But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  To him be glory both now and forever.  Amen.

2 Peter 3:18

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

 

 

 “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.  Thou shalt have NO OTHER GODS before me.”   (Exodus 20:1-3)   (Emphasis mine)

 

God had redeemed His people Israel from bondage in Egypt.  This is GRACE (undeserved favor).  The proper response to grace is the keeping of the law.  One God means one law -- “no other gods before me.”

 

New Testament Christians are not exempt from this commandment.  We have been redeemed -- from the bondage of sin.  We should keep the law.  We should have no other gods before God.

 

Not money, not pleasure, not family, not tradition, not fame, not power.  Not Mary, not the Pope, not Allah, not Buddha, not Shiva, not Satan.  Just the LORD God of the Bible.

 

Much modern Bible preaching and teaching is “antinomian” (anti-law).  But lawless Christianity is a contradiction in terms.  It is anti-Christian.  “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” (Romans 3:31)

 

 

LAW AND RELIGION

 

Law in any culture is religious.  For example, humanism locates law in the people, as they find expression in the state, the god of the system.  Mao Tse-Tung said, “Our God is none other than the masses of the Chinese people.”

 

Yes, even atheistic communism is religious.  In every culture, the source of law is the god of that society.  Any change of law is an explicit or implicit change in religion.

 

For example, the legal revolution in America indicates a shift from Biblical law to humanism.  Witness the legalization of abortion, homosexuality, and witchcraft.

 

There is zero tolerance in any law system for another religion.  Tolerance is a method used to introduce a new law system -- as a prelude to a new intolerance.

 

Thus, the new god -- the humanistic state, will eventually persecute Christians and Jews who hold to Biblical law.  In every society, law discriminates.

 

It defines who are the legitimate and who are the illegitimate members of that society.  To preach that homosexuality is sin (Leviticus 18:22) is now a “hate crime” in America.  The Bible-believing preacher is now the criminal.

 

 

LAW AND EDUCATION

 

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt LOVE the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  And these words, which I COMMAND thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

 

And thou shalt TEACH them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”   (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)   (Emphasis mine)

 

The “Shema Israel” requires education in the Law of God.  This is love and worship of the one true God.  Anything other than a Biblically grounded education is an act of apostasy for a believer.

 

It means having another god, and bowing down to him, to learn from him.  To turn our children over to the state controlled public schools is to surrender them to the enemy.

 

The public schools have thrown out Biblical Law in favor of humanism.  They teach evolution instead of Creation and situation ethics instead of the Ten Commandments.

 

Sex education, taught without the necessity of the marriage bond, is just another name for teaching whoredom.  Abortion is taught as a “woman's choice” rather than murder.  Homosexuality is taught as an “alternate lifestyle” rather than an abomination to God.

 

Bible reading, prayer, and even the mention of the Lord Jesus Christ, during class time, are now outlawed in most public schools.  Yet common schools were originally established by Calvinistic Christians as a means for children to learn to read the Bible.

 

There has been a shift in loyalty -- a shift in law -- a shift from the LORD God of the Bible to the god of humanism -- the state.  Western society now bows before another god.  Do you?

 

 

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT AND MOLOCH

George Theiss is a combat veteran of Vietnam who now follows the Lamb of God.  He and his wife, Christy, have been married 42 years (in 2019).  They have 8 grown children.  You can contact George at support@tulipgems.com

Copyright © 2002 through 2019 by George Theiss