信仰の手引き（英語・English）
Through Jesus, Not the Law
投稿者
goodnews2
投稿日
2024-03-31 01:23
閲覧数
42
The Ten Commandments Given by God
In the Old Testament, there is a story about the Israelites heading to Canaan after being enslaved in Egypt. When they were passing through Mount Sinai, God gave them the Ten Commandments through Moses. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.” “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.” “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” “Honor thy father and thy mother.” “Thou shalt not kill.” “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” “Thou shalt not steal.” “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house.” God said if the people kept the Ten Commandments, they would be blessed, and if they did not, they would be cursed.
The People Who Made the Golden Calf
The day God gave Moses the law, the people were waiting for him to return. However, when Moses didn’t come down from the mount quickly, the people became frustrated and decided to make a molten calf out of gold. They called the golden calf their god which brought them up out of the land of Egypt. The Israelites brought offerings and sacrificed to it and rose up to dance. They had made themselves an idol to replace God.
Then Moses came down from the mountain carrying two stone tablets on which God had written the Ten Commandments. When Moses saw the wickedness of the people, he cast the tablets down and broke them. He judged the people and three thousand men died. The people were cursed because they had broken the law on the very first day it was given.
The Law that Cannot Be Kept
From then on, the people promised to keep the Ten Commandments and tried hard to keep the law. But no one could keep all of the Ten Commandments. So, instead of being blessed, they were cursed. To this day, no one has perfectly kept the laws of God. However, people say, ‘You just have to try harder, what is there that you can’t do if you try?’ ‘I think I can keep it…’ and try to keep the Ten Commandments to be blessed. The mistake they are making is thinking they are keeping the law well just through their efforts of trying.
If you were driving a car and got caught for violating the traffic laws, would you be forgiven if you begged you would never break the law again? You must be punished since you already violated the law. If you are driving and accidentally fall off a cliff, could you survive by determining that you will not cause accidents in the future? It is nonsense. Likewise, no matter how good you live, if you break even one law, you will be cursed.
Birth of Jesus
Here’s what we need to know. In the Bible in Romans chapter 3 verse 20 says, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” God knew that we could not be justified by keeping the law and that we couldn’t avoid being cursed, so He made a plan to save us from sin. The plan was sending Jesus to this earth.
“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” (Matthew 2:1-3)
Satan tried to stop Jesus from coming to earth and wash away sins. So, he used King Herod to find baby Jesus to kill Him, but God protected Him.
The Reason Jesus Came to Earth
When Jesus became an adult, He was baptized by John the Baptist. The day after He was baptized, John pointed at Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!” Just as in the Old Testament era, people sacrificed sheep or goats and laid their hands on its head to pass over their sins, John the Baptist laid his hands on Jesus and passed over the sins of the world. Soon after, Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross. That is when all our sins were washed away.
If we are able to keep all the laws and enter into the heaven, was there a need for Jesus to come to earth? Jesus came to earth because we cannot keep the whole law. Nonetheless, if you are still trying to be good and keep the law, you are misunderstanding the Bible.
We need Jesus
God gave us the law to show us that we are people who can only commit sin. He wanted people to try hard to keep the law and when they realized they were unable to do it, then they would come to Him with a heart saying, ‘God, I thought I could keep the law, but I can’t. Please have mercy on me.’ That’s the time God has prepared us to believe in Jesus and be saved by grace. Knowing exactly that we are people who need Jesus, not the Ten Commandments, God had us believe in Jesus.
