A couple of weeks ago, teaching from The Book of Titus in Sunday School, Dr. G. passed out some small pieces of paper with white print on a purple background. The class was surprised, anticipating that Dr. G. would go directly into the duties of ministers, older men, older women, young men and young women. They were possibly wondering why they were being distributed the small pieces of purple paper.
But when Dr. G. got to sound doctrine, she made the connection, expressing that she wanted to ensure that the adult students realized that the “Ten Commandments,” also called “The Ten Tenets,” or “The Ten Principles Still” are part of sound doctrine teaching in our times, and that we should not exclude them from our teaching, whether by formal or informal instruction, in open forums or private conversations, or in modeling the behavior that should be demonstrated by God’s people. Her unspoken purpose was to cause participants to remember that the Ten Commandments are still relevant today. “The Ten Principles Still Work!”
So, to reinforce her purpose, realizing that many believers don’t often revisit these commandments from our Sovereign God, I have listed them below for you to read today. I have used the Easy-to-Read translation, but if you so choose, read them from your favorite version of the bible.
One note before you read! No one is perfect! We just strive for perfection, as I have told you before, and by striving in that way, we achieve excellence as living as a Christian ought. Furthermore, we do not purposely sin, speaking of believers, but we do have failings. And thank God that we can confess our sins, knowing that He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us of all righteousness. Finally, before you read the “Ten Principles,” know that when our slate has been cleaned, we should start out with a new determination, a new devotion, a new dedicated spirit, to live holy and to live right and to live in accordance to these principles. We don’t practice sin, but we pursue righteousness. Well, enough said! Read the commandments, think about them, and have a great day! Be blessed!
These are the things God told his people: 2 “I am the Lord your God. I am the one who freed you from the land of Egypt, where you were slaves. 3 “You must not worship any other gods except me. 4 “You must not make any idols. Don’t make any statues or pictures of anything up in the sky or of anything on the earth or of anything down in the water. 5 Don’t worship or serve idols of any kind, because I, the Lord, am your God. I hate my people worshiping other gods. People who sin against me become my enemies, and I will punish them. And I will punish their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren. 6 But I will be very kind to people who love me and obey my commands. I will be kind to their families for thousands of generations. 7 “You must not use the name of the Lord your God to make empty promises. If you do, the Lord will not let you go unpunished. 8 “You must remember to keep the Sabbath a special day. 9 You may work six days a week to do your job. 10 But the seventh day is a day of rest in honor of the Lord your God. So on that day no one should work—not you, your sons and daughters, or your men and women slaves. Even your animals and the foreigners living in your cities must not work! 11 That is because the Lord worked six days and made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. And on the seventh day, he rested. In this way the Lord blessed the Sabbath—the day of rest. He made that a very special day. 12 “You must honor and respect your father and your mother. Do this so that you will have a full life in the land that the Lord your God gives you. 13 “You must not murder anyone. 14 “You must not commit adultery. 15 “You must not steal anything. 16 “You must not tell lies about other people. 17 “You must not want to take your neighbor’s house. You must not want his wife. And you must not want his men and women servants or his cattle or his donkeys. You must not want to take anything that belongs to another person.” (Exodus 20:1-17 ERV)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King