Word of Salvation – Vol.48 No.40 – October 2003

 

Why God's Commandments Need Constant Emphasising

Sermon by Rev M P Geluk

on Lord's Day 44 (Q/A 115 Heid.Cat.)

 

Scripture Readings:  Matthew 5:17-20; Romans 13:8-14

Suggested Hymns:  BoW 436; 119b; 210; 150:1

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In our first sermon on the tenth commandment, which forbids coveting, we saw that coveting is really the sin that so easily leads to other sins. If we did not covet, then we would love God and neighbour perfectly. But in our human nature we find that the desires of our heart are often the opposite of the purity that God wants from us. So we had a careful look at these desires because that's where our disobedience begins.

In our second sermon on this tenth commandment we asked about the kind of obedience that will honour God. We saw that it's to be a comprehensive obedience. That is, we are to obey not just some but all of God's commandments. Then we went on to say that the Christian in this life begins to obey God but it remains an imperfect obedience. Yet at the same time, the Christian who seeks to be obedient experiences many blessings.

Now in this third and final sermon on Lord's Day 44 we look at Question 115, which first makes an observation and then asks a question. The observation is this: "No one in this life can obey the ten commandments perfectly." And the question is: "why then does God want them preached so pointedly?" "Preached so pointedly" simply means teaching and preaching the ten commandments in such a way that we are not left guessing as to what God wants from us.

So why is it that GOD'S COMMANDMENTS NEED CONSTANT EMPHASISING? We give three reasons: One - because faith is not true without obedience; two - because God's commandments drive us to Christ; and three - because God's commandments set a perfect goal for us.

1. Faith is not true without obedience

You probably know that not all Christian churches emphasise the ten commandments as much as churches holding to a Reformed understanding of Scripture. I can't recall hearing the ten commandments read out in the liturgy of evangelical Christian churches. That's not to say that they don't take the ten commandments seriously. It's just that they do not read them out regularly as is done in churches that have their roots in the Reformation. And in recent times, not all Reformed Churches are still following this tradition.

The practice of reading the law of God in church services goes back a long way. I came across an order of service followed by a Christian church from the late 4th century that included readings from the law of God. (Cf "An Outline of Christian Worship", W D Maxwell, p 27). The ten commandments were also part of an order of service put together by an English Puritan (Baxter) from the 16th Century (Maxwell, p 138). The Church of England's Common Book of Prayer of 1662 had in its liturgy for worship the ten commandments (Maxwell, p 152). John Calvin certainly had the ten commandments in his order of worship. And in his Institutes Calvin refers with approval to the church father Augustine, of the late fourth and early fifth centuries, and strongly recommended to contemporaries of his time, including the pope, that Christians will live closer to God when observing the law (Institutes 2.7.9).

From these sources the Reformed tradition developed the practice of frequently including the ten commandments in the Sunday morning liturgy. Not only that, the ten commandments also featured prominently in the famous Confessions of the Reformation. The Heidelberg Catechism, for example, has 21 questions and answers on the ten commandments and it applies them to all of life. So if the Catechism is preached through approximately every three years, and some ministers manage to do it in less, then the application of the ten commandments to all of life is frequently heard by members of churches that still have catechism preaching.

Is there a scriptural reason for this constant emphasis on the ten commandments? There is no direct command in the Bible that the church in its worship must regularly read the ten commandments. However, the ten commandments figure prominently in Scripture. They were given to Israel at Mount Sinai shortly after the Exodus and repeated again just before they entered the promised land. Throughout the Old Testament there are many references to them. The New Testament is no different. In His sermon on the mount Jesus taught the commandments in a wonderfully refreshing way. The Lord repeated most of the ten commandments to the rich young ruler who appeared familiar with them. The apostle Paul referred to them specifically in his letter to the Romans and other New Testament letters also frequently refer to them.

The ten commandments clearly reveal the will of God for our lives. And our obedience will show if we belong to God's kingdom. Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Mt 7:21).

Jesus also said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (Jn 14:15). It's possible for people to say all kinds of nice things about God, Christ, and the Bible, even attend church regularly, and yet not have a real love for Christ. An obvious disregard for God's commandments will show that. Just having nice feelings about God and saying positive things about Him do not by themselves indicate a love for and faith in God. Obeying Jesus is a clear proof to Him that you love Him and believe in Him.

It has become necessary in our day to again emphasise obedience to God's commandments. One reason for this emphasis is the way in which many churches are now worshipping God. Worship has often become one-sidedly enthusiastic. It's not the first time in the history of the Christian church that an imbalance between repentance and joy has occurred. Either the worship of God lost its joy and became morbid, or it became all praise and lost its humbleness. The true nature of worship comes out in the Psalms and in the believers' prayers that God has included in the Scriptures. There we find both a 'Have mercy on us, O Lord' and a "Praise God, hallelujah.' There is both a plea for forgiveness and a rejoicing in so great a salvation.

So a continuous joy and praise to the Lord does not automatically mean a true spirituality. Neither does a routine asking for God's mercy. True spirituality, which is the same as having a true faith and a biblical holiness, is best identified by one's obedience to God's commandments.

So how obedient are we to God's commandments? That's best answered by how close we are to God and His Word. How open we are to the leading and guidance of God's Spirit. And being careful that we know the Spirit's work from Scripture and not from what we may imagine. The test is not one's excitement, not our warmth, not our spiritual emotions, not our being able to sing spiritual songs throughout the day, and not our many prayers - however genuine all that may be. The test is our obedience to God's commandments. "If you love me," said Jesus, "you will obey what I command."

The letter of James teaches us very clearly that faith without obedience to God's commandments is useless. Such a faith does not save a person.

What is God's purpose in saving sinners? It's not to have them say that they believe in Him whilst their lives remain basically unchanged. If God had not called us to be different from the people of the world who don't believe in God, then what would be the purpose of salvation? One of the biggest concerns every church should have about its members is that some may profess faith but have no obedience to God's commandments.

God's purpose in saving sinners is that the requirements of His law might be fulfilled in them (Rom 8:4). When God saves sinners then He puts His Spirit in them, and the work of the Spirit in the Christian is to have the Christian take on the kind of life that glorifies God. It is to be perfect as God is perfect. It is to be holy as God is holy. Although we won't reach perfection in this life, yet God's purpose in saving us is to have His Spirit mould us into a people that are always growing in holiness. This happens when there is a growing in obedience. It happens when there is true faith.

Why did God elect sinners? And why are the elect then called and justified? It is to have them conform to the likeness of His Son (Rom 8:29). God wants to see in those whom He is saving the righteousness that Jesus has.

Therefore, for these reasons, the ten commandments should receive our constant attention. The church must repeatedly spell out what they mean, apply them to all of life, and emphasise that they are there not simply to be given lip service but to be obeyed. We're not saying that our obedience to the commandments will save us, but we are saying that faith is not true without obedience.

2. God's commandments drive us to Christ

We must also say something about our struggles in seeking to obey God. In the previous sermon on the tenth commandment we spoke about the nature of the Christian's obedience and we noted that it is imperfect. What is there to say then about our faith when we struggle to obey God? Is our faith not a true faith when our obedience is imperfect?

Thankfully we may answer that faith can still be true even though our obedience to God's commandments is imperfect. But what do we do with our imperfect obedience? You're not going to do much when you never, or hardly ever, hear the commandments. Then it is easy for you to assume that you're doing fine spiritually. What we really need to hear is what God thinks of us. We need to hear His will for our life. We must make our spiritual assessment in the light of His commandments. And that's how you and I discover again and again that our obedience to God who saves us is so disappointingly imperfect. The commandments are making us see our sinfulness. We are not serving the Lord as we should. We are not glorifying Him in the manner He asks of us. We fall far short of the holiness and purity that He wants to see in His children.

So what do we do? Well, where can the Christian go when the commandments have made him aware again of his sinful heart? Where is the place of acceptance? Where can we find forgiveness, compassion and renewal? With Christ of course! Christ will receive us. He is the Saviour. He is the Friend of sinners who in humility seek pardon and restoration. Through His commandments God makes us see what we still lack in our obedience to Him, but at the same time this wonderful, gracious God points us again to His laws as showing us the way to glorify Him.

Please understand here that God's commandments do not only function as a law of condemnation. The law condemns unbelievers but not believers who have asked for and received God's mercy. When an unbeliever hears the commandments, then it may make him aware of his disobedience to God and that he is a sinner without forgiveness. When he shrugs this off and remains indifferent to what God is telling him, then he also remains in his condemned state. And God will judge him for his sins.

But the Christian is one who has repented of his sin and believes in Christ. He has been saved from God's judgment. When God's law continues to make him aware of his shortcomings, then he must trust that God is now not condemning him. The Christian may believe that Christ has paid for all his sins. But through the law showing up our shortcomings, we are driven once more to Christ, for it is Christ who forgives and helps us grow in obedience. To the hardened and stubborn unbeliever, God's law is a reminder that he stands condemned before God. But to the Christian, God's law is an expression of His love and concern.

Imagine a father teaching his son a particular skill, say a bit of carpentry or some of the finer points of gardening. At first the son is not so good at it. It takes time and effort to master the skill. The son struggles with the imperfections of his work. He wonders if he will get better. He needs his father to remind him and show him again and again how it is done. The father is happy to do this, for he loves his son and is concerned that his son becomes better at it. The father knows that improved mastery of the skill will bring pleasure and satisfaction.

In the same way God our Father shows us through His commandments how He wants us to live as His children. He points us to Christ, His Son, who is to us the Way, the Truth, and the Life. By looking to Christ's life, as shown to us in the gospels, we can see where our obedience leads. God's law does not condemn us as Christians. It drives us to Christ and as we become like Him we will experience blessings.

In all this we should also be patient with each other. It takes time to grow in obedience. When we talk about the commandments driving us to Christ, then we are talking about the length of our earthly life. The Catechism speaks of growing in this obedience "the longer we live." For example, the more senior members of the congregation can be impatient with the youth. They ask, why are our young people not living like Christians should?

There are two things to be kept in mind here. First, those who are older and supposed to be wiser may not always themselves be examples of Christlike obedience. We need to repent when we are bad examples and change our ways so that we don't cause the younger members of the church to stumble. Then secondly, we must always continue to pray for the conversion of our covenant youth, and also teach them what conversion means. It takes years for a child to grow into adulthood. In the process the growing child must learn to put away childish ways. It cannot go on making childish excuses. So also the converted Christian. It takes times to grow into spiritual maturity. But we must not use immaturity as an excuse for a poor obedience to God's commandments.

3. God's commandments set a perfect goal for us

What is this goal? It's perfection! Our holy and perfect God cannot be satisfied with anything less than perfection. He always says, be perfect as I am perfect; be holy as I am holy. The fact that we are unable to attain to perfection in this life does not mean that God will now be satisfied with less. God does not change His demands and expectations just because we can't fulfil them. God remains the same.

In His wonderful work of salvation, God has credited Christ's perfection to the believer. Having been declared righteous by God through faith in Christ, the Christian believer has in that sense been made perfect. But it's a perfection given to us. It's like wearing Christ's clothes. Whenever we don't wear His garment of righteousness properly, whenever we fail to wear all of it, then it shows up our imperfect clothes underneath. It just comes to the surface whenever Christ's clothes do not wholly cover us.

But now every Christian is to constantly try and wear Christ's clothes properly and completely. It's to make progress towards this perfection that the believer has already in Christ. What we're really talking about is of course the Christian's sanctification. We are talking about the work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian, helping the believer to become like Christ.

This is the whole purpose of God giving us His Holy Spirit. Are we making progress towards the goal of perfection? The goal will be reached when the believer is with God in heaven. That's when our earthly race will end. All believers are perfect when they begin to live on the new earth. But now we're still running the race. Perfection is up ahead - it's the prize, the reward.

The question is - are we now reaching out for it? Are we straining towards it? It's the running of the Christian race the New Testament talks about.

God's commandments again have a purpose for us here. We have already heard how obedience to the commandments will show that we have a true faith. We also heard that the commandments make us see our imperfection and this drives us to Christ for forgiveness and help. And now we're saying that the commandments set a perfect goal for us and show us how to make progress toward it.

Let's make use of another illustration. A man and a woman are going to be married on a certain date. On their wedding day they are preparing themselves to be a wonderful bride and bridegroom. They are not husband and wife until they are declared to be husband and wife under the laws of the state and by the rites of the church in the marriage ceremony. They also have to sign legal documents. But leading up to that point the bride is busy getting her hair done, fixing her make-up, putting on her bridal gown, and everything else that goes with looking a radiant bride. The bridegroom will be doing all he can to make himself look most presentable. It would look very poor indeed if the bride and groom did not scrub up and arrived at the wedding ceremony with unwashed hair, smelly bodies, and dirty clothes.

In a similar way Christians are going to take their place at the wedding supper of the Lamb. It will be the royal wedding feast of Christ with His bride the church. That's the goal we're looking forward to. The question is: are we now already getting ourselves cleaned up and looking nice. Are we making progress, or are we still stuck in a lifestyle that does not suggest at all that we're going to meet Christ?

How do we know what we must begin to look like? How do we know what will be pleasing to Christ? God's commandments show us how. Whenever we hear the ten commandments and learn what they mean for us, then we know what to do as we prepare to meet Christ our Lord and Saviour. The Catechism puts it this way: "we may never stop striving to be renewed more and more after God's image until after this life we reach our goal: perfection."

In this striving we are not on our own. God has given us another wonderful tool to help us. It's the gift of prayer. To make progress in our Christian life, we need the grace of the Holy Spirit at every turn and winding of the way. We may pray for the Spirit's grace.

Straight after the Catechism has dealt with the ten commandments, it turns to the Lord's prayer. We cannot make much progress without prayer. The disciples had observed Jesus and knew they were looking at the perfect life. The Lord had called them to follow Him but how could they ever hope to become even a bit like Him? So they asked Him, "Lord, teach us to pray".

Growing in obedience to God's commandments is not going happen by making all kinds of goodwill resolutions but by humble prayer to our Father in heaven. Not by starting to march to the goal of heaven in our own strength, but on our knees, praying.

Amen.