Foreword:
The following exerpt is taken from The Ten
Commandments by Arthur W. Pink
(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)
In this blog series I will work through this very
important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style
questions at the end. In our day, when people who identify themselves as
Christians are so sensitive to any accusation of legalism that they tend to
swing all the way out to antinomianism (that is lawlessness), it is perhaps now
more than ever that we ought to prayerfully re-examine the Ten Commandments –
and few do it better than Arthur Pink (1886 - 1952). I found
this article to be very convicting as I first worked through it. And, lest we
think we the church are not in need of this labour, let us be reminded that
those whom Jesus will reject on the last Day even though they did many mighty
works in his name, were accused by our Lord of not just having no intimate relationship
with him (‘I never knew you’), but also that they were accused as workers of
lawlessness by our Lord. The Law of God does not save, nor does it keep one
saved – none the less we are called to obedience to it who are saved – but
enough of me – here is Arthur Pink…
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT PART I
"And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord
thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage" (Ex. 20:1, 2). This Preface to the Moral Law is to be regarded as
having equal respect to all the Ten Commandments (and not to the first one
only), containing as it does the most weighty arguments to enforce our
obedience to them. As it is the custom of kings and governors to prefix their
names and titles before the edicts set forth by them, to obtain the more
attention and veneration to what they publish, so with the great God, the King
of kings, being about to proclaim a Law for His subjects, that He might affect
them with a deeper reverence for His authority and make them the more afraid to
transgress those statutes which are enacted by so mighty a Potentate and so
glorious a Majesty, blazons His august Name upon them.
What has just been pointed out above is clearly established
by those awe-inspiring words of Moses to Israel: "That thou mayest fear
this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD" (Deut. 28:58). "I
am the Lord thy God." The word for "Lord" is
"Jehovah," who is the Supreme, Eternal and Self-existent One, the force
of which is (as it were) spelled out for us in "which was, and is, and is
to come" (Rev. 4:8). The word for "God" is "Elohim,"
the plural of Eloah, for though He be one in nature yet is He three in His
Persons. And this Jehovah, the Supreme Object of worship, is "thy
GOD," because in the past He was thy Creator, in the present He is thy
Ruler, and in the future He will be thy judge. In addition, He is the
"God" of His elect by covenant relationship and therefore their
Redeemer. Thus, our obedience to His Law is enforced by these considerations: His
absolute authority, to beget fear in us--He is "the Lord thy God";
His benefits and mercies, to engage love--"which brought thee out of the
(antitypical) house of bondage."
1) What was the most weighty argument given by God to
enforce the Israelite’s obedience to the Ten commandments? What house of
bondage have we who are alive today been bought out of by the Lord? How did He
do this?
2) Imagine that everytime you were about to sin you not
only had such a good grasp of scripture as to think the very words that God has
given that forbid your imminent sin; but then also imagine that these were
prefaced with God’s mighty titles and a description of what He has done for you
(created you, sustained you and forgiven you through the death of His Son).
Surely this is the very idea behind scriptures like:
“Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with
the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day
and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
(Psalm 1:1-3) and …
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
(Psalm 119:11) and …
The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not
slip.
(Psalm 37:31) and …
I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within
my heart."
(Psalm 40:8)
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