Grace Reformed Baptist Church

The Good News of Jesus Christ

God's Standard and Our Failure to Meet It

We've already learned that God is a holy and righteous God. Moreover, we've learned that God relates to us on His terms and not on our own terms. But what are God's terms? What is God's standard of goodness?

God's requires that man conform to nothing less than His own moral character: "but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "you shall be holy, for I am holy." [31]

To be holy as God is holy is to be totally pure and without any evil or disobedience. It is to be morally perfect.

The standard of holiness that God has given to us is the Ten Commandments. [32] You may read the Ten Commandments below along with some explanation for each commandment. As you read them, ask yourself, "Am I really living according to these commandments? Have I disobeyed these commandments?"

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.

God wants us to love Him supremely, and He forbids us to give our devotion to anything in preference to Him. Many people are devoted to religions that promote false gods; many are devoted to their careers or to their families more than to God. Your "god" is whatever you love most and or to whatever you most devote yourself.

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

God forbids us to make a stone or metal image of something to worship it. An idol may also be an inaccurate mental idea of God. Many people worship the gods that they've created in their own imaginations. This violates the second commandment.

3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

God is very concerned that He be held in reverence by all. Yet His name is often used in a vain or empty way. How often God's name is used as a curse-word or as an expletive: "Oh my God!" Although people don't think that taking God's name in vain is serious, God does; for those who take His name in vain show that they don't think highly of God.

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

We ought always to worship God, but from the beginning He structured human life such that we might worship Him in an undistracted way one day of each week. This is why God's people meet together as churches on Sunday. Moreover, God wants our undistracted devotion for the whole day. [33] Our attitude towards this commandment reveals what we really value most.

5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

God values authority, order, and respect. He wants children to obey their parents. [34] He also wants adults to respect their parents and their grandparents and take care of them when they need help. [35]

6. You shall not murder.

Most people think that they've kept this commandment. They don't realize that it also addresses the attitudes of our hearts towards others.

Jesus taught us the full meaning of this commandment:

You have heard that the ancients were told, 'you shall not commit murder' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. [36]

7. You shall not commit adultery.

God is concerned that we be faithful to our spouses. Many think that they've never broken this commandment. Jesus taught us that adultery is essentially a matter of the heart:

You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery"; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. [37]

This commandment also forbids all forms of sexual immorality including premarital sex (or fornication) and homosexuality. To put it into the words of the Bible, "Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge." [38]

8. You shall not steal.

This commandment seems pretty straightforward, but it has far reaching applications. It forbids taking what belongs to another without that person's permission. This includes such acts as "loafing" at work and taking away what is due to our employer; copying CDs that were never purchased; and cheating on income tax forms.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Since God is the "God of truth," [39] He requires that we speak truth about one another and not lie or deceive.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

God wants us to be content with what we have. To covet our neighbor's house is to earnestly desire (or long for) our neighbor's house while being discontent with our own. It is essentially a matter of our hearts.

Much more could be said about the Ten Commandments. It's important to know that the Bible defines "sin" as "lawlessness". [40] A sin is a breaking of God's law or commandments.

Have you broken any of God's commandments? Of course you have; each of us breaks His commandments every day.

The Greatest Commandment

What is the greatest commandment of all? A man once approached Jesus with this question. In His answer, Jesus summarized all of the commandments of God:

Jesus answered, "The foremost [commandment] is, "Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is One Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." The second is this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." There is no other commandment greater than these." [41]

Do you love God with all of your heart? Do you love your neighbor even as you love yourself? How beautiful the world would be if we all loved as we ought! We all fail to live at this high standard — and we fail every minute of our lives. What's worse is that we must admit that we often willfully break His commandments. The Bible describes our plight in these words: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." [42]

Is this a serious matter?

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Footnotes

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