He Is, We Aren’t – The Kingdom Curriculum XI (7)

He Is, We Aren’t

“You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18

“None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the LORD.” Leviticus 18:6

He’s the Lord, That’s Why

The last clause of our verse is critical: God commands us to resist lust on the authority of His Name. If we refuse to take this commandment seriously, we turn our backs on Him, and, in effect, make ourselves gods in His place. There go the first, second, and third commandments. Thus comfortable in our “casual practice” of lust, we may come to church on Sundays and indulge our “harmless” practice with a neighbor. And many people dress for church in such a way as to encourage this evil, right in the middle of the worship of God! So much for the fourth commandment.

If we’re lusting for our neighbor, we’re not respecting him or her as we should. Kiss the fifth commandment good-bye. And so forth and so on. All the commandments of God are linked with one another. If you harbor lust or practice it in any way in your heart, you will break all of God’s laws in one way or another, and you will forfeit all the blessing of goodness and life He intends you should have through obedience (Jas. 2:10-12).

But worse than this is what the practice of lust implies. When we continuously give ourselves to lustful thoughts or behaviors–whether by flights of fantasy, hours in front of pornographic images, flirtatious relationships with co-workers, or casual glances at someone’s immodest dress–we say to God that we know better than He how we should live our lives. That, at least in this area, we reserve the right to call the shots, determine the best course of moral behavior, and do whatever seems right in our eyes.

In order at least to remind us, should we ever begin thinking this way, that He is God and we aren’t, the Lord punctuates our text with the firm declaration, “I am the Lord!” Remind yourself of that the next time you feel inclined to indulge in a little “harmless” lust: The Lord is with you, sees you, has much better choices in mind for you, and can get not a little ticked when you decide to take His Law into your own hands and make it something else, merely for your own convenience (Heb. 12:3-13). Let the fear of God–and more, love for Him and His Law–guide you to set your heart on those better choices He has declared in His Law.

How can we use the Law of God to make wise ethical choices? Order your copy of The Ground for Christian Ethics today. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.