) Amen.
David.
