The Test

Suppose you are driving down a road at 70 mph. Are you breaking the law? You cannot know until you have seen a speed limit sign, which you must test your own speed against to know if you are breaking the law. It is for this reason that God has given us His Law! Not that we be condemned, but so that we may see if we are already condemned. The simplest form of this Law is given to us in the Ten Commandments. It is, then, against the Ten Commandments that we shall test ourselves—but most need not test themselves against all ten.

For example, the sixth commandment is “Do not murder.” While most have never killed a person, God has told us through the disciple John, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer.” In other words, anyone who harbors ill will, who wishes harm, against another has committed murder within themselves. Have you ever hated anyone?

The next says “Do not commit adultery,” but, similarly, God Incarnate (Jesus Christ) told us, whoever looks at a person to lust for them has already committed adultery with them in their heart. Therefore, if ever we were to look at a person to whom we are not married, and desire them in a sexual manner, we have committed adultery within ourselves. Have you ever looked on another person with lust? Or, to put it in a more broad sense, in spirit with the scriptures: have you ever looked at someone and saw only what they could do for you? Have you ever seen anyone as less than a fully autonomous human being, created with divine purpose in the Image of God?

After that, we have “Do not steal,” perhaps the broadest of the commandments, violated when we violate any other. Have you ever stolen anything, of any value? Whether tangible or otherwise? Time? Reputation? Money? Happiness? Rest? Lunch?

Or perhaps you have wanted that which belongs to another, and wished that you would have it instead, thereby violating this commandment within yourself along with the tenth, “Do not covet.”

Then, we have “Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.” This is a commandment to present truth in all things. How often have you misrepresented yourself to look better in the eyes of others, or to get what you want? How often have you repeated a claim against someone without knowing, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that your potential slander is true? If you are like most—if you are like me—the answer is far too often to count.

These are only five of the ten commandments, and yet most would have already failed on many accounts. No doubt, everyone who reads this ought to be called liar, thief, murderer, envier, and adulterer. You, like me, have failed the test. In the eyes of a just god, we are sinners, criminals, deserving of divine punishment—and God, Creator of the Universe, is just.

Now, some would say that they could get into Heaven by their own merit—perhaps by being a good person. But a just judge ought not let someone get away with a crime based solely on them generally being “a good person”. Others may depend on God being a “good god” and forgiving them. But a good god is just, and, once again, a just judge cannot simply let someone get away with a crime simply because they say sorry. So, what hope do we have?

Imagine, you are at the stand, convicted of a crime, let’s say you were found to be speeding through construction zones multiple times. You face a fine far higher than anything you can pay, and the judge rules that you must spend your life in prison as a result. Just as you are being walked out, a man enters the court room. He declares he not only has the money to pay your fine, but he is willing to do so. All you need to do is accept his help, and trust in him. That is what Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God Incarnate, has done for us.

He descended from Heaven to Earth, in the form of a defenseless child. He lived, never sinning, not even once, before submitting himself to a punishment reserved for those viewed as less than human. He died a horrible, gruesome death—taking on our deserved penalty for our sin—so that we no longer have to pay; so that we may spend eternity, not suffering under the divine punishment we rightly deserve, but with Him, in Paradise. All we need to do is confess Him as our Lord and Savior and do all that we can to follow Him.