“Written on the Heart” (Exodus 20:1-17)

The Way of Life

One day a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What’s written in God’s law? How do you interpret it?” The man said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus replied, “You have given the right answer. Do this, and you will live!” (Luke 10:25-28)

Who God Is

Today’s scripture reading is about the Ten Commandments. All 613 laws found in the Torah are summed up in the Ten Commandments. There are so many things we can learn from these 17 verses. But the first lesson we can learn is this: The Ten Commandments reveal God’s divine character – Who God Is.

“You shall have no other gods before me.” God is a jealous God. He will not share his glory with any other gods. He is the one and only true God. There is no other. “You shall not make idols.” God is Spirit. He refuses to be worshipped by means of images. We should not confuse the Creator with his creation. “You shall not misuse God’s name.” God is honorable. He is expected to be obeyed and revered. “Remember to keep the Sabbath day holy.” God is Lord every day of the week. He is the Creator in charge, and we are not. “Honor your father and mother.” God wants us to respect authority. “You shall not murder.” God is the Lord and the giver of life. He is Lord over death as well as over life. “You shall not commit adultery.” God is a God of purity and faithfulness. He is holy. “You shall not steal.” “You shall not covet.” God is our Provider. He can be trusted to give us everything we truly need. So we need to trust in God’s providence. “You shall not lie.” God is truth in all he is, says, and does.

The Ten Commandments reveal the character of God. They reveal his sovereignty, justice, holiness, goodness, faithfulness, providence, and truthfulness. All of his attributes can be summarized into one supreme attribute: love. The Ten Commandments can be reduced to two commandments: Love God and love your neighbor.

Who We Are

First, the Ten Commandments reflect God’s character – God is love. Second, the Ten Commandments tell us who we are and who we need to become as well as who God is. They teach God’s will for his people. Although the Ten Commandments were given to Moses at Sinai, these laws had already been given. God had always dealt with his people according to his moral law. For instance, in Genesis Cain was condemned as a murderer. Noah’s son Ham was cursed for dishonoring his father. Lot’s wife was condemned as a covetous woman, Rachel as a thief, Abraham as a liar. In fact, God’s moral law goes all the way back to the garden of Eden. Although Adam and Eve didn’t have God’s law written on the stone tablets, they were already ruled by the same basic principles: love God and love one another. We are made in the image of God – God’s beloved, and God wants us to love him and others.

The problem is, Adam and Eve chose to violate God’s law. They coveted and stole the forbidden fruit that didn’t belong to them. Instead of worshiping God, they themselves wanted to be like God. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, the image of God was damaged and broken. Since then, keeping God’s moral law, the Ten Commandments, became unattainable. God’s people just could not keep them. In fact, no sooner than God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments and told them not to have any other gods or make idols, they made a golden calf (Exodus 32).

Leading to Christ

The Ten Commandments are useful to teach us who God is and who we are, but they are powerless. They do not have the power to transform our sinful nature or to restore the image of God. Then, should we abolish the Ten Commandments? The answer is NO! The Ten Commandments show us our need for a Savior. John Calvin rightly said, “Moses had no other intention than to invite all men to go straight to Christ.” The more we ponder the Ten Commandments, the more we realize that we cannot keep them at all. The Ten Commandments are like a mirror that shows how sinful, how selfish we truly are. The Ten Commandments show that our heart is an idol factory. They show that we don’t love God wholeheartedly. They show that we don’t love our neighbor as ourselves. Although the Ten Commandments cannot change our loveless heart, they show us our sin first, then lead us to Christ.

New Covenant

When the Israelites have gone astray and have all gone their own way, God promised to them through Jeremiah:

"This is the new covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (31:33).

How did God fulfill his promise? The answer is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus perfectly kept the Ten Commandments and the entire Law on our behalf. More than that, he died for all our sins. He died for our sins against God and our sins against others. He died for our idolatry. He died for our rebellion, lying, stealing, murder, and adultery. Christ died for all our sins, and on the cross he suffered the full penalty that our sin deserved. Now all who believe in Jesus Christ will receive his Holy Spirit who empowers them to love God and love others.

And now, as God’s redeemed people, we keep the Ten Commandments, not as a way of getting right with God, but as a way of glorifying the God who has made us right with him. We honor God by worshiping him and using his name properly. We honor God by keeping the Sabbath holy. We honor God by respecting our parents. We honor God by being faithful to our spouse. We honor God by protecting our neighbor’s lives, respecting their property, and telling them the truth. In this respect, the Ten Commandments teach us how to live for God’s glory.

Written on the Heart

The Ten Commandments are not just a list of dos and don’ts. They are all about our inward affections rather than outward conduct. They are from the inside out. The Ten Commandments demand our whole heart.

In his book, “These are the generations,” Eric Foley, Co-Founder of Voice of the Martyrs Korea, shares with us the story of three generations of the Bae family who have faithfully kept their faith in North Korea for more than fifty years, in the midst of brutal oppression and persecution. The first generation, grandparents, did have profound knowledge about the Bible. But, for the second and third generations, everything they heard and knew was the Ten Commandments because of severe persecution. All the Bibles were burnt down. And they were under observation 24/7. But, they have kept their faith. The Ten Commandments taught them who God is and who they are. They taught the Bae family their need for a Savior and led them to Christ. So now they keep the Ten Commandments to honor God with all their heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. Every Sunday, they would gather and memorize the Ten Commandments, and repent according to them. No church exists in North Korea. There is no place or pastor they can offer their tithe to. But the family has always been tithing by using it to help others. They pay for medication for the poor, buy rice and grocery for the hungry. What they learned from the Ten Commandments became their way of life.

Do This and You Will Live

After giving the right answer, the religion scholar wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Then, Jesus told him a story – the story of the Good Samaritan. At the end of the story Jesus asked the man, “Which of the three (a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan) became a neighbor to the man in need?” The scholar replied, “The one who showed mercy to him.” Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.” Here Jesus was saying, “Be a neighbor to everyone instead of asking ‘Who is worthy to be my neighbor?’”

Jesus died for us, so that we might live no longer for ourselves, but for him who died and was raised for us. And now, how can we live for Christ and for his glory? The Apostle Paul gives us the answer. “Brothers and sisters, you were called to freedom. But don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do. Rather, use your freedom to serve others in love. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal 5:13-14). May the Lord give us strength to do what is just to our neighbor, be compassionate, and always put God first. Amen.