10 Ways to revive your soul

We are taking a break from our series through Romans, having finished Chapter 4, to look together at the Ten Commandments. On Sunday we did a basic intro and looked forward to diving into the first and arguably most important commandment next Sunday - “You shall have no other God’s before me!”

It’s also important to consider your reaction and your own heart when thinking of the Ten Commandments. Do you say with the world “these are oppressive, backward and obsolete.” Or do you say with David “the law of the Lord is perfect reviving the soul.” I hope it is the latter as we look together at these 10 ways to revive your soul and rejoice your heart.

One of the questions we dealt with on Sunday was the question of the relevance of the Ten Commandments for Christians today. This is a more complicated question than you might assume. If we ask the basic question “are Christian’s under the Ten Commandments today” it is possible to give both a “yes” and a “no” in response. “No,” because we are no longer under the old covenant of which the Ten Commandments are a part. But also “yes” because the Ten Commandments are also a central revelation of God’s eternal moral law and character and are upheld in the moral commands of the New Testament. So yes we are under them, but we also have a different relationship to them that those under the old covenant.

What about the question of freedom? Do the Ten Commandments limit human freedom? Do they even limit Christian freedom? Again the answer is yes and no. Yes, in the sense they prevent you from doing certain things. But no, in the sense that following the Ten Commandments is good for you and keeps you free from that which would destroy you. The guard rails on a bridge restrict your freedom also, your freedom to fall off and die. The limits of the ocean restrict a fish’s freedom, freedom to jump on the beach and perish. True freedom depends on proper boundaries and that is what the Ten Commandments give us.

The final question we looked at was “how do we apply the Ten Commandments today” and I suggested you be careful not to simply treat them as a list of commandments. We ought not to simply read the commandments as a list of rules. Even though they are that. But the danger in reading them that way is we may begin to think our acceptance with God is dependent on our obedience. Rather we should look at them through the lens of God’s New Covenant grace.

We should look at them and ask 4 questions:
1) What does this commandment teach me about God? He is holy and has a standard for holiness that must be followed.
2) What does this commandment teach me about me? I need a standard to follow for I am prone to wonder into sin.
3) What does this commandment teach me about Jesus Christ? It teaches me that Christ obeyed this command on my behalf and died for every time I failed to obey it. Which means my acceptance is not based on my obedience but on His!
4) Finally, how now shall I live in response to God’s grace? Answer: obey the commandment!