Shortcuts of the 10 Commandments

What would a sinner understand more? By saying "the wages of sin is death," or by asking him if he has kept the 10 Commandments? In reading any portion of scripture, we must be careful not to take it out of context but we must study who it was written to and why it was written. We also need to know where and when it was written to get it's full meaning. Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23 were written by Paul to the church to describe how we become righteous in God's eyes. Paul was speaking to the church about faith in Jesus. That portion of scripture is not intended to be used to speak to the sinner about his sin. If we use that portion of scripture to try and reach the sinner, we are merely dancing around the subject of sin because he won't understand, it's foolishness to him. The ground work of the law has not been laid and therefore it lacks balance. He might verbally agree but he will lack understanding. We need to cut right to the chase and lay the foundation of the law down first (see Galatians 3:24). God spent more time establishing the law than He did at redeeming us from the curse of the law. Let's lay the ground work of the law down first - sinner's eternal salvation is weighing on it.

If we tell the sinner before laying the groundwork of the law that all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), he will not understand that and what we are doing is taking the short cut to evangelism. It is putting the cart before the horse. It is also the missing link, for without it, we won't understand the gift God offers us. A sinner must first realize the state he is in by first by showing him how he has fell short. He will understand the 10 Commandments, the ground work far better than telling him, "the wages of sin is death". The bible even tells us The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. I Cor 2:14

We must show him how he has fell short by using the law. Just how effective is the law? It is so powerful, it is perfect in converting the soul. It is so powerful that the devil wants to do completely away with it. God's law is so powerful that Judge Roy Moore was forced to remove the 10 Commandments from his court. The devil knows this but for some reason, the church does not. Go figure.

You may argue the point that you have seen a sinner changed from verses such as Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23. But isn't true that if you were to investigate further with the sinner, it would be revealed that the Lord had already been dealing with them regarding their particular sin? They had already seen where they had been sinning against God. There is just no way for us to know we have sinned against God but by the 10 Commandments. God gave them to us for a reason. They are a mirror for us and can save us from death if we will heed to them and as a result, fear God. Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." Romans 7:7

You may be thinking that the 10 Commandments will produce fear and we should not fear. The bible tells us we are not supposed to fear evil but the Lord tells us we must fear Him. How can we not - for He is holy? Fearing the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (see Ps 111:10) It serves as an introduction to the savior. The law is the path to Jesus (see Galatians 3:24). Jesus being the gate in which we must enter in order to receive salvation. So let's not be guilty of trying to take the shortcut in order to lead others to Christ, for if we do, we will be serving the sinner an injustice and they will not have the roots to survive. Also, we will be leading him down the wrong path which does not lead to the savior, the gate of salvation. The sinner will have made a confession but not actually be reborn (a stillborn). It would seem evident to us on the outside but inside, his heart is still far from God. God's word must pierce the heart in order to wake the sinner.

Here is an analogy of a butterfly to clarify the point that there are no shortcuts to salvation:

A man once saw a caterpillar struggling to get out of it's cocoon. He thought he would help this caterpillar by taking out his pocket knife and cutting some of the cocoon away. The butterfly was free but soon flew to it's death. Why? Because it was through the struggling in which it would have become strong enough to fly. Likewise, there are no short cuts or easy roads. Let's allow the law to do it's job. Let's quite dancing around the real issue - sin.

When a woman is in labor, she is in pain, but soon her pain turns to joy once the baby is born. And she forgets the pain. We too, must come humbly before the Lord and see how we sinned against Him. When we do see, hopefully it will produce pain. We should be sorry for how we sinned against Him. When we do that, then we can readily accept His free gift - the crucified Lord and savior, who died for us.

Why do we try and evangelize differently than the way Jesus showed us? How did we get so far off what the Lord has called us to do? He gave us example after example. If Jesus presented the law, don't you think it only right that we should follow in his footsteps? We owe it to ourselves and to others. We need to get the law back into our presentation of the gospel if we want to win souls for the kingdom of God. We need to present the law before grace is offered so God's grace will be accepted and appreciated by the sinner in so desperate a need for a savior.