Grace Hills Church

The Ten Commandments

graceadmin — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:10:52 +0000

The Ten Commandments are found in Exodus 20:2-17 and in Deuteronomy 5:6-21. They are referred to as the “Ten Commandments” in Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13 and 10:4. ‘Ten Commandments’ is a translation of ‘Ten Words’ and ‘words’ is a technical term for ‘covenant’ stipulations-See Exodus 20:1 and Exodus 34:27.

Here is a list of the Ten Commandments (NKJ)

1. “You shall have no other gods before Me”- Exodus 20:3
2. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image” (idol)- Exodus 20:4-6
3. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain…”-Exodus 20:7
4. “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”-Exodus 20:8-11
5. “Honor your father and your mother…”-Exodus 20:12
6. “You shall not murder”-Exodus 20:13
7. “You shall not commit adultery”-Exodus 20:14
8. “You shall not steal”-Exodus 20:15
9. “You shall not bear false witness”-Exodus 20:16
10. “You shall not covet”-Exodus 20:17

There are different ways of dividing the Ten Commandments (Wycliffe B.C.)

1. The earliest division (shown above) dates back at least as far as Josephus (1st Century).
This division was supported unanimously by the early church, and is held today by the Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches.
2. Modern Judaism follows the 3rd Century Talmud and makes Exodus 20:2 the first commandment and Exodus 20:3-6 the second commandment.
3. The Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches follow Augustine (5th Century) and make Exodus 20:2-6 the first commandment and divide Exodus 20:17 regarding covetousness into two commandments. (Wikipedia notes that Roman Catholics use Deuteronomy in quoting the Ten Commandments, while Luther used Exodus)

How would you summarize the Ten Commandments?

1. The Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC) written in the 1640’s, and many, many others, follow Jesus in Matthew 22:37-40 in teaching that the Ten Commandments can be summarized as four commandments (the ‘First Table’) for loving God, and six commandments (the ‘Second Table’) for loving your neighbor.
2. Note that Matthew 22:37 quotes Deuteronomy 6:5, and Matthew 22:39 quotes Leviticus 19:18. Leviticus 19:18 is also quoted in the parallel passages in Mark 12:31 and Luke 10:27; and Leviticus 19:18 is also quoted in Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:13-14 and
James 2:8-11, which all summarize the law by the command to love your neighbor as yourself. See also Luke 10:25-37, which explains who is your neighbor. See also the Golden Rule in Matthew 7:12.
3. Because Luther followed the Augustinian division of the Ten Commandments, Luther taught that the first three commandments govern the relationships between God and the last two commandments govern private thoughts.
4. The Bible Knowledge Commentary states that the Ten Commandments provide 10 divine rules for (1) religion, (2) worship, (3) reverence, (4) time, (5) authority, (6) life, (7) purity, (8) property, (9) tongue, and (10) contentment.

The Resurrection

graceadmin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 23:26:06 +0000

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Virtually all scholars believe Paul received this information within one to four years of the event. This is much too early for it become a myth. This speaks simply and powerfully to the historicity of the resurrection. Jesus did rise from the grave!

Archaeology

graceadmin — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:26:24 +0000

Archaeology confirms Bible history, and it often shows that people and incidents in the Bible are correctly referred to. One example is that of Sargon, a king named in Isaiah 20:1. Critics at one time said that there was no such king. But then his palace was found at Khorsabad, and there was a description of the very battle referred to by Isaiah. Another illustration is the death of the Assyrian King Sennacherib. His death is recorded in Isaiah 37 and also in the annals of Sennacherib’s son Esarhaddon, whom Isaiah says succeeded Sennaccherib. Yes, there are rational reasons to believe that the Bible is accurate and true!

The Authority of Scriptures

graceadmin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:45:41 +0000

One scholar wrote this about the Word of God:

It is impossible to accept Christ’s authority without accepting Scripture’s authority, and vice versa. They stand together. To accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is to accept what He taught about Scripture as binding. To be a kingdom citizen is to accept what the King says about God’s Word. To have a kingdom character and a kingdom testimony is to obey the king’s manifesto, the Scripture’s authority is Christ’s authority, and to obey the Lord is to obey His Word. “He who is of God hears the words of God” (John 8:47). To trust in Christ is to say of Him as Peter did. “You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

Parenting

graceadmin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:05:50 +0000

John MacArthur writes this on parenting:

Ephesians 6:4 says, “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” The mistake too many parents make is that they think godly training will happen by itself in a Christian family. It won’t. Parents are to lead by example, carefully and in a planned way. Their responsibilities include training, instructing, nurturing and disciplining their children according to the way of the Lord, while at the same time not goading their children to anger.

Parents are the key to each children’s spiritual growth. Every person is born with a bent to sin, and depravity will take over, unless its grip on a child is broken by regeneration. The child must be “born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:23). Scripture’s instructions to parents suggest that the best environment in which to nurture the seed of God’s Word for our children in a loving environment of discipline.

Passivity

graceadmin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:32:53 +0000

Most of us are familiar with the concept of urgency. It has to do with something that needs immediate attention because of its gravity. One of the challenges facing evangelical Christianity is that we do not seem to feel it is urgent to reach people for Christ. This despite an explicit effort from Jesus to generate such urgency. Check this out by reading Luke 16:19-28.

Has God forsaken ethnic Israel?

graceadmin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:22:10 +0000

There is much debate among theologians, but if you take Scripture in a straightforward way, it sure seems that God has a few promises to keep in regards to ethnic Israel. Check out these passages that speak of God being faithful to Israel even though they are unfaithful to Him:Isaiah 41:17;49:13-16;54:5-8;60:15-16;62:11-12;Psalm 89:30-37:Leviticus 26:44;Jeremiah31:3-37; and Romans11:1-2. God does not seem to be done with Israel. Look carefully at Deuteronomy 30:3-10; Isaiah 35:10; 43:5-7;51:11;Jeremiah 30:1-2;32:37-42;Ezekiel 36:24,28;37:13-14; and Amos:13-14. In the New Testament, Acts 1:1-4 speaks of Jesus speaking of “things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” Then in Acts 1:6-8, Jesus does not correct their understanding of the coming kingdom for Israel, He simply tells them to get the message out and not worry about when it is going to happen.

The meaning of “head” in the family

graceadmin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:32:35 +0000

The word for “head” in the New Testament is the Greek word kephale.The debate is over whether the word means “person in authority” or simply means “source”. Wayne Grudem looked up all 2,236 references of this word in ancient Greek literature, using texts from Homer in the eighth century B.C. up to the church fathers in the fourth century A.D. He found that in those texts the word kephale was applied to many people in authority but it was never applied to a person without governing authority.The question then is this:Why should we give kephale in the New Testament a sense other than a “person in authority” when it is never used that way in other Greek literature. Also, when applied to persons, no Greek lexicon has ever given any other meaning to the word kephale.

A Model Church

graceadmin — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:03:04 +0000

As you think of what a great church would look like, Ken Boa writes this about the church in Thessalonica. “The church in Thessalonica was in many ways a model church. Paul had many things to commend the believers for: their exemplary faith, diligent service, patient steadfastness, and overflowing joy. But in the midst of his commendation, Paul voices a voice of caution. Abounding in the work of the Lord is only one step removed from abandoning the work of the Lord through complacency. Thus, Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to excel in their faith, to increase in their love for one another, and to give thanks always for all things. In short, Paul encourages them to “stay on target” as they labor for the Lord.”

Joyful Worship

graceadmin — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 21:26:11 +0000

John Piper writes this about worship.
It is a biblical goal and norm for Christians to be a part of worship gatherings where the word of the cross is preached. God ordains this for our joy. Studying the word of God is good. Meditation is good. Discussion is good. Analyzing and explaining is good. But preaching is also good, and God calls us to enjoy the blessing that comes to us when the word of the cross explodes in the heart of a godly preacher and overflows in exultation to the minds and hearts of a worshipping people. The fight for joy loses one of its weapons when it does not regularly hear the gospel preached. God can make it up to us in other ways. But preaching is one precious gift of God to the church. When it exults over “the word of the cross,” it becomes “to us who are being saved…the power of God” (1 Cor 1:18)