The great principles of God’s law are embodied in the Ten Commandments and exemplified in the

life of Christ. They express God’s love, will, and purposes concerning human conduct and
relationships and are binding upon all people in every age. These precepts are the basis of God’s
covenant with His people and the standard in God’s judgment. Through the agency of the Holy Spirit
they point out sin and awaken a sense of need for a Saviour. Salvation is all of grace and not of
works, but its fruitage is obedience to the Commandments. This obedience develops Christian
character and results in a sense of well-being. It is an evidence of our love for the Lord and our
concern for our fellow men. The obedience of faith demonstrates the power of Christ to transform
lives, and therefore strengthens Christian witness.

(Ex. 20:1-17;

Chapter
20
1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 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.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for
I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me;
6 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and
keep my commandments.
7 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.
Mt 5:33
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
10 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:
11 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.
12 Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long
upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Ex 21:17 Lev 20:9 Dt 5:16 27:16 Prov 30:17 Mt 15:4 Mt
 19:18 Mark 7:10 Mark 10:19 Luke 18:20 Eph 6:2,3
13 Thou shalt not kill.
Dt 5:17 Mt 5:21 Mt 19:18 Mark 10:19 Luke 18:20 Rom 13:9
James 2:11
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Dt 5:18 Mt 5:27 Mt 19:18 Mark 10:19 Luke 18:20 Rom 13:9
James 2:11
15 Thou shalt not steal.
Dt 5:19 Mt 19:18 Mark 10:19 Luke 18:20 Rom 13:9
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Dt 5:20 Mt 19:18 Mark 10:19 Luke 18:20 Rom 13:9
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not
covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his
maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy
neighbor's.
Mark 10:19 Rom 13:9

Ps. 40:7, 8;

7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
Heb 10:7
8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
Heb 10:7, 9

Matt. 22:36-40;

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Deut 6:5, 10:12 Mark 12:30 Luke 10:27
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Lev 19:18 Matt 5:43 Matt 19:19 Mark 12:31 Rom 13:9 Gal 5:14 Jam 2:8
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Deut. 28:1-14;
 Chapter 28
1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the
LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command
thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of
the earth:
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt
hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit
of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when
thou goest out.
7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten
before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee
seven ways.
8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in
all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which
the LORD thy God giveth thee.
9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn
unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and
walk in his ways.
10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the
LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
11 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body,
and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which
the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain
unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou
shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be
above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the
commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to
observe and to do them:
14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this
day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Matt. 5:17-20;

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to
 destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall
in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall
teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but
whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the
kingdom of heaven.

Heb. 8:8-10;

8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house
of Judah:
Jer 31:31
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I
took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they
continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Jer 31:32
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their
hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Jer 31:33 Heb 10:16

John 15:7-10;

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it
shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my
disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept
my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

Eph. 2:8-10;

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
 of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

1 John 5:3;

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his
commandments are not grievous.

Rom. 8:3, 4;

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin
in the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit.

Ps. 19:7-14.)

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the
LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of
the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD
are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also
than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great
reward.
12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have
dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the
great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in
thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
There are three points we want to observe in this study –

1) God’s unbending justice.

2) The attitude that God’s people should hold in reference to that unbending justice.

3) How the church deals with transgression on the grounds of God’s justice.

Bible religion is Godly fundamentalism in action but the religion of the bible has to do with black and
white with no shades of grey. Right is to be jealously sustained and wrong is to be clearly
condemned. While this is to be the religion of the bible there is a fundamentally right and wrong way
of dealing with the wrong. While we need to deal correctly with the upholding of God’s true ways of
the white in contrast to the black or right in contrast to the wrong, we have a fundamental way of
dealing with the wrong in the right way. Godly fundamentalism includes hating the sin but loving the
sinner. As the hymn says – ‘The thunders of his hand keep the wide world in awe his wrath and
justice stand to guard his holy law and yet where his love resolves to bless his truth confirms and
seals the grace.’ Very fitting words for our meditation today. God has wrath and justice – it stands to
guard his holy law. Rectitude is the character of God. The word rectitude means right, righteousness,
standing 100% on law and right doing.

The law of ten commandments is not to be looked upon as much from the prohibitory side, as
from the mercy side. Its prohibitions are the sure guarantee of happiness in obedience. As
received in Christ, it works in us the purity of character that will bring joy to us through
eternal ages. To the obedient it is a wall of protection. We behold in it the goodness of God,
who by revealing to men the immutable principles of righteousness, seeks to shield them
from the evils that result from transgression.

We are not to regard God as waiting to punish the sinner for his sin. The sinner brings the
punishment upon himself. His own actions start a train of circumstances that bring the sure
result. Every act of transgression reacts upon the sinner, works in him a change of character,
and makes it more easy for him to transgress again. By choosing to sin, men separate
themselves from God, cut themselves off from the channel of blessing, and the sure result is
ruin and death. The law is an expression of God's idea. When we receive it in Christ, it
becomes our idea. It lifts us above the power of natural desires and tendencies, above
temptations that lead to sin. “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall
offend them” (Psalm 119:165)—cause them to stumble. There is no peace in
unrighteousness; the wicked are at war with God. But he who receives the righteousness of
the law in Christ is in harmony with heaven. “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness
and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10).—Letter 96, 1896.