An angry group of citizens shouted at their small town
mayor-"Every city car that passes through here breaks the
law by breaking the speed limit. You've got to do something
about it, and do it fast." "Don't you worry," said the mayor
with confidence. "I'll raise the speed limit to 150. Let's see
them beat that!"
This mayor had an easy solution, which would effectively
eliminate lawlessness. All you have to do is change the law, or
redefine lawlessness. You can just change the definition of
lawlessness and get rid of it. This is a process that goes on all
the time in our culture. What was once a bad thing is no
longer a bad thing because it has been defined as no longer
bad, but acceptable. Relativity is real, but when it enters into
the realm of morality it becomes very dangerous. Men use it
to change what is evil in God's eyes into what is acceptable
to men. Or, on the other hand, they change what was once a
virtue into a vice. For example, the young girl who brought
her Bible to school was sent home, as if it were a crime.
It is no wonder that there is confusion about the law, for
it is no longer stable as it once was. It is full of loopholes, so
that not all are treated equal, and it can be changed any day,
so that what was wrong yesterday can be right tomorrow.
The average American is skeptical about the law, for he
knows it is often just an arbitrary will of the majority
imposed on the minority. Much of the lawlessness of our day
is due to the laws protection of injustice. The law can protect
and defend evil as well as good. It can be an instrument of
oppression and slavery, as well as a force for freedom. Every
dictator and tyrant controls his people through law. Abuse
of the law is as common as its legitimate use.
Even in the church the law of God was abused. The
Puritans in Salem, for example, were determined to legislate
the Kingdom of God into reality, and they were going to
make the New Jerusalem on earth. These were some of the
Sabbath laws they made-
No one shall run on the Sabbath or walk in his garden.
No one shall make beds, cut hair, or shave.
No woman shall kiss her child on the Sabbath.
No food or lodging shall be given to any Quaker or other
heretic.
And they were not just kidding either. Disobedience was not
tolerated, but met with heavy penalties.
Roger Williams, one of the heroes of freedom, was a
minister in Salem. He objected to the use of law in regulating
matters of conscience. He said this is contrary to the doctrine
of Jesus Christ. This was an attack on their system of law,
and they pronounced the sentence of banishment on him, for
the audacity to question their law. He was able to escape and
by the help of friendly Indians get to what became known as
Rhode Island. It was there that Roger Williams established
the first place on earth with total religious liberty. He also
established the first Baptist church in America there.
He became a hero of freedom, and he is studied in all the
secular history books. Yet, he became this hero by being
lawless. He rebelled against the laws he felt were unjust both
in the church and the state. He started the long hard battle
to get the laws of the state and the church to leave men free
in the realm of their religious beliefs. You cannot make
believers by means of the law. This is a personal act of choice
and faith, and not a matter you can legislate. Many
Christians through the centuries have ended up in prison,
just like Peter in the New Testament, because they refused to
obey laws that interfered with their obedience to God. They
were seen as lawless, but in reality they were being loyal to
the highest law, the law of God.
Christians have recognized what observant men of all
ages have noticed, and that is, that law that is a respecter of
persons is an instrument of evil, whereas, law that treats all
men equally is an instrument for justice. Benjamin Franklin
said, "Laws like to cobwebs, catch small flies, Great ones
break them before your eyes." An 18th century saying of
similar thought goes like this-
"The law doth punish man or woman
That steals the goose from off the common,
But let's the greater felon loose
That steals the common from the goose."
In other words, there is a duel standard in which the weak
and poor must suffer the full penalty of the law, but the rich
and powerful can escape it and even become heroes in doing
so. Pope said, "All look up with reverential awe, At crimes
that 'scape, or triumph o'er the law."
The Christian must respond when asked about his view of
the law, that it is a realm where every situation must be
evaluated by itself. If the law is just and consistent with the
absolute law of God's revelation, the Christian is bound to
defend it. If the law is unjust and is itself a violation of the
law of God, the Christian is equally bound to be lawless, and
defy that law for the sake of freedom and loyalty to God.
The heroes of freedom in church and state have been those
who defied unjust laws.
All of this means that there is nothing more relevant to
our day than a depth knowledge of God's law. It becomes
the absolute guide and standard by which the Christian
must decide where to stand to be a true defender of freedom.
We dare not decide on the basis of the world's standard, for
it is completely relative to the values of the world. The
Christian is not lawful or lawless by his relationship to any
of man's standards, but by his relationship to God's
standards, which are summarized in the Ten
Commandments. You might be thought of as a perfectly law
abiding American citizen, and yet be a lawless rebel in
relationship to the law of God. You may never murder or
steal, but be filled with hate and covetousness, which the law
of God forbids. On the other hand, you may end up in
prison because you do not obey the law of the land that
demands prejudice and hate.
Lawful and lawless are terms that must be seen in
relationship to the revealed Word of God to have any
significance for the Christian. The Church has always
recognized this and that is why Orthodoxy has never even
suggested that the New Testament has eliminated the Ten
Commandments. They are still vital guides for the Christian
life.
Luther said, "He who destroys the doctrine of the law
destroys at the same time political and social order...."Calvin
wrote, "We must not imagine that the coming of
Christ has freed us from the authority of the law; for it is the
eternal rule of a devout and holy life, and must, therefore, be
as unchangeable as the justice of God." John Wesley wrote,
" The moral law, contained in the Ten Commandments and
enforced by the Prophets, he (Christ) did not take away. It
was not the design of his coming to revoke any part of
this...The moral law stands on an entirely different
foundation from the ceremonial and ritual law... Every part
of this law must remain in force upon all mankind, and in all
ages."
These convictions have been stated by the great Christian
leaders of this century as well. Spurgeon said, "First, the law
of God must be perpetual. There is no abrogation of it, nor
amendment of it. It is not to be toned down or adjusted to
our fallen condition; but every one of the Lord's righteous
judgements abideth forever." And D. L. Moody said, "Jesus
never condemned the law and the prophets, but He did
condemn those who did not obey them. Because He gave
new commandments it does not follow that He abolished the
old. Christ's explanation of them made them all the more
searching."
These quotes from outstanding representatives of the
Christian Church make it clear that Orthodoxy has always
considered the Ten Commandments to be an absolute
revelation perpetually binding as long as earth shall last.
Those who criticize them as being old and obsolete for our
day fail to see their depth and perpetual relevance to all
ages. They say the old morality is stagnant like a puddle that
has set until it stinks. In Christian Reflections, C. S. Lewis
refutes this fallacy in a way worthy of being quoted, even
though it is a lengthy paragraph.
"Space does not stink because it has preserved its three
dimensions from the beginning. The square on the
hypotenuse has not gone moldy by continuing to equal the
sum of the squares on the other two sides. Love in not
dishonored by constancy, and when we wash our hands we
are seeking stagnation and putting the clock back, artificially
restoring our hands to the status quo in which they began
the day and resisting the natural trend of events which
would increase their dirtiness steadily from our birth to our
death. For the emotive term 'stagnant' let us substitute the
descriptive term 'permanent.' Does a permanent moral
standard preclude progress? On the contrary, except on the
supposition of a change-less standard, progress is impossible.
If good is a fixed point, it is at least possible that we should
get nearer and nearer to it; but if the terminus is as mobile
as the train, how can the train progress toward it? Our
ideas of the good may change, but they cannot change either
for the better or the worst if there is no absolute and
immutable good to which they can approximate or from
which they can recede. We can go on getting a sum more
and more nearly right only if the one perfectly right answer
is 'stagnant'"
This is the Christian attitude toward the law of God. It is
permanent, absolute, and it is the standard by which we test
the validity of all other laws. If they are unjust and are a
hindrance to man's legitimate freedom the Christian is to
oppose them as Jesus did the laws of the Pharisees. Law is
good and vital to man's happiness and welfare, but law is
only absolute when it is God's law. The Ten
Commandments are God's law for all men in all ages.
If an atheist says the Sea of Galilee is North of the Dead
Sea, it is just as true as if a Christian says it. If a thing is
true it makes no difference who says it. If an evil man says
two plus two equals four, it is not less true because he is evil.
A godly man cannot make it more true, for it is an objective
truth evident to all.
The Ten Commandments in some form are seen all over
the world in every culture. You can find laws from ancient
Egypt to modern India, which are just different versions of
the Ten Commandments. They are the universal top ten, for
they deal with issues that are relevant to all men. Civilized
men the world over, though fallen and lovers of sin, know
that there are some things that need to be forbidden to make
life tolerable.
The Mohammedans consider them just as sacred as do
the Jews and Christians. There is nothing on which so many
of the people of the world agree. They are no less true and
valuable when quoted by a pagan. They cannot save man,
but the fact is they help control man and his evil nature. It
is obedience to these top ten that keeps the world going.
Every culture that rises above the barbaric does so because
people are regulated by these laws. Millions of pagans have
a life with some degree of meaning and peace because they
live in the midst of neighbors who do not kill, steal, or
violate their mates.
The problem is, it is only the second half of the ten that
man obeys. The first half deals with God and loyalty to
Him. Here man is weak and this leads to humanism.
Humanism is faith in man without faith in God. It is the
result of a split in the Ten Commandments. Man has
developed a split-level world where he has cut himself off
from the top of the top ten. Until he gets the two halves of
these ten united he will be divided in his inner being and be
a civil war. Humanism fails, not because it is not full of what
is true, but because it deals with only half of reality and
leaves the greatest half out of the picture, which is God.
