Ruffle Some Feathers

Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left Egypt. [2 Chronicles 5.10]

“And now the Lord has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. There I have placed the Ark, which contains the covenant that the Lord made with the people of Israel.” [2 Chronicles 6.10-11]

The Ten Commandments were considered "The Covenant" that God made with His people. These Ten Commandments were the basis for all Jewish law. God's part in the deal was blessing upon His people. Man's part was strict obedience.

Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? [Romans 7.1]

For any and everyone determined to hold to the law (and there are many), I would make the following statement in all accuracy: they have denied not only their own death to self, but also they have denied the death of God's Son, the result of which was the release from the Ten Commandments (the Covenant).

Think! Every time we display the Ten Commandments so proudly in our home, church, or a public place, we are essentially denying Jesus' work on our behalf as well as our own participation in the deal according to Paul's analogy comparing the covenant of the law to the covenant of marriage!

This is sure to ruffle some feathers! But what are we worshipping? A set of rules? God help us! Did Jesus' death on the cross mean nothing? Does the dying of one's self with Christ mean nothing?

But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. [Romans 7.6]

If we persist to display the Ten Commandments, it should only be so with the image of a blood red cross brushed across the face of it!

Father, my lips and my keys will never tire of declaring, "Thank You for Jesus!" Help us to learn the new way of living in the Spirit!