Read Exodus 20:1-17, the Ten Commandments.
We see how the Ten Commandments break into two groupings, with the first four dealing with our relationship with God and the final six dealing with our relationship with our neighbor.
Most fascinating is the way Jesus further boiled down the Ten Commandments (indeed the whole Law) into a singular command: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27)
There’s something we should be clear about here at the outset. The commandments are not about becoming a law-abiding citizen, as is commonly thought. They are about becoming a covenant-keeping worshiper.
In that light, it’s interesting how the most important words in the Ten Commandments, indeed in the whole of the Law, are most often excluded from the commandments when we see them inscribed in public places and even in Christian literature. They are these: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Exodus 20:2)
The Ten Commandments do not begin with commandments. The Law does not begin with laws. It begins with relationship. “I am Yahweh,” God says. “I am the God who heard your cries and who brought you out of Egypt, out of the cruel slavery under which you suffered.” I am God. I delivered you. This is the most primitive taproot of our entire faith. This cannot be overstated. If our faith does not come down to something as simple as “I am yours. You are mine,” we are missing the core essence of the Christian faith and likely lost in some form of a counterfeit religion.
-- Excerpted from “Wake-Up Call” with J. D. Walt
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