The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1880, Page 18

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18 * The Lutheran Pioneer.

(For the “Lutheran Pioneer.”’)
The Holy Ten Commandments.

WHAT USE WE ARE TO MAKE OF THEM.

Do you know them? Do you understand
them? Do you take them to heart? It is very
important that you do so. It is the first step
in Christian knowledge to get a correct know]-
edge and understanding of the Holy Command-

power to be holy and pure, and to keep from
evil. But they fell, they sinned. They lost
that perfect knowledge of good and evil, they
lost all of that holy will, they lost all that abil-
ity to be perfect and sinless. All men after
them are also blind to know, much less willing
and, least of all, able to fulfill God’s holy will
and commands to the full satisfaction of God.
They all sin and come short of the glory of God;

ments. He that does not care for the comman¢d- | they are all children of wrath and deserve the
ments, will not care for anything else coming full punishment of those that have transgressed
from God. Let me show you why you should all the commandments. Since Adam and Eve
know and understand the commandments and only one man has been as holy and blameless,
seriously take them to heart. as God had made the first man. Ah, you may
They are God’s will and law to all mankind. | guess who it is. It is Christ Jesus. When
Every man, woman and child is in duty bound God repeated His will and law (which He, so
to obey them. They tell man all he must do, | to speak, had once written on the hearts of
if he will truly and perfectly please God, the Adam and Eve, and of which they had such
Holiest Being, and all he must avoid if he will | perfect knowledge without written rules and
not offend Him. If he will completely satisfy |commands) on Mount Sinai through Moses,
God and not displease Him, he must do all the writing His Holy Commandments with His
commandments require and not do anything |oWn finger on two tables of stone, He knew
forbidden in them. They tell man how he may | that man would fail, being utterly unable to
provoke God’s just anger, be cursed and be fulfill them and doomed to death and hell.
punished everlastingly, namely if he fail to per- But there was One to come, who would keep
fectly keep the commandments. Yet I would them for all men. The only-begotten Son of
not have you try to keep all the commandments God became man, like unto those to whom God
perfectly, or even only one of them, thinking} had given the commandments in all things,
that you can do it and so please God, make | save that He was without sin. Christ, the
Him love and bless you for your obedience, and | God-man, not being under the law Himself and
be in no danger of punishment. You are not not being obliged to fulfill the commandments
the one todo this. You were born with a heart, | for His own good and benefit as he was the
mind, will, and desire, that are altogether un- Giver of the law, placed Himself under the
holy, opposed to God’s will, unwilling to do law, kept it perfectly, to do what we could not
good and inclined to work evil. This entirely do, thereby, as He did it in our stead, earning
unfits and disables you to keep the command- | for us the full benefit of God's promises to the
ments as God wants them kept, and has caused doers of the law, though we ourselves have
you to transgress them an untold number of | ever kept it. We are now no more obliged
times, and will do so as long as you live. Try | perfectly fulfill the commandments in order
ever so hard but for one day and see whether | to make God love arid bless us as His children
you have in every thought, word or action ex- | °F grant us heaven. It was once done by Jesus,
actly followed the commandments, and have | that suffices forever.
thought, said or done nothing forbidden in But of what use are the commandments to
them. You would most disgracefully fail in | us, if Jesus Christ, our blessed Saviour, freed
your attempt. Now, thus it will be every day | us from the obligation to keep them, in order
of your life. And what of those sinful thoughts, | to obtain all the benefits of a perfect keeping
words, and deeds, which you do not know and | of the law and to escape the punishment threat-
which you cannot remember? ened to all transgressors? Let me show you.
Though God requires perfect obedience unto} Christ, our Lord, did not abolish and do
all of His commandments, though he promises|away with the commandments. He says,
every blessing for body and soul to all who keep | ‘Think not that I am come to destroy the law
them, yen Heaven itself, yet we must acknowl-| or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but
edge, that we cannot keep, have not kept, nor | to fulfill.” The commandments are necessary
ever will keep the commandments so as to be}even now and useful, yea, after Jesus Christ
worthy of the Jeast blessing, but that we rather|has come they are most useful. You are to
daily sin much and, indeed, deserve nothing | learn from them your wretched, unholy, abom-
but punishment. The Bible says that ‘‘who-|inable condition as one who has led a life di-
soever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend | rectly contrary to God’s will, as one who is full
in one point, is guilty of all.’’ Only three per-jof evil and loaded down with sin, as one in
sons did keep the whole law, and two of these | whom there is nothing good from head to foot.
only for a time, namely Adam and Eve in} You are to learn from them, how angry God
Paradise before their fall. God had created in | must be with you on account of your sins, see-
them a mind s0 perfectly wise that they knew | ing that you haye done nothing to please Him,
all that was right and all that was wrong; they | and how you indeed deserve the greatest pun-
had been given a will so holy that they only |ishment. The Holy Spirit will then work in
desired to do God's will perfectly and detested | your heart a sincere sorrow and grief over your
all that was contrary to it; God had given them |sins. You will be urged to humble yourself

before God and confess the multitude of your
sins to Him. In a word, the commandments
are to be a schoolmaster for you unto Christ
and prepare your heart for the Gospel, the glad
tidings of salvation, redemption, forgiveness of
sins, eternal life through Jesus Christ to all that
believe in Him. You are by nature a person
ignorant of and blind to your sins and wicked-
ness, therefore the commandments are a look-
ing-glass, in which you may see your sinful self.
You are by nature a person careless and in-
different to your disease and danger, you want
no physician. Until the commandments lay
bare and uncover to you your rotten and
dangerous state, you will have no sincere de-
sire for a Saviour. You are by nature a proud
person, selfrighteous, unwilling to accept mercy
from God through Jesus, you would rather keep
the law yourself and earn by your own worka
what it promises. You must be humbled, your
proud spirit must be broken before you will ac-
cept Christ. Hence, learn the commandments,
study over them. Let God enlighten your
heart, by His Holy Spirit, to convince you that
you are a sinner and only to be saved by grace.
Then do not despair on account of the number
and greatness of your sins. Hear the Gospel
of Jesus, and believe it. Let the command-
ments force you to Christ. But even then you
have need of the commandments still. As a
believer in Jesus you, certainly, do not want to
walk in the old paths of sin, but you want to
lead a new life. You want to be grateful to
God and Jesus. You want to confess your faith
in Jesus and show to all men what you are,
asinner saved by grace through Jesus and born
again to be a ‘‘new creature.’’ The best and
only way to do all this is by trying to keep the
commandments according to the strength God
gives us. Besides, though God has saved us
from sin and graciously forgives sin, yet He
will not permit man to sin and do as he pleases.
God hates sin. He always remains the same
holy God who can discharge no man from doing
what is right and avoiding what is wrong.
Hence, the commandments are still binding
upon all men.

True christians walk in the way of the com-
mandments; not for the sake of saving their
souls or earning a reward, but because they are
the law of God against which they dare not
offend. And they are also willing to obey.
They aim to please God and to prove them-
selves grateful and obedient children of God.
They know fully well, try they must, even if
they do not succeed as well as they wish. They
daily pray: ‘‘And forgive us our trespasses,’”’
but also avoid sin as they would Satan.

Being freed from the obligation of keeping
the commandments in order to gain heaven,
does not imply that we are free to do as we
choose. That would be making ill use of the
liberty Christ has so dearly purchased. ‘True
liberty is only there where one also frees him-
self of sin and cheerfully keeps the command-
ments to the best of his ability. F. B.

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