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CHRISTIAN ETHICS AND CHARACTER – The Ten Commandments
Last time we continued our introduction to
Christian Ethics and Character. This
time, we will look at the Ten Commandments.
The Hebrew Ethic began in the
Garden of Eden. We’ll talk about various
civil laws, ceremonial laws, prophetic utterances, wisdom literature and more
later, but it is important here to look at the Ten Commandments.
Most people view the Ten
Commandments as a set of rules that stand for the prospect of God that we must
toe the line or look out for lightning bolts.
However, I am convinced that the best position is to view the Ten
Commandments as an “up close and personal” view of the character and heart of
God. No one can deny that God tells us
there are things we should do and should not do, but the real question is not
our quest for personal liberty, but rather, the answer to the question of why
we should live and act in a certain manner.
Most of us cannot identify – not
to mention recite from memory – more than a few of the Ten Commandments, so I
thought I would reproduce them here:
Ex 20:3-17
3 "You
shall have no other gods before me.
4 "You
shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or
on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall
not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous
God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth
generation of those who hate me, 6 but
showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my
commandments.
7 "You
shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold
anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 "Remember
the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days
you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the
seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work,
neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor
your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in
six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in
them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath
day and made it holy.
12 "Honor
your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord
your God is giving you.
13 "You
shall not murder.
14 "You
shall not commit adultery.
15 "You
shall not steal.
16 "You
shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 "You
shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's
wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that
belongs to your neighbor." NIV
Next, we’ll look at these one by one.
Doug
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