Author: mamaroo43214595

First and most importantly Christ died for us.  We who were sinners.

Then heeding the voice of the Holy Spirit, which may have been shouting at us or maybe whispering in our ears for years, we turn to Christ.  Away from our previous sinful lives.  Most of weren’t bad people, but we had what we considered “little” sins:  bad tempered, gossipers, wanting to keep up with the Joneses, bad thoughts, etc etc.  My specialty was holding grudges.  No way could I stop.  I tried.  Nothing improved on a permanent basis.

Then I met Jesus.  I had known ABOUT Jesus pretty well all my life.  I had recently started going to a non denominational Bible study group.  Looking back, there were some weirdos there, but so was the Holy Spirit, and one evening after the meeting I just sat at our kitchen table and prayed for Jesus to forgive me and to please take over. And He did.  He made me a new creation. (2 Cor 5:17)

I am still human.  I slip up. Jesus is still with me and my walk with Him continues. (Phil. 1:6)

A Christian lives a life honouring God, a life loving God and his/her neighbour, giving Him the glory and proclaiming His Gospel in their words and deeds. 

The focus is always on Him.

The ten commandments were the words of the covenant (Ex 34:28): the old covenant, made between God and the children of Israel.  They were part of the law of Moses and made up part of the 613 commandments.  This law was what the Jews attempted to keep, not just the ten commandments.

When God made His covenant with the children of Israel, He used a form they would understand.  Covenants were common in the ancient world and always involved blood.   In this case it was the blood of animals.  Two copies of the promises/duties were written down, in this case, in stone.

The  covenant starts off with a proclamation of Who God is, and what He has done, followed with a list of commandments that honours Him.  Then follows a list of duties towards their fellow man, and these commandments would have been familiar to them as part of the law of the land and part of the Noahide commandments.

The rest of the law was written down in the book of the law, and kept BESIDE the Ark of the Covenant, as a witness (Deut 31:26.  The stone tablets were kept IN the ark.  Two copies of the ten commandments were written down in the book.

It was always God’s plan to give the new covenant.  The old covenant was given to a particular lot of people, different to the people with whom the new covenant applied to.  The old one was not faulty, just replaced, as God said.  Different laws, different priesthood, new and better promises.  Still blood..but now Christ’s, not animals.

Are we supposed to keep the ten commandments today?  No.  Very few of us fill the physical requirements.  But the “do not murder/steal/etc?  Those commandments by themselves are part of the law of the land wherever we live, and we will find ourselves thrown in goal if we do them!  Apart from the fact that if we are Christians we live a life honouring God.  We love Him, we love our neighbour.  We do more than refrain from murder, robbery etc, we care for him, we go out of our way to show God’s love to him.

Jesus raised the bar.  Our actions should be based on love, not duty.

Can we keep the ten commandments?  Can we keep them easily? 

Firstly, is this what Jesus kept?  No.  The Jews at the time of Jesus kept (or attempted to keep) the law of Moses.  This law was given to them as part of the covenant between God and them (they were then known as the children of Israel, or Israelites).  The law contained 513 commandments, and the ten commandments were, if you like, the chapter headings.  They were also the words of the covenant, and initially written by God on two stone tablets.  A departure from what He normally did, which was to speak, and it was so…..

The first stone tablets had a short life.  They were smashed by Moses, in I suspect rage, and huge disappointment when he came down from the mountain and found them worshipping the newly made golden calf.  So up the mountain again and this time Moses had to hew the tablets himself and write the words that God dictated.  Read ALL of Exodus 34.  Don’t stop at the first verse…..

The ten commandments (the stone tablets) were not even talked about in the New Testament, except when Paul mentioned them as the ministry of death!!

But Jesus mentioned some of what we know as the ten commandments!  Yes, He did.  He also mentioned what were called the Great Commandments, and they were not of the ten.  He also gave a NEW commandment.  This was completely new and could not be found anywhere in the Old Testament.  He mentioned other things, like removing the log from your own eye before you attempted to remove the speck in your neighbour’s eye.

Jesus mentioned all these things to show that it wasn’t just enough to refrain from doing things (thou shalt not), you must make the action positive.  Show care for the unfortunate, help your neighbour etc.  He also showed that what you thought was as bad as if you actually did it (if you lusted in your heart…..)(if you hate your brother…..) Thoughts were what were making you unclean, not what you ate, not the ritual they were supposed to go through before eating.

He was showing them (and us) sinning is not just what we do, but what we ARE.  We are ALL sinners.  We were born that way, and will continue that way till we die.

UNLESS

We remember that Christ came to save sinners.  He lived a sinless life, because we can’t, and died as an innocent lamb in a sacrificial death so that we can be forgiven and atoned to God.  He has imputed us with His righteousness, so that instead of our unrighteous filthy deeds, God sees the righteousness of Christ, and through His blood we are transformed into adopted sons and daughters of God.

And what must we do?  What is our part?  Nothing but response to His wooing voice.  Just turn to Him.  He then makes us a new creation and gives us a new heart.  He has done it all.  His sacrifice…..He calls……He changes us.

So no, it is impossible to keep the ten commandments, or the law of Moses.  This is not what God wants.  He doesn’t want us to show the world how selfrighteous we are.  He wants us to uplift Christ, not the law.  He wants us to turn to Him, and He wants to see us transformed.  And then He wants to see us do HIS works, to love Him, and others, and to show others the sign of being His followers:  Sacrificial love!

Everything changed at the cross.  No longer law, but LOVE.

Through His blood.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

The Greek says that sinning is to miss the mark. We have all done this, ALL. No exceptions. We are ALL sinners. It’s not only what we do, it’s what we ARE.

Just as well then that Jesus died for us all. He died for us while we yet sinners. Rom 5:8. Through His death and shed blood, He atoned for us. He has imputed us with His righteousness and we are now right with God.

BUT. We have to accept this wonderful gift He has offered us. It is not automatic. He calls us, but we need to turn to Him, to repent, to receive the gift.

None of this is our doing, nor our idea. He has done it all. He atoned for us, He calls us, He searches for us. He stands at the door and knocks. He does now and will not force us. But He woos us, and really wants us to turn to Him.

Having turned to Him, the miracle continues. He makes us a new creation, and gives us a new heart. His love is written on our hearts, and we live for Him. We do HIS works, we love God, we love and care for others. And when we slip up, as we will, He is there to pick us up and set us on the right path again.

Some say that the act of Christian conversion (herein described), the acceptance of the gift of grace is just an excuse to keep on sinning while we pretend that we love God. Well……watch a person’s fruits. Do they display love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control? Or the reverse?

Grace is not a license to sin. Converted Christians do not want to sin. They WANT to do God’s will. They live for Him.

Try it. Trade up. Turn to Him.

When I was a child, I was aware of God. I was drawn to learning about Him, and I loved learning anything. However I did not realise at that stage that learning ABOUT Him was enough. I went to Sunday School and church, learning some more, and playing the organ. I was developing into a fine church lady.

I got married, and we moved to the country with my husband’s work. This was a good mood, we enjoyed the lifestyle and the friends we made, and it was a great place to bring up kids. I also started attending a non denominational Bible Study, and this was a turning point for me.

I came to realise that though my life was “good” in appearance, I was still a sinner before God, and to be acceptable before Him, something had to change. I had tried to change…but within a few days the old me was back. But one evening after Bible Study I sat at the kitchen table, and quietly prayed my version of the sinners prayer, and asked Jesus to take over.

All seemed the same, till a few days later someone said something to be that the old me would take as a personal affront, and mean I would hold a grudge against for the rest of my life. I don’t even remember what they said. And the new person realised the person was not acting out of malice, and forgave them. Whoa I thought!

There were similar instances, and I thought I AM changing, and I am not doing it!

Fine church lady? There is more to life than that….I was a Christian!

So started my walk with Jesus Christ. I had moved from knowing about Him to knowing Him as a Friend and Saviour….and that has become Best Friend and Companion. He had washed me in His precious blood, and I had been changed. I was now acceptable before God. I trust Him with my life, and endeavour always to live for Him, and show His love through my life.

I have not always been faithful to Him, but He has to me. Through all my dark periods of life, through illness, family drama, whatever, He has been with me, He has been my Rod and my Staff. Sometimes He carried me.

There are times I have not been able to see the way….but He IS the Way, and He has taken me there, and put my feet on solid ground. I know however long my life will last, He will be there, and He is guiding me. I look forward to His second coming, or my death…when I will see Him face to face.

And heaven will be so great! Jesus is there!

Today is Easter Sunday

Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed!

Alleluia!

Although we celebrate His sacrifice and resurrection every time we have Holy Communion, today is a public witness and declaration that He rose, and vanquished death.

The stone was rolled away, and the tomb was empty. He was not there, He was risen! He had won!

Just as He has risen, so will we.

He has vanquished death.

He is risen!

He will come again!

God has been glorified!

Today, Easter Saturday, is a day of waiting, anticipation. We do not wait as Jesus’s disciples did, cowering in fear after the events of Good Friday. We await…victory!

All their plans and dreams were torn from them yesterday, they had no hope. They had forgotten that the Saviour had told them what was happening and what was to happen, in their grief.

But we do not. We know that He died as part of the plan, which was now unfolding. We know that He died as our Substitute. And we also know that tomorrow we can celebrate His victory over death and sin!

So today, we wait, and we reflect on what He has done.

For us.

And for His glory!

Today is Good Friday, the most solemn day in the church calendar.

Why is it called good? What happened to Our Lord was horrific. Not only did He suffer flogging and crucifixion, He was made sin. He died an agonising death.

But for us…it is good. By being sacrificed for us, being the Lamb who was slain, He achieved for us something we could never do. He atoned for us. We, His followers and believers, are seen as righteous before God, because He has imputed His righteousness to us. We are now the adopted sons and daughters of God.

Before, our works were unrighteous. They were as filthy rags. Now….in Honour of what He has done, and because He first loved us, we do HIS good works. We love God, we love others.

Yes, today is good. Without it we would have no future.

The words “the ten commandments” appear three times in the old testament: Exodus 34:28, Deut 4:13 and 10:14. They do not appear at all in the new testament. The words are more correctly translated as the ten words, and are the words of the old covenant, the covenant between God and the Israelites. And are referred to by the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) as deka logue, (ten words) hence decalogue. Decalogue does not appear in the Greek texts from which our New Testament is translated.

The ten words, the words of the old covenant, were like chapter headings of all the commandments contained in the law of Moses. These commandments, including the ten, were written down in the Book of the Law, kept at the side of the ark. So there were 10 commandments, and 603 telling the people how to keep them. And no one could….except Jesus.

Hebrews tells us the old covenant is now obsolete. Replaced by the new, with a new priesthood (after the order of Melchizedek) and a new law. This law is written on our new hearts, after we turn to Christ, and we are made a new person. This law is not the law of Moses, which was nailed to the cross, it is the law of Christ, based on love; and love is the sign of being a follower of Christ.

Acts 15 tells us that the new Gentile converts to Christianity were not required to follow the law of Moses, telling them instead:

28For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

As far as Paul was concerned the tablets of stone (the ten commandments) were the ministry of death.

Now the words “the ten commandments” do not appear in the New Testament. Neither do the commandments themselves in a list, although several are mentioned individually. Jesus and the Jews of His time tried to keep the WHOLE law. Only Jesus was successful. If they were important, God would have mentioned it. He does that.

Instead of extolling the virtues of the law, He raised the bar. By the sermon on the mount and the parables He told them, and the miracles He performed, He showed them a new way of life, one based on sacrificial love, and care for humanity. Love God, love your neighbour. Love your enemy. Turn the other cheek. The ten commandments were thou shalt not. This was positive. Don’t just avoid killing, robbing etc, actively SHOW your neighbour love. SHOW your enemy love.

This cannot be done unless your life is first filled by the love of God. FROM God. By loving your neighbour and caring for His needs, you are doing the will of God. (Romans 13:10).

God instituted a new covenant. It is a spiritual covenant instead of a physical one. It is with the followers of Jesus, not the descendants of Israel. It does not have words inscribed in stone, it has a law written on a heart of flesh. It is no wonder that the words “the ten commandments” are not mentioned in the New Testament. The New Testament is about the New Covenant, and the birth, death and resurrection of the Messiah. It is about the Gospel, and the Kingdom of God.

The Old Covenant was to get Israel ready for Christ. The new is about God’s love to us and to all men.

No wonder we do not find mention of the words of the old covenant.

This last year has changed our world, possibly permanently. We have had fire and the great famine caused by panic buying….and we had had covid. As we go into the new year we still have covid, and the many changes that will bring to our lives. Some people are finding it very hard to cope. On a day to day basis I am managing, but really missing opportunities to see my grandchildren and other family. I really appreciate when things go right and I can.

But there is one thing that remains the same. The Gospel. That good news remains the same, whatever our circumstance and while ever the world continues.

Jesus died for us. He shed His blood for us. His body was broken for us. He conquered death for us. He forgave our sins. He atoned for us. He gives us hope, rest, and love, when the world is spinning crazily out of control. Things might look dire for us, for many reasons, but He is our blessed assurance.

Come to me and I will give you rest for your souls, He promises. (Matt 11:28-30) This is not physical rest. We get that each night. This is a spiritual, permanent rest. The world can do its worst….but we are calm in the knowledge that He cares for us. We may lose our physical life but He has promised us eternal life with Him.

First we turn to Him. He transforms us from sinners to forgiveness. He imputes us with His righteousness so that God looks on us with favour and gives us grace….His unmerited favour. And we will not face judgement…..we have passed from death to life. (John 5:24)

So…in the midst of all this change, do not fear. Look to Jesus, the unchanging One. He will give you rest.