21. "But must I not keep the law in order to be saved?”
Keep the law! Why you have already violated those sacred precepts times without number. Go carefully over the Ten Commandments; which of them have you no broken, either literally or in spirit? Take them one 133 one, and face them squarely and honestly in the presence of the God who gave them, and who said, "The man that doeth them shall live in them"; but who also declared "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Let us consider them seriously:
(1) Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
He is downright exclusive! He must be the one object of worship! But have you given Him this place in your life? Have not many other gods shared your love and veneration? We are commanded to love the Lord our God with all the heart, mind, soul, and strength. Have you ever risen to this? If not, plead guilty on count one, and pass on to the next.
(2) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...Thou shalt not bow down thyself tc them, nor serve them.
Of gross idolatry, involving the actual adoration of images you may never have been guilty; but we read in Scripture of some who set up idols in their hearts. And these are as obnoxious to God as idols of wood, or stone, or metal. What are some of their names?. Self, Wealth, Fame, Pleasure, and many more. The devotees of these false gods are as truly idolaters as the heathen who bow down to carved and molten symbols. Are you guilty of such false worship? If so, bow in humiliation before the one true and living God, and cry again, "Guilty.”
(3) Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.
How widespread is the wicked practice of profanity! "Swear not at all" is the command of Holy Scripture. Yet how few there are who have not sinned along this line. Remember, it is not always necessary to use vile, wicked language to profane the name of the Lord. When that name is used carelessly, lightly, without due respect and reverence, this commandment is broken just as truly as when coupled with oaths and cursing. And many a one swears in thought whose lips have never been sullied by cursing. Can you honestly face this third commandment and cry, "Not guilty"?
(4) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
God claims one seventh of man's time. He gives six days for useful labor and lawful pleasure. He demands that one day be set aside for Himself. "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." But what base ingratitude have we manifested here! The disregard for God's holy day is but an evidence of the rebellion of the human heart against all divine authority. What can you say for yourself as to this? Are you guilty or not guilty? Answer as at the bar of eternal justice, I beg you!
(5) Honor thy father and thy mother.
One of the outstanding sins of the last days is "disobedience to parents." Self-will is everywhere apparent. Where is the child that has always been dutiful and obedient? Lack of filial regard is scarcely considered a sin anymore. But He who on earth was subject to His mother and His foster-father is our example. How far short we have come of the perfection seen in Him! Be absolutely honest with yourself and with God. If you have ever been a disobedient, willful child, do not attempt to justify your wrong-doing, but take the penitent sinner's place and own your guilt.
(6) Thou shalt not kill.
Your hand may never have been stained with human blood. But what of that passage in the First Epistle of John, "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer." Judged by this high and holy standard, who is beyond condemnation here?
(7) Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Many there are who have kept themselves physically pure from this gross sin, but how few have always been pure in thought; and the Lord Jesus told us that an unchaste look is adultery in the sight of God. This raises a standard that few, if any, have been able to wholly live up to. If uncleanness in act or in thought has ever soiled your soul, do not try to excuse it, as do the psychologists of our degenerate times, but bow with the woman of the seventh chapter of Luke and that other woman of the eighth chapter of John at the feet of Jesus, own your guilt, and hear Him say, "Thy sins are forgiven. Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”
(8) Thou shalt not steal.
We are apt to think of stealing as involving large sums of money, or the purloining of valuable goods. But he is as really a thief who steals a trifle, as he who burglarizes a house or embezzles a million. Who is entirely guiltless of appropriating what was not rightfully his?
(9) Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Have your lips never been stained with a lie? "The wicked," we are told, "go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies." It has often been noted that all children need to be taught to speak the truth. None ever need lessons in lying, for "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." And "the heart is deceitful above all things." Therefore, deceitful lips and practices. Whoever dares to say, "I am not guilty" on this count is but adding another lie to the many yet to be answered for.
(10) Thou shalt not covet.
This was the prohibition that convicted self-righteous Saul of Tarsus of his sinfulness. He who could claim that as to outward observances he was guiltless of violations, found himself a slave to desires for what God had withheld from him, and so "the commandment which was ordained to life," he found "to be unto death." For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in him all manner of concupiscence (covetousness, lust, evil desire) and thus he realized he was a helpless slave, unable to break the chains that hound him. Do you find yourself in the same state? Then let the voice of the law have its way. Own its authority and admit you are under condemnation.