The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Jack H. during the 2008-2009 League.
Mission: Research - Blessings of the Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments are the core foundation on which Old Testament law is based. They are the cornerstone of the sacrificial system. Theoretically, through our perfect obedience of these commandments, we should be able to gain access in to heaven. But we are fallen, worthless creatures who are unable to uphold even the basic laws given by God. Our desperate failure in the sacrificial system prepared the way for a different system of obedience to God, a system founded on grace and ultimate sacrifice.
God is an awesome being, unable to endure sin in His presence. Therefore, to be in the presence of God, we must be blameless, we must be atoned for. The original way to become blameless was through the sacrificing of animals and obedience to the laws of God, the most important of these laws were written in stone, the Ten Commandments. Moses was the instrument that the Lord used to give these laws to the people of Israel. To be in the presence of God will be an awesome thing. Moses' face and skin shone for days after he talked with God (Ex. 33). It seems simple in theory. We uphold the commandments, sacrifice to attain for past sins, become blameless and attain an audience with God. Yet we in our finite sinful bodies cannot by our own strength in any way attain an audience, or even fathom the infinite Holy being of our God. Therefore we cannot be saved by the Commandments; we must have another way to become righteous.
Here is where Christ enters the equation. He died for our sin and absorbed the wrath of God. We now have a high priest, a blameless mediator who intercedes for us in the presence of God. We have been saved by grace, the grace of Christ Jesus, not by works (Eph. 2:8-9). Now, we uphold the Commandments, not as a means of entrance to heaven, but as a response to the infinite love showed to us by our creator. When Jesus spoke about the Commandments, he summed them up into two commands: "Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength" and, "Love you neighbor as yourself." The first commandment deals with our vertical relationship with our creator, and sums up the first four commandments, and the second deals with our horizontal relationships with others, and sums up the last six commands. The first command is more important, because our love for the Father and His love for us allows us to love other humans in a way that would be impossible without God. If we were to simply love people without God, it would be a hollow love that would not last. But by His love for us, we can love other in the same way, or at least in a similar way, since our love is still very imperfect compared to His. Therefore, a new system has been established. We are no longer slaves to Old Testament law, but we are free through the grace of Jesus Christ. Thankfully I do not have to rely on my shoddy works to gain access to God, Jesus intercedes for me. Now, do we abandon the law since Jesus saves us? No, I do not think so. Instead, we should uphold the law out of obedience to Christ, not because we can uphold it perfectly, but out of a response to His grace. We follow the law, in a sense, because we know that we do not have to. For it is Christ who saves.
