No Other Gods: The Foundation of our Ethics
For this first session, we will begin looking at what the Ten Commandments can teach us about how we should live. We will see how the first commandment provides the foundation for Christian ethics.
In this Session, we will discuss:
Positive and Negative Commands
Christianity vs. Secularism
The Authority of Jesus Christ
Part 1
Introduction to the Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments lay the foundation for ethics by providing a picture of how we should live as God’s people. The Commandments have been used to teach God’s people for millennia what a rightly ordered life looks like, as well as what evil actions to avoid.
The Ten Commandments
And God spoke all these words, saying,
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”
– Exodus 20:1-17
Video: Introducing the Ten Commandments
Key Points from Part 1
Jesus did not come to do away with the moral code found in the Old Testament law.
Jesus didn’t free us from accountability to God’s moral laws. Jesus freed us from condemnation before the Law because of our disobedience.
The Ten Commandments are central to New Testament ethics, and they have played an important role in the instruction and education of Christians for centuries.
Positive and Negative Commands
Positive commands (i.e. You shall) bind you to that one thing, where as negative commands (i.e. You shall not) only restrict you from one thing.
Review Questions
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Yes, because they reveal God’s unchanging moral will for His peoples’ lives.
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Through His death and resurrection, Jesus freed us from condemnation under the law. However, this does not mean that we are not still accountable to living the type of life God desires. Jesus freed us to obey God without fear of condemnation when we fail.
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A command that binds someone to one particular thing.
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A command that restricts someone from one particular thing.
Key Points from Part 2
Nothing in our lives should take God’s place.
Wayne Grudem: “The first commandment reminds us that God deserves and requires our absolute reverence, trust, obedience, and love.”
God serves as the standard for morality - He determines how we are to live.
The World’s rejection of God’s Authority
Secularism sees engagement in public life, ethics, and politics as merely a human affair - and beyond the scope of what could be considered spiritual or religious.
The Authority of Jesus Christ
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus (Matthew 28:18).
God’s truths and commands are for all people, in all places, at all times.
And as ambassadors for Christ, we are to go out and call the nations to submit to Jesus and live in light of His commandments.
We were created by God - who has supreme authority - and we can only make sense of our lives if we render unto Him the glory and honor that He exclusively deserves.
Review Questions
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This commandment reminds us that God is supreme. He sets the rules for how one ought to live. God is the objective source for all ethics.
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Secularism treats the authority of God as a non-issue that has no relevance to how anyone should live.
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Jesus has all authority over heaven and earth, which means He reigns over all things in all places at all times.
Questions for Further Discussion
In 1-2 sentences, provide a summary of the first commandment.
Why do the 10 commandments still have relevance for us today if they are the Old Testament? Didn’t Jesus do away with the Old Testament law?
Why do you think God includes this commandment at the very beginning? What does this teach us about the way God wants us to obey Him?
What is “secularism”? How do you see secular ideas played out in the culture you live in? How does this contrast with the ethics of the 10 commandments?
What does the absolute authority of Jesus Christ mean for your nation, community, family, and life? What does it mean for your lost friends as well as your Christian friends?