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Guest (Male): This is Hope Lives 365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message: Taking a Stand for the Ten Commandments. Enjoy and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up-to-date with Hope Lives 365 and Pastor Mark by going to hopelives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: It may seem surprising, but the Ten Commandments have created a lot of controversy in the last 20 years in the United States. It all began in November of 2003. The Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court defied a federal court order to remove the 2.5-ton monument of the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the State House. When the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ordered Judge Roy Moore to remove the Ten Commandments, he argued that the moral law of God was the basis for all law and therefore not a violation of the separation of church and state clause. In a statewide poll, 77% of the residents of Alabama agreed with the judge.

The controversy over the Ten Commandments in Alabama captured national attention. At a pro-commandment rally in Jackson County, Illinois, Daryl Scott, the father of one of the shooting victims at the Columbine High School, shared his conviction that our meeting is not about the Ten Commandments. It's about our young people and our children. Mr. Scott's point of view was clear to the overflow audience packing the auditorium. In a society of moral relativism burgeoning with violent crime, the Ten Commandments provide a moral compass. In an immoral world, they are the basis of morality.

The Indiana State Legislature agrees. In a decision to post the Ten Commandments in the State House, the legislator acknowledged that the Ten Commandments are a declaration of the fundamental principles of a fair and just society. The Ten Commandments have served as a basis for society's laws for more than 3,000 years. Western governments have molded their constitutions and established their laws on the moral code of ethics given on Mount Sinai. The Psalmist David reminds us of the eternal nature of God's law. He declares, "All His commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever and are done in truth and uprightness." Psalm 111, verses 7 and 8. He adds in Psalm 119, verse 151, "You are near, O Lord, and all Your commandments are truth."

The Ten Commandment law is the foundation of God's government. It defines right and wrong. Without the Ten Commandments, all morality is relative. There are no absolute standards. The Apostle Paul wrote, "For by the law is the knowledge of sin." Romans 3, verse 20. The law defines sin. It clearly states that some behavior is right and other behavior is wrong. Right and wrong are not a matter of individual opinion. It's not a matter that's up for grabs defined by societal norms or personal preferences. God has already defined right and wrong.

In a society which talks about what's right for you may not be right for me and each person discovers his own right path, God's law speaks with increasing relevance. Any society that turns its back on the moral principles of God's law is headed for chaos. America's founding fathers understood this. In a speech to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia in 1778, James Madison stated, "We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government, far from it. We've staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."

Madison's conviction must not be dismissed lightly at a time in American history when doing your own thing is in vogue. It has become popular today to label anyone with well-defined moral convictions as narrow-minded. The founders of America believed all society's laws were based on the moral absolutes of God's law. John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States from 1825 to 1829, stated his convictions this way: "The law given from Sinai was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code. Laws essential to the existence of men in society and most of which have been enacted by any nation which ever professed any code of laws."

With almost prophetic insight, Noah Webster wrote, "All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war proceed from despising or neglecting the principles contained in the Bible." What has our attitude toward God's law produced in society? What fruits have moral relativism spawned? As the wise man Solomon put it centuries ago in Proverbs 28, verse 26, "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool." Hosea the prophet in Hosea 8, verse 7 says, "They sowed the wind and reap the whirlwind."

This is precisely what's happening in Western society today. We have turned everyone to his own way, Isaiah 53, verse 6, and we are reaping the tragic results. In one year, listen to these violent crime statistics of rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, and homicides. In one year, there were 1.6 million violent crimes here in a year that I've chosen to report on. In the 21st century, of all violent crimes, 22% are committed with a deadly weapon. 400,000 adults were arrested on drug offenses in that year. But yet by 2004, 2.5 million adults or one in every 125 adults in America were arrested on drug charges.

So if you compare, for example, 1970 to 2004, this 34-year difference, you go from 400,000 adults being arrested on drug charges to 2.5 million adults, one in every 125 adults in America arrested on drug charges. What would be the total if every adult using illegal substances were caught? Staggering to think of the epidemic of crime due to the mind-altering effect of illegal drugs. In a recent survey, the Barna Group, a renowned, well-respected national polling organization known for its reliability in survey numbers, says this: 83% of the teens surveyed stated that for them moral truth depends on the circumstances and only 6% said moral truth is absolute.

Perhaps this is one of the major reasons why 70% of all teenagers in that survey have experienced premarital relations by the time they're 20 years old. Staggering. Perhaps this is why the United States has one of the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases in the industrial world. There are over 15.3 million new cases reported every year of sexually transmitted diseases. United States divorce rates are among the highest in the world. Among Western nations, the US has the lowest percentage, 63%, of children who grow up with both biological parents, according to a recent annual report.

When you look at what's happening in America, it's troubling. The report's co-author, Rutgers University sociology professor, comments on the report's finding with this sobering thought: "The United States has the weakest families in the Western world because we have the highest divorce rate and the highest rate of single parenting." This is staggering. This is amazing. With moral values crumbling all around us, maybe it's time to take another look at God's law. Maybe it's time not to debate about whether the Ten Commandments should remain in the rotunda of the courthouse in Alabama, but to ask if these moral principles are written on our own hearts.

Maybe it's time for a lot less arguing about the law and a lot more keeping of the law. It's somewhat contradictory and confusing for some Christian churches to argue on the one hand that the law is done away with in Christ, while on the other hand, they decry lower moral standards and shout loudly about America's need to take a stand for the Ten Commandments. It's rather contradictory. One thing is for certain: Christ did not come to do away with the law, as some Christians contend. He came to live out the principles of the law as an example of believers in every age.

He sent His Spirit to write the law in our hearts and our minds. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, verse 17, "Do not think that I've come to destroy the law of the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." Jesus didn't come to destroy the fifth commandment that says "Honor your father and mother." He came to reveal throughout His childhood and adult life a loving example of faithfulness. The Savior didn't come to do away with the sixth commandment that declares "You shall not murder." He came to reveal the dignity and worth of all human life. He didn't come to do away with the seventh commandment that says "Thou shalt not commit adultery."

He came to model purity. In addition to dying for us, Jesus came to teach us how to live. In His life, we have a wonderful model of living in obedience to the Father. Love for Christ, get this now, love for Christ never leads us to disobey His law. Love always leads us to obedience, never disobedience. This is why Jesus said in John 14, verse 15, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." All genuine obedience comes from the motive of love. Obedience is the response to His incredible sacrifice on Calvary. We do not obey to earn our salvation.

Our obedience is the response of love to His great gift of salvation. We're not saved by works. Ephesians 2, verse 8 says, "For by grace are you saved through faith. It is the gift of God, not of yourselves." But any Christian who declares salvation by grace makes obedience unnecessary misunderstands the gospel. In concluding his discussion on salvation, the Apostle Paul makes this point plain when he declares, "Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not. On the contrary, we establish the law." Romans 3, verse 31.

Guest (Male): We'll be right back with Pastor Mark Finley. We thank you for listening and hope you're enjoying today's message. Our mission is to attractively present the Christ-centered biblical truths of scripture in a practical, relevant way to people around the world so that they may experience the abundant life that Christ offers and effectively share with confidence His life-changing truths with others. You can support this ministry and help us reach even more by going to hopelives365.com/donate. And now back to Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: So we do not do away with the law through faith in Christ. But through faith in Christ, our past is pardoned. But in the present, we receive His power to live an obedient life. The Bible defines sin in 1 John 3, verse 4 as the transgression of the law. Sin is not based on our definition but based on God's. He defines sin, we do not. The Apostle Paul raises a penetrating question for Christians who would attempt to do away with God's law. What then? Shall we sin, that is break God's law, because we're not under the law but under grace? Certainly not. Romans 6, verse 15.

While some Christian preachers loudly proclaim the law's done away with, the Apostle says it certainly is not. God's grace always leads to obedience, never to disobedience. When we come to Jesus, the response of our hearts is to obey Him. According to Hebrews chapter 8, verse 10, our Lord makes this marvelous promise: "I will put My laws in their mind and write them in their heart, and I'll be their God and they shall be My people." What does it mean that God will write His law in our minds and hearts? He writes the law in our mind so we understand it, so we comprehend it, so we know it.

He writes His law in our hearts so that we love His law. The law written in our mind is so that His will will be clear. The precepts of the Ten Commandments written in our mind speak of our moral responsibility. They guide us, they direct us. But when He writes His law in our heart, obedience becomes not some legalistic requirement because of an overbearing dictator God who demands it. It's the response of a heart that loves God supremely. This loving response to His goodness is based on the fact He wants only what's best for us. When we obey Him, we're walking a pathway that will lead to ultimate happiness.

This is why Jesus said, "If you know these things," John 13, verse 17, "if you know these things, happy are you if you do them." Happiness comes from doing God's will. The Ten Commandment law describes how people who love God live obedient, happy lives. All of God's law can be summarized in one word: love. The Ten Commandments reveal how loving people act. They're actually codified love. The first four commandments reveal how to always respond in love to God. If you love Him, you'll abolish all gods, other gods in your heart and worship Him supremely.

If you love Him, you'll place Him first in your life. You'll demolish all idols and worship Him directly. If you love Him, you'll respect and honor His name and always use it reverently. If you love Him, you'll set aside the seventh-day Sabbath. Most of the world has forgotten the seventh-day Sabbath. But once His followers discover His truth, they joyfully, happily keep the special day that He indeed has set aside. They rest, they worship, they spend time with their families. They allow their bodies to catch up with the plan of God in their life. Rest renews them. Rest strengthens them.

And the Sabbath, of course, creates family bonds as we worship the Creator on Sabbath. We recognize that He's created us and our families to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him. So the Sabbath is a time where families bond together. You see, by taking a stand for His commandments, we stand for love. To love God and to love our fellow man. If we genuinely love, we will honor our parents and respect each other. We'll treat each person with dignity and respect. We'll respect their possessions and not steal. We'll respect their reputations and not defame their name by criticism or gossip.

We will honor God and accept what we have rather than laboriously seeking what somebody else has. Think of how our society would be radically changed if all of us lived by the principles of God's Ten Commandments. Think of what your life would be like if God's love flowed out of your heart in willing obedience to His law. Now let me be clear and explain. The Bible does not teach that the Ten Commandments should be legislated by government and people forced to obey them. No. It is true that if you look at the last six commandments, the government has responsibility to enforce the law "thou shalt not steal."

It has responsibility to enforce the law "thou shalt not kill." These are moral underguiding principles of the Ten Commandments. But when you look at the Ten Commandments as a whole, "thou shalt have no other gods before me," "thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain," "remember the Sabbath," those commandments that relate to God and our worship of God are never to be legislated because if they were, our religious liberty would be taken away. And the history of the union of church and state is a history where the minority is often repressed, the minority is often crushed, and the minority is often considered to be outside of the bounds of legitimate law-keeping and persecution follows.

So let me make it plain. There are principles in the last six commandments that become the very foundation of society. And those principles that deal with human beings' relationship to one another, stealing, murdering, adultery, etc., society has laws that have to do with stealing and killing and morality. Those are just laws that are part of the principles of the last six commandments. But when you look at the commandments as a whole, government has no right whatsoever to legislate laws that have to do with our relationship with God and our worship. That is a very private thing.

The last book of the Bible, Revelation, reveals that at the end time, God will have a group of people who reveal to a waiting world and a watching universe that God's way of life is best. Through His grace and by His power, this group of people lovingly obey God. Revelation 12:17 says "The dragon," that's Satan, "was wroth with the woman," that is the church, God's people, and goes to make war with the remnant, that's those who remain faithful, "who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus." And then in Revelation 14, verse 12, it pictures God's last-day people this way: "Here's the patience of the saints. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."

The Bible's last message to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people is a clarion call to obedience. It's an urgent appeal to fear God, that is to respect Him, obey God, and give glory to Him. Why? For the hour of His judgment has come. So we're living in the judgment hour. God calls all of us to moral responsibility. We're accountable for our actions. We're responsible for our behavior. The final judgment sweeps away all pretense and sham. It affirms the truth that says, "He who says I know Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2, verse 4.

A lot of pretense is evident in Christianity today. God's last-day believers will take a stand for obedience. Believers saved by grace willingly obey His commandments. With the aged Apostle John, they declare, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome." 1 John 5, verse 3. Motivated by love, Christ's true followers do not believe the law is a galling yoke around their necks. It's not a burden too heavy to carry. The passion of their lives is to please God. In obeying Him, they find their greatest joy.

If obeying God is a great burden, it's only because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Romans 8, verse 7. The carnal mind wants to do its own thing. The unconverted heart only wants to please itself. If you are struggling to obey God, it's a matter of the heart. When the heart is fully surrendered to God, obedience is a delight. An old preacher once, who actually was in his 90s, told me this story. He was holding a series of meetings in a Midwestern city. And coming to that series was a very well-to-do businessman.

And the businessman said to the old preacher that was telling me the story, he said, "You gotta come and talk to my pastor." Now this preacher who was holding the meetings, my friend, my mentor, was now in his 90s. He said to me, "Well, I had been preaching on the law of God and the importance of people saved by grace to keep God's law." And he said when I went to meet this wealthy man's pastor, the pastor looked at me and said, "You've been preaching about the law of God, haven't you?" "Yes, sir." And he said, "We're not under that old law. We are under grace. Nobody has to keep the law anymore."

And my friend sat there, and for about 45 minutes, this one pastor just lambasted him on the law of God. Now my friend was very smart and he just listened and listened. Then he said to him, "Sir, would you read Romans 8, verse 7 please to me? The carnal mind is enmity against the law of God, for it's not subject the law nor indeed can be." And that preacher that was saying the law was done away with, he exploded. When we understand Jesus' words, "If you love me, keep my commandments," we recognize that salvation by grace does not liberate us from keeping God's law. It leads us to be obedient disciples of Jesus Christ.

The New Covenant promise found in Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 26, 27, and 29 says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I'll put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. I'll deliver you from all your uncleanness." The God who calls us to live an obedient life also gives us the power to live obediently. Every commandment's a promise of what He'll do in our lives.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Hope Lives 365 with Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you've enjoyed today's message and remind you that you can find more in our many ministry resources at hopelives365.com. And you can support this ministry by going to hopelives365.com/donate. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.

Mark Finley: His grace not only pardons us from our past sins, it delivers us from the grip of sin. When we take a stand for His commandments, we stand for His grace. We stand by His power. We stand through His love as a testimony of His glory. That Jesus saves us from the penalty of sin and He saves us from the power of sin. So today, in Christ and by Christ and through Christ, take a stand for His commandment. When you do, you'll take a stand with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob, and Moses. You'll take a stand with Joseph and Daniel. You'll take a stand with Peter and James and John.