The Ten Commandments - Should They be Repealed?

In a secular forum I once posted an article about repealing a law against adultery. The title came from a line in the article in which the author of it called laws against adultery, “draconian.” Someone responded that maybe I was suggesting we repeal the Ten Commandments. I responded to him as follows.

Let me set the record straight. I do not consider that law (against adultery) draconian and I consider its repeal a giant step backward because we are now making legally acceptable a practice that is probably exceeded in the harm it does only by murder. Worse, the frequency is far greater making it's impact even more. I am not sure that it isn't more harmful than murder in some cases and certainly it leads to it at times destroying even more lives.

As for repealing the ten commandments, look at where we are. And as you read this remember that there are those who want to remove the ten commandments from public places. Is it possibly because they remind them of their shortcomings?

As you read this, remember the president who was found committing adultery in the White House, lying to a grand jury and taking favors for pardons. Remember heads of companies manipulating stock prices to get money they were not entitled to but for this chicanery. Remember those who would take advantage of others to the extent of causing them to loose their livelihood. Remember those who would consider making a buck so important that they would destroy themselves and their family to do it. Remember those who have used their supposed connection to God to allow them access to young people for despicable reasons. Remember those who have robbed the poor in the name of God by false teaching on the subject of giving. And you will see why we need the Ten Commandments in public, exposed and available for all to see. To our discredit we need them visible in the church.

Exod 20:3-17

1 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

>>>>All too many people look at this only in the spiritual sense. Once we create a god for ourselves we place it above relationships and others. If you look at the balance Jesus struck in this you will see that he said, "Love the Lord with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself." Among those who have sincerely tried to do this, even when they missed it at times, have been those who have benefited mankind, no matter if they were a King, President, housewife or truck driver.

2 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

>>>>Most of those who have come to worshiping images have been willing to kill and enslave people. These images can come in the form of man or beast. But I have seen them be homes, buildings, historical shrines, frogs and forests.

3 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

>>>>Most people believe this is profanity. It is, but there is a higher meaning that most miss. Those who would falsely purport to speak for God are taking his name in vain. They may be saying, "God told me to do this." They maybe pretending to be God's representative. No matter what, they are taking His name in vain unless they actually have that relationship. And it is using God's name to take advantage of others, financially, socially, or economically.

4 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

>>>>This has thousands of interpretations. I cannot go with the extremes in either case. But there is a value to the concept that God established in creation that there was needed a time for rest and reflection. Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. He also asked if it was unlawful to do good on the Sabbath. I think if we look at this commandment and His statements together and balance them we would do well.

5 Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.