Since it's "unconstitutional" to post the 10 Commandments on the walls of schools or public buildings today, and since a generation of people have grown up without knowledge of them, I thought I'd share them with you.
For 175 years, it was constitutional to post them in public, but for the past 25 years, it has been unconstitutional, and we are the worse for it.
They can he found in Scriptures in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. Here they are from Exodus 20.
1. Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me.
The first 4 deal with our relationship to God. Do you know Him?
Now "gods" are anything that is put before God on the throne of our hearts, such as self, money, pleasures, possessions or even family. What sits on the throne of your heart?
2. Thou Shalt Not Make To Thee Any Graven Image.
These are statues, plaques, crucifixes, etc., that "represent" spiritual things. Notice this commandment is twofold: first, don't make them (Vrs. 4) and second, don't bow down to them (Vrs. 5)
Any husband's wife would be very jealous if he made a statue of her and talked to it, hugged it and kissed it all the time hut never addressed her. Her fury would lead her to destroy that image. The same with God! Verse 5 says, "Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them: For i the lord thy god am a jealous god..." It's time we all listen to what God says, and not man!
3. Thou Shalt Not Take The Name Of The Lord Thy God In Vain.
Psalms 111:9 says, "...holy and reverend is HIS NAME". You'd better watch how you use the name of God and Jesus Christ!
How would you like it everybody used your mother or father's name in vain all the time.
When I got saved, the first thing I stopped doing was using God's name in vain. The truth that God loved a sinner like me so much He allowed His son to die in my place, does something for me. I don't know about you.
Profanity is a heart problem. Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." Get your heart right with God, for He "will not hold him guiltless who taketh His name in vain." (Vrs. 7)
4. Remember The Sabbath Day To Keep It Holy.
This is the only 1 out of 10 not repeated by Jesus in the New Testament for Gentile Christians to follow. The Sabbath is a special sign between God and the children of Israel (see Exodus 31:12-17)
Sunday is the Lord's Day for the believer (see Revelation 1:10,1 Corinthians 16:2, Acts 20:7) A day of church attendance and preaching of His Word.
5. Honor Thy Father And Mother.
This commandment deals with our family. Their children are required to honor them for as long as they live, not just until they run off and get married themselves .
A revival of this in America would close down most of the Old Folks Homes. If your parents served you for 18 or 20 years while you were growing up, then you owe them at least that many years of service at the end of their lives.
6. Thou Shalt Not Kill.
Jesus told us this means premeditated murder in Matthew 19:18. IT DOES NOT MEAN: we shouldn't kill animals to eat, we
shouldn't go to war or we shouldn't have a death penalty. These interpretations would contradict all other Scriptures. For example, God is for the death penalty! In Genesis 9:6 He said, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed."
Now think of this: God calls hatred murder! John says, "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."
What a wonderful world it would be if we obeyed this commandment.
7. Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery.
For a married man or woman to have sexual intercourse with anyone apart from their legally married mate is adultery. THE SCARLET SIN still stains one's record today.
Proverbs 6:32-33 says, "But whoso committeth adultery with a women lacketh understanding: he that doeth is destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away."
Jesus said, "That whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Matthew 5:28
Adultery is sin. Thank God it can be forgiven by Him! Study John 8:1-11. To the woman caught in the act of adultery, Jesus forgave her, but admonished, "Go, and sin no more."
8. Thou Shalt Not Steal.
To take something without paying for it or asking permission to take it is stealing. Whether that be from the department store or the government. Not to pay your debts, bills, pledges, vows or promises is stealing. If you go bankrupt and don't pay your creditors, it's stealing. If you don't give God His tithe, it's stealing.
Thieves should repent and work for what they earn. (Ephesians 4:28)
9. Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness.
That is lying in any way, shape or form.
10. Thou Shalt Not Covet.
Covetousness is a desire or want for something that belongs to your neighbor. We call it "keeping up with the Joneses". The huge mega-malls stand as a monument to our covetousness in this nation, chasing materialism with the false hope that "things" will satisfy.
Conclusion: Do You Feel Frustrated, Convicted? I Do.
James 2:10 says, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
That means every person on earth, without exception, is guilty before God. The Law and 10 Commandments were given not for us to obey, but for us to recognize our sinful nature and our total inability to obey, hopeless to keep God's law and justify ourselves by our works.
Galatians 2:23-26 tells us that the law was to bring us to put our total faith in Jesus Christ as our only hope of ever being saved, for we cannot save ourselves.
Nevertheless, the 10 Commandments remain as the moral guidelines for all civilizations to follow. Those nations which disobey, crumble shortly thereafter. It behooves us to repent and come to God through Christ for salvation.
When saved, God gives a person a new nature and puts His Spirit in them, thus empowering that person to fulfill the laws in themselves. (Romans 8)
As a guilty sinner, will you come to Jesus Christ as your Saviour. Will you trust in Him completely today? Do it now. Bow your head in prayer and humbly ask God to forgive you of your sins and ask Jesus Christ to be your Savior.
AFTER you are saved, ask God to fill you with His Spirit and give you the power to live a life that is pleasing to Him.
