I am not opposed to the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools or other public forums. I am happy to see it. However, I want to show you here that the Bible itself teaches that the Law of God (i.e., the Ten Commandments) alone will not produce people who obey that Law. Simply posting the Commandments is inadequate to produce morality.

Recently, Louisiana enacted a law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools from kindergarten to state-funded universities. As expected, the protests from the usual sources were loud. Here is an example:

“Last week, Louisiana Republican Governor Jeff Landry signed into law a fascistic bill requiring public schools in the state to display in every classroom the Ten Commandments” [World Socialist Website, wsws.org]

“Fascistic.” I guess Mussolini and Hitler must have been big promoters of “Thou shalt not kill, steal, covet…?”

The Ten Commandments (let’s just call them “the Law”) were given to man by God to show us our real problem. That problem is called “sin.” Man’s heart, the essence of his being, has been in a fallen condition ever since Eden when the first man and woman decided to break God’s Law. As a result, here is man’s universal attitude to God’s Law:

“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, 8:7-8)

Understand? What the Bible calls being “in the flesh” means man in his fallen condition due to his sin. That, in other words, is all of us from the moment we are born into this world. Man is not what he originally was created for.

So, what happens when the Law of God comes to fallen human nature? Does it produce obedience and morality? Hardly. It arouses sin! The Apostle Paul explains it further:

“For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.” (Romans 7:5)

“But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive, and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment deceived me and, through it, killed me. So, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” (Romans 7:8-12)

Do you see it? The Ten Commandments are righteous and good. But the problem lies with us! Man’s sinful heart is hostile to God’s Law and to God Himself. Paul says that is the very thing the Law did to him. And it was, surprisingly, the very last of the 10 Laws that nailed him – You shall not covet. Coveting is an inward sin. You can’t see it outwardly like murder or stealing. When the Law did its work in Paul, his eyes were opened, and he realized that the Law of God is spiritual. That is to say, it is Law which is to be obeyed from within, from the heart and mind. I may not murder someone in a literal sense, but if I hate them in my heart, I am guilty of murder. Jesus said so Himself.

So, the Law’s purpose is – get this – to produce sin! To expose sin. To empower sin and bring it right out in the open so we see it. Jesus affirmed how sin originates from within man, from his inner being:

“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” (Matthew 15:18-19)

What is the result of this? Listen to Paul once more:

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. (1Corinthians 15:56)

The Ten Commandments empower sin in fallen man. That is the very purpose of God’s Law. To show us our real problem. Namely, we are estranged from God because of this inherited, fatal disease called sin; no one, NO ONE, can ever be “good enough” to be acquitted in God’s courtroom. Not even the most apparently moral, “good” person you might think of. The Law demonstrates this to us:

“Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:19-20)

Yes, it is a good thing to display the Ten Commandments in schools and other forums. But we must not think that doing so is going to make people righteous. That it will produce morality. The Law must be applied properly for the purpose God designed it for – to show us that none of us are capable of obeying it with the 100% perfection that the Holy God requires.

“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Galatians 3:10-11)

Just posting the Law of God and reciting it is not enough. It is a start. But here is the dilemma. Unless that Law is obeyed perfectly and flawlessly, even from the heart, the only result will be a guilty verdict in God’s court. God will never just “wink” at sin. His Law only results in man, the sinner, being cursed. Don’t make the mistake that most people are making. Don’t assume you will be found “good enough” for heaven when standing before God. “Good enough” might work when we build a house and it is only 1/16th inch out of plumb. But “good enough” doesn’t match up to perfection when it comes to the holiness of God. The truth is, we are all far, far more than just “a little bit” out of the square when it comes to obeying the Law of God.

What, then, is the remedy? Where is the solution to this seemingly hopeless scenario? Is there a remedy? This is why the “gospel” is “good news.” What we could never do – obey God’s Law – God Himself has accomplished in His Son, Jesus Christ, for all who trust in Him as Savior. It happened at the Cross of Calvary, and this is how it works:

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

In other words, God the Father credited OUR sin to the Perfect One who never sinned and then credited Christ’s perfect obedience to the Law (righteousness) to all who believe in Him. Double transfer. My sin to Christ on the Cross where He was cursed for me, and His obedience for me.

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— (Galatians 3:13)

Do you see it, then? Posting the Ten Commandments is a start, but it is only enough to show us that we are guilty before God. There must be more, and that “more” is this proclamation which we call the gospel:

‘Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

Born again – there it is. Through faith in Christ as our Savior from sin and death and hell, God makes us brand new people who love Him and love His Law. Obedience to God’s Law is a fruit, a result, not a means to an end.