Season 3 Podcast 53 The Law of Liberty

The Law of LibertyIf you have been following these podcasts, you know that I have often spoken of the Law of Liberty. The phrase comes from the Book of James in the New Testament:11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. (James 2:11-12)What set of laws do we know that has the commandments, “Thou shalt not commit adultery?’ and Thou Shalt not kill?”  Immediately our minds turn to the Ten Commandments given to Moses by the finger of the Lord on Mount Sinai. The question is, Why are the Ten Commandments the Law of Liberty when half contain the words “Thou shalt not?”Though familiar to almost everyone, let’s review the Ten Commandments:      I.         Thou Shalt Have no Other Gods before me    II.         Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images  III.         Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain  IV.         Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it Holy    V.         Honor thy father and thy mother  VI.         Thou shalt not killVII.         Thou shalt not commit adulteryVIII.         Thou shalt not steal  IX.         Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor    X.         Thou shalt not CovetSimply ask yourself what would our country be like, our states, our cities, our towns, our communities, and our neighborhoods if everyone obeyed all of the Ten Commandments. How would that make you free?·       Free of fear·       Free of locks, bars, chains, security systems, passcodes·       Free of theft, crime, murder, infidelity·       Free of lying, cheating, stealing, deception, dissembling·       Free even of people coveting your property.Even if we just lived that last five commandments:      I.         Thou shalt not kill    II.         Thou shalt not commit adultery  III.         Thou shalt not steal  IV.         Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor    V.         Thou shalt not CovetIt would be a kind of heaven on earth. If you translated the Ten Commandments into just the retail market, imagine what that would do to the economy? prices in our stores? Well, it would be a utopia unlike anything we can even imagine. In this podcast I just want to briefly discuss two commandments. They imply the words “Thou Shalt” rather than “Thou Shalt Not.” For the specific wording, I shall go to the Book of Exodus in the Old Testament.8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. (Exodus 20:8-12)