Have you kept the Law - the Ten Commandments?

You know the commandments: Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother. (Mark 10:19)

The Law that you can never escape is God's perfect moral Law - the Ten Commandments. In this verse, Jesus lists five of the Ten Commandments. Let's look at them one by one and see how you will do on judgment day.

• Do not murder: Now you are probably saying to yourself, "I have never killed anyone." But look further into the Bible: Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire." (Matthew 5:21-22) To make matters worse, 1 John 3:15 says, "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." Have you ever hated someone or called them a fool? If so, God sees you as a murderer.
• Do not commit adultery: The dictionary defines adultery as "(Law) voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man or woman and a partner other than the legal spouse". You might be able to say, "I have never done that". You might be saying, "I am not even married." However, remember we are looking at the law of man, we are looking at God's Law. So we must consider how God defines the term. Consider Jesus' words in Matthew 5:27-28, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Have you ever done that, any time in your life: looked at another person with lust? Surely if you are honest with yourself you will see that you fall short of God's standard here. If so, God sees you as an adulterer.
• Do not steal: Have you ever taken anything, regardless of value that belonged to someone else? What do you call someone who steals? That's right, God would see you as a thief!
• Do not bear false witness: False witness is just another way of saying not to lie. Have you ever told a lie? If so, what does that make you? That's right, a liar!
• Honor your father and mother: Honor means to hold in high respect. Have you always done that, perfectly, your entire life. As a child a simple way to see this might be to remember when mom and dad asked you to go clean your room, take a bath or go to bed. Did you do it perfectly, the first time they said to, without an attitude? Or did they have to count to three and threaten you before you complyed with their request. Even as an adult, you are not without excuse. Paul wrote in Romans 12:10, "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor." Certainly your parents are included in the call to honor all people.

So how did you do? These are just five of the Ten commandments. We could go on to look at the remaining five (see Exodus 20), however, if you are reasonable, then you probably will already indicate that you have not kept God's Law (the Ten Commandments) perfectly. Please click next to see where you will spend eternity.