The first eleven verses of Exodus 20 contain the most oft-broken commandments of the Old Testament God who would later come to earth as Jesus of Nazareth. Read The God of the Old Testament. Key word–Old. The fact that the Old Testament God and Jesus of Nazareth are one and the same is introduced to Truth seekers in First Corinthians 10:1-11 where we are told that the Rock of God brought the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery, “… and that Rock was Christ.” In that passage we are also told that the message the Rock delivered to them from atop Mt. Sinai was preserved in stone to be used to instruct His true believers at the end of the age, meaning His church now (vs 11).

The ministry of God’s end-time apostles involves teaching salvation seekers that faith alone is not enough. The combination of FAITH and WORKS is necessary to produce salvation. Christ’s Mt. Sinai message tells them HOW TO DO THE WORKS NECESSARY TO QUALIFY FOR SALVATION UPON HIS RETURN. Read James 2:10,14,17,18,20,24 and 26 where we are told that faith without those works is dead faith. Faith is a spiritual commodity. We live spiritually by our spiritual faith. If our faith is dead (without works of obedience), then we are spiritually dead regardless of our religiosity. THE WORKS NECESSARY TO ATTAIN SALVATION INVOLVE OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S TEN COMMANDMENT LAW. Read Hope and Salvation. Key word–Hope in order to learn that we are not saved in this lifetime. We will soon turn to Exodus 20 to study the five most rejected, most broken commandments in the Rock’s Law which He engraved on stone tablets and hid so that religious man could not take hammer and chisel in hand and change it.

Not to be denied, Satan-led religious man used his tongue to not merely change that eternal Law, but in the minds of millions of salvation seekers, to do away with it entirely by “nailing it to the cross” of Christ. The extreme irony found in this Satanic “truth” is that the Law was supposedly nailed to the cross of the One Who spoke it audibly from atop Mt. Sinai, Who then wrote it in stone with His finger, Who then died on that same cross to provide salvation seekers with the spiritual power to do the works necessary to receive what He paid for with His life–THE VERY WORKS MAN MUST DO IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE SALVATION CHRIST DIED TO MAKE AVAILABLE TO THOSE WHO DECLARE THEM (WORKS) DEAD. Only Satan could concoct such a convoluted mess.

I am amazed at the extent to which church people will go, and at the moral depth to which they will descend in order to justify rejecting the Words of the God Whom they say has saved them. ONLY SATAN COULD CONVINCE BILLIONS OF PEOPLE TO BELIEVE WHAT THE CHURCH CLAIMS TO BE BIBLICAL. This truth reminds us to NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER SATAN HAS OVER THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH. As Jesus warned, Satan has deceived the whole world (Rev. 12:9), including the worldly Catholic/Protestant Religious System known as “the church.” We will now explore the depths of depravity to which those in “the church” have sunk in order to prove how much they hate God’s Words, thereby proving that they DESPISE BOTH FATHER AND SON. Do not take my word for this truth; read Luke 10:16 where Jesus Himself declares it.

In Exodus 20 God’s future Messiah lays out the primary teachings found in the Gospel of His Father’s Kingdom which He taught while on earth (Mk. 1:14) and which His apostles teach today. That Gospel tells us WHAT WORKS BELIEVERS MUST DO in order to qualify for entrance into that kingdom. Read The Kingdom of God. Key word–Kingdom. The works that must be done consist of learning, believing and obeying the Holy Gospel, specifically the Ten Commandments. Recall Jesus telling the rich man that because he broke ONE COMMANDMENT (#10–greed) he was disqualified from receiving salvation (Mk. 10:17-22). Recall that the Old Testament God (the Word–Jn. 1:1-4,14–Jesus Christ) said through the Prophet Isaiah that sin separates us from Him (59:2). We cannot walk (live in oneness) with God unless we agree with Him (Amos 3:3). The rich man’s lust for things prevented him from walking with the Lord and being one with Him. His lust cost him everything. Father and Son gave Their best; just believing that Truth will not qualify us for eternal life.

God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). THE WORKS NECESSARY FOR ATTAINING SALVATION CONSIST OF OBEYING GOD’S WORDS, without which man’s religiosity is meaningless. No human being ever born is exempt from that Law. Not even the Son of God was exempt from having to obey God’s commandments. Only by living under the same rules as His fellow man and obeying them did He qualify to become man’s Savior and example. Jesus had to LEARN to distinguish right from wrong and to CHOOSE the right (Isa. 7:14-17). In Revelation 3:21 that same Jesus tells us that, in order to join Him in paradise, we must “… OVERCOME (Satan’s temptations) EVEN AS I OVERCAME” (them). If He had any advantage over us, He could expect us to overcome Satan’s temptations even AS He overcame them. He was tempted as we are and did not sin (Heb. 4:15). He had to overcome the same temptations we must overcome in order to join His Father on His throne where He is today. IF, AS A MAN, HE HAD ANY ADVANTAGE OVER ME, HE CANNOT BE MY EXAMPLE WHICH I AM COMMANDED TO EMULATE IN FIRST JOHN 2:6, REVELATION 3:21 AND FIRST PETER 1:15,16; 2:5,9. Either my Bible is the Word of God and is Truth, as Jesus declared in John 17:17, or it is not worth the paper it is written on. I am betting my eternity that the Holy Bible is the Truth Jesus declares it to be.

This series focuses on the commandments that self-defined “sinners saved by grace” refuse to obey. My assignment from God is to send His message of correction to “the church.” I can’t take it to them because they will not allow me to enter their buildings. Because I am not running for public office or trying to be voted “most popular,” I can tell those in “the church” exactly what God said in His Holy Bible, most of which their false prophets (“hirelings”–Jn. 10:12,13) refuse to tell them.

The numerous lies and half-truths (Biblically lies) being put forth as Biblical Truths have historic roots that reach far back into church history. Within a generation of the founding of the New Testament Church, the first apostles were fighting Satanic theology which had infiltrated her. Read Galatians 1:6-9 and Second Corinthians 11:4. But that was not the actual beginning of Satan’s work among God’s people. Recall that the Prophet Isaiah pronounced a “woe” upon those who were already calling good evil and evil good (5:20-24). Such leaders and their followers accuse the righteous of being unrighteous (vs 23) by despising and casting away God’s Law (24) which defines righteousness and evil–righteousness if obeyed; evil if disobeyed (1 Jn. 3:4). Following in the spiritual footsteps of their original parents, the religious descendants of Adam and Eve have chosen the words of the serpent (Satan) over the Words of their Creator.

In the following postings we will examine the first eleven verses of the Ten Commandments while conducting an in-depth study of the five least acceptable commandments in God’s Law, the breaking of any one of which disqualifies the iniquitous (Lawless) believer relative to salvation. I suggest that you read the series I have recommended so far in this posting before we meet again. If you have not learned about God’s “fine print,” this series will help. You will either love it or hate it. That decision will determine whether or not you will rise to meet Jesus Christ upon His return to earth. Always remember James’ Holy Spirit-inspired words: FAITH WITHOUT WORKS OF OBEDIENCE IS DEAD FAITH. Dead faith cannot save the soul (Jam. 2: 14). L.J