No 2

(Exodus 20)

This is probably the most familiar passage in all of Scripture, the Ten Commandments: “3Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain 10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work 12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 13 Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 Thou shalt not steal. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.” Once a man said to Mark Twain, “I am going on a trip to Israel and I will go to Mount Sinai and read the Ten Commandments aloud” to which Mark Twain answered, “why don’t you just stay home and keep them instead?” When Jesus was on earth He was asked which of the commandments was the most important; He answered “ 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). Jesus abolished the Ten Commandments and replaced them with this simple answer. In Exodus 20, there are four commandments for God and six for mankind. We won’t break the four commandments intended for God because we love Him, not because the law says so. Similarly, we won’t break the six commandments intended for our neighbour because we love our neighbour, not because the law says so. The burden of obedience is placed on our shoulders not on the law.