The Ten Commandments As A Curb

The Ten Commandments won't budge and in my denominational circle, we view the Ten Commandments or the “Law” as having three specific uses. We have spent the last couple of days on the Law being used as a mirror. As a mirror the Law shows us who we really are, namely sinners in need of a Savior! As the Apostle Paul wrote in Ro 7:7, “I would not have known sin except through the law.” Still another use of the Law is it serves as a curb to believers and unbelievers alike. The Law helps to control violent outbursts of sin and helps to keep order in the world Right now in America and in the world, we need to learn from this. When violence and disorder increase in the world, (as it seems to be happening today) what's going on? The increased acts of sin and violence are an indication that restraints have been removed! You've seen the courtroom scenes the person charged with the crime is led into the courtroom in shackles. Why? To keep him from fleeing of course, but also to protect others from the possibility of a violent outburst. That's what the Law does it helps restrain violence in society. I think we can safely say that the written Ten Commandments have become obscured in our violent world today. Think of what has been happening in America on the legal front as it concerns the posting of the Ten Commandments! They've been systematically taken out of our schools and the public square. And we wonder why murder, sexual immorality, larceny, and covetousness, (which shows up in our love affair with possessions) are rampant! But even though they have been removed in their physical form, believe it or not they are still present in the hearts of all men as we read in Ro 2:14,15: “for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) So even though they don't have the actual stone tablets, or the Word of God in it's physical form, they have them buried somewhere in their heart, and when the written and spoken commands invade the eyes and ears of an unbeliever, they are designed to resonate. A spark of right and wrong is kindled and sin, violence, and disorder are curbed to the extent of that resonation. The harder the heart, the deeper the layers, the dustier and mustier the Bible, the less the Law has effect. You see, these commandments, get buried under the sinfulness of irreligious men whose hearts become hardened by sin, and through distraction and disinterest and the passing of time, the Laws of God are out of sight and out of mind and they are forgotten. Sometimes, even religious men in their zealousness for their “religion,” bury the intent of the commands (remember they show us how to love) under hearts hardened by an absence of the grace embodied in the gospel! Godless societies have the law in their hearts, but it gets buried deeper and deeper with the passing of time. The One true God is out of sight and out of mind, and when that happens, love is absent, and violence and disorder and hate follow. Our nation....the world....needs the Ten Commandments. We need them in our churches, our Sunday School classes, our homes, and yes if possible in the public square. It was one of our nations founding fathers, John Adams who said “our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people,” No wonder there are so many public displays of these commands in our historic government buildings. The Ten Commandments won't budge as they serve to curb outbreaks of violence and sin in our world. May they resonate anew in our hearts and in the hearts of our fellow citizens in ever increasing measure.