The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Kelcey W. during the 2009-2010 League.
Mission: Research on the Ten Commandments
Rules can be hard to follow. Sometimes rules can irritate us to our core if we think we do not need the rule. The word "commandment" has taken on a bad connotation in our culture. Even hearing the word can bring to mind tight, conformist policies. It is hard to imagine when laws and rules could be a blessing. However, a world without commandments would be a very scary place. A world without rules means there is no reason to tell someone they cannot kill another man. Rules ensure liberty. If the government did not operate according to the rules in the constitution, nothing would stop them from invading our homes, silencing opposition, and censoring religion. Rules are necessary for a healthy nation.
God gave the Israelites many laws in the Pentateuch, but the most famous of these are the Ten Commandments. Before this time there had been no written law for God's people. These commandments gave them a specific law to turn back to when the lines between wrong and right got blurry. They also pointed to the holiness of God. For one to enter heaven, one must be without fault, holy like God is holy. Unfortunately, if a person breaks even one of these ten laws, it is as if he has broken all of them (James 2:10). The law was designed to bring people to a knowledge of their own sin. Paul says in Romans that he "would not have known sin except for the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, taking opportunity from the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire." These laws are a blessing because they point to our humanity and help us realize we need to be saved by Someone better than us.
Jesus reiterated these commands in the New Testament. He repeated all of them except the fourth commandment dealing with the sabbath day, and He also summed up the ten commandments in two verses: "You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The first three commandments dealt with the holiness of God and told God's people to have no other gods and to make no images to worship. The third also told them not to use God's name carelessly. These are summed up as loving God with everything you have. If you love Him, you do not do these things. The second greatest commandment sums up the rest of the commands dealing with relationships: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love certainly does not include murder, adultery, covetousness, and lying!
The ten commandments are a blessing to the modern world; they are still very relevant for civil laws today. If we did not have laws in place against murder, perjury, and theft, our society would suffer greatly. Likewise, in the nation of Israel, these commands formed the basis of their law and even carried over into the New Testament. Though many of the commands in the Old Testament, like the ones about sacrificing and unclean animals and the sabbath, are not relevant for today, the ones contained in the Ten Commandments still hold true. We are still to obey our parents (Ephesians 6:1, Colossians 3:20), we are not to murder, we are to honor marriage (1 and 2 Corinthians) and we are to do everything in love. These rules are not chains and suffering; they are really life and freedom. Unfortunately, it is impossible to follow every one on our own. However, with Jesus Christ in our lives, it possible to live according to the Ten Commandments with His help. When we tell the truth, love our neighbors, honor marriages and our parents, and respect the property of others, blessings follow. In fact, one command contains a blessing if followed. We learn in Deuteronomy that if we honor our father and mother, our days will be long upon the earth. Truly, however, the greatest blessing the Ten Commandments can give is to know that we are pleasing God and doing what He desires.
