The Intent of the Ten
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
"Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned" (I Timothy 1:5).
"The commandment" here is a reference to the ten commandments, commandments which God sees as one (James 2:10,11). The "end" of the commandment refers to the goal or intent of
the ten commandments. We use the word "end" that way when we ask, "To
what end are you doing what you are doing?" God's goal in giving the ten
commandments was charity, a Bible word for love. God's
goal in giving the commandments was to get men to love God and their
neighbor. If you love God, you won't take His name in vain, and if you
love your neighbor, you certainly won't bear false witness to him or
steal his stuff!
But the intent of the ten commandments wasn't just to
get people to love God and their neighbor. It was to get them to love
"out of a pure heart," and the only people who have a pure heart are saved people (Ps. 24:3,4). That's why the Lord said, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Mt. 5:8). So God's goal in giving the ten commandments was to get everyone saved and obeying them out of a pure (saved) heart.
Now don't get me wrong, God approves
when unsaved people obey His commandments. We know this because that's
what will happen in the millennial kingdom! The kingdom will begin with
the deaths of all of earth's unbelievers at the battle of Armageddon. No
one but the pure in heart will enter the kingdom that Christ will then
establish on earth. But the saved people who enter the kingdom will then
bear children who must themselves choose to be saved.
And the majority of children in the millennial kingdom will choose not to
be saved, just as has always been the case with the children of men.
This will eventually result in the Lord ruling in the midst of His
"enemies" (Ps. 110:2), "with a rod of iron" (Rev. 19:15) "in
righteousness" (Isa. 32:1), the righteousness of the ten commandments. In that day, everyone on the planet will obey the ten commandments, including the unsaved, who will obey the commandment out of an impure heart.
The problem with obeying the commandment out of an impure heart is that it doesn't change a
man's heart. We know this because after the millennial kingdom, the
enemies that God will have to defeat at the battle of Gog and Magog will
number "as the sand of the sea" (Rev. 20:7-9). Clearly, 1,000 years of
obeying the ten commandments with an impure heart will not have changed
the hearts of the vast majority of men!
That's why God's goal in giving the ten commandments was never to have men obey them outwardly while inwardly seething,
just waiting for their chance to rebel against Him, as will be the case
in the millennial kingdom. No, God's goal in giving the commandments
was to get people saved and obeying them out of a pure heart. That was the intent of the ten.
The
process starts when the unbeliever hears the commandments and gains
"the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20; 7:7). He then can see his need of a
Savior and believe the gospel. This then enables him to obey the ten
commandments out of a pure heart and out of "a good conscience."
Unbelievers cannot obey the ten commandments out of a good conscience,
for "even their mind and conscience is defiled" (Tit. 1:15).
But when a saved man obeys God's commandments, he does so out of "faith unfeigned." The word "feign" means to pretend (I Sam. 21:13), so unfeigned faith was genuine faith, the kind Timothy himself had! (II Tim. 1:5). In the millennial kingdom, the unsaved will have to feign faith,
but the goal of the commandment in the dispensation of grace is
"charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith
unfeigned." Are you living up to God's intent?
The
Day of The Lord- Isiah 2:14
By
Les Feldick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Les Feldick Ministries
30706 W. Lona Valley Rd.
Kinta, OK 74552
Posted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
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