Since the moment the Old Testament God (the Word Who later came to earth as Jesus of Nazareth) presented the Ten Commandment Law to the Israelites from atop Mt. Sinai, they, and those who have followed in their religious footsteps, have failed to obey them. However, their rebellion against Him began a few days earlier after they had been freed from Egyptian slavery. It began as soon as they reached the Red Sea and the situation became complicated. God was testing them by placing the sea in front of them and the world’s most powerful military behind them. The irony is that the God who had freed them (the Rock, Jesus Christ–1 Cor. 10:4), had just performed a series of incredible miracles, including the killing of each Egyptian family’s firstborn, in order to free them. After witnessing those incredible acts performed on their behalf, they began to accuse Him (Moses personally) of leading them to the Red Sea so that the Egyptians could slaughter them there. Evidently, what they had seen Him do earlier had not impressed them.

Many generations later the New Testament apostles had to continually war against the same no-trust attitude toward God that their religious ancestors had exhibited. This is brought out in numerous places in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul was writing to the church in the city of Corinth comprised of people who had openly embraced God’s Ten Commandment Law in order to be accepted by the Lord and made a part of His spiritual family. In his epistle to that church Paul made a statement that unfortunately characterized the attitude of many church members of that day (58-60 A.D.) and every day since then. He wrote that if someone presented another Jesus and another Holy Spirit, THE PEOPLE WOULD EMBRACE THEM. The Corinthian church was not alone relative to their rejection of God’s Word. In Galatians 1:6-8 Paul voiced his amazement that the people had already abandoned the Truths that he had taught them and had embraced a perverted Gospel. This was accomplished by the same Satanic power that has convinced the modern church to EMBRACE HUNDREDS OF PERVERTED VERSIONS OF GOD’S HOLY WORD.

Jesus backed up Paul’s words in Mark 7:7-13 when addressing the religious leaders whom the Jewish masses followed and obeyed, He accused them of being hypocrites who were all talk and no walk because they refused to obey God’s Law. They paid homage to God with their mouths but did what they wanted to do, which was the opposite of what God commanded them to do. They rejected God’s commandments and followed in the traditions of their religious fathers. In so doing THEY “MADE THE WORD OF GOD MEANINGLESS.” Jesus summed up God’s attitude toward those who refuse to obey His Ten Commandment Law: THEY WORSHIPPED HIM IN VAIN BY REPLACING HIS COMMANDMENTS WITH THEIR OWN, SELF-SERVING RULES. TODAY THOSE RULES ARE CALLED “CHURCH DOCTRINE.” I recently heard a perfect example of such perversion when a famous pastor said that if one wants to go to heaven, one must “… OBEY CHURCH DOCTRINE.” Sadly, he was speaking for the vast majority of professing Christians.

Admittedly, I had no intention of writing this series in that I have mentioned the Lord’s Law in the other 500+ series. Then God woke me up in the wee hours of the night and told me to write about His Law, specifically the Ten Commandments. Understand this, God’s Law covers much, much more that what is specifically discussed in the Ten Commandments. The stone-etched Ten Commandments constitute a condensed version of His eternal Law which is found throughout the entire Bible. For example, His condemnation of adultery in commandment #7 has an addendum in which He tells us that to DESIRE such a relationship is a sin, even if one does not follow through with the physical act (Mat. 5:27,28).

Make no mistake about it, God commands TOTAL OBEDIENCE TO HIS LAW. Trust me, I know from experience that He allows no margin for error. His true saints are bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20). Considering the price Jesus paid FOR us, He has every right to demand the absolute best FROM us. The Almighty, Who does not respect persons (Acts 10:34/ 1 Pet. 1:17), requires strict adherence to His rules of engagement known as THE LAW by which He RULES HIS PEOPLE (Mat. 2:6). Jesus came to earth to gather to Himself a people who would voluntarily be RULED BY HIM, THEREBY MAKING THEMSELVES SPIRITUAL ISRAELITES. For this reason His church is called “THE ISRAEL OF GOD” (Gal. 6:16). The tribe of Judah is one of the tribes of Israel. Jesus told the woman at the well that “SALVATION IS OF THE JEWS”–HIS ISRAELITE TRIBE. Therefore, those who would be saved must obey the same Law the Old Testament Israelites had to obey–the Ten Commandments. They failed to do so. The result of their rebellion against God’s rulership is explained in the series titled Who and Where is Israel Today? Key word–Today.

We will now delve deeply into the Lord’s Law of Love and Life. Understand this: God gave us His Law in order to PROVE HIS LOVE FOR US. In His LEGAL LOVE LETTER He tells us exactly how to qualify to spend eternity in paradise with Him and His fellow God–the Word Who became Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:1-4), Whom He sent to earth to suffer and die SO THAT WE COULD SPEND ETERNITY WITH THEM IN PARADISE. IF THAT IS NOT LOVE, WHAT IS LOVE? Providing us with His Law was totally voluntary on His part. Why did He provide for man a roadmap to paradise? BECAUSE HE WANTS TO SPEND ETERNITY WITH THOSE WHO LOVE HIM AND PROVE IT BY OBEYING HIS LAW (Jn. 14:15; 15:10). Today approximately 2.5 billion people claim that He is wrong, that the Law has nothing to do with salvation, that it was destroyed, and that all one needs to do is believe in Jesus Christ in order to be saved. And Satan smiles.

Commandment #1: We must not recognize any other god. PERIOD. The Word “before” means both “in front of” and “along with.” A God is anything (other than God Himself) to which we have a powerful attachment. This includes our family (Mat. 10:21,22,34-39). Some of us who have chosen to sanctify ourselves unto the Lord have had to give up our families and friends on the spiritual level. Personally, I have only one other family member who is a Bible-defined Christian. All others are church-defined christians who are associated with one of the so-called “faiths/denominations” which are in reality cults. Each group believes that the way to heaven is through the beliefs of their forefathers. They embrace as their god the group’s founder who had a “better idea” than did God when He was writing His Bible through His prophets and apostles. Our God is the one we serve and obey (Rom. 6:16). There are as many gods and christs as there are denominations (1 Cor. 8:5). One man found 843 separate denominations, each with its own god, its own savior and its own rules of interaction with their respective deities. Ironically, they all carry the same Bible to their respective churches on Satan’s sabbath where they pay homage to the god of gods–the sun–on its day–SUNDAY. In reality they all worship and serve Satan–“the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). All heathen religions, including Christianity, worship and serve the devil. By allowing his people to believe they are serving their respective gods, he quietly orchestrates every move the churches make and every belief they embrace. By remaining out of the public eye, he secretly provides every person a religion with which he/she can identify. Jesus said it plainly in Revelations 12:9: “The devil has deceived the whole world.” The myriad of religions found throughout the world proves Him right.

The Almighty views as a god anything that is used in the worship of Him. He needs no assistance in being God, therefore He does not tolerate anything or anyone that is used as a symbol of worship and service. Which brings us to commandment number two which must always be involved when discussing the first commandment in that they go together. In Commandment #1 He makes certain that we know exactly to Whom the commandment applies. He does this by identifying Himself as the One who freed Israel from Egyptian enslavement (1 Cor. 10:4). Read The God of the Old Testament. Key word–Old. Again, this is the God of the Old Testament speaking His Law to His people whom He has freed from slavery. This is the same God (Jesus) who gave them the Ten Commandment Law. He is the same God Who frees us from enslavement to sin and rejects us when we return to that enslavement. So-called “sinners saved by grace” do what the Israelites wanted to do when God did not measure up to their expectations–THEY WANTED TO RETURN TO SIN. They believed that a golden calf would lead them back to Egypt where they could sin and not be held accountable. The church is the modern version of the golden calf which allows churchites to sin (break the Law–1 Jn. 3:4) and get away with it. I was told by a former seminary student that Jesus died so that we can sin without guilt because Adam left us no choice, thereby making sin part of our “nature.” Convenient, but totally Satanic. Read Original Sin. L.J.