God Has Rules

Rules for Living

Jeremiah 31:31-32

In the USA the crime clock shows that in 2009 there was: One murder every 31

minutes One violent crime

every 22.8 seconds One robbery every 1.2

minutes

In the USA the crime clock shows that in 2009 there was: One assault every 7.2

seconds One theft every 2.3

seconds One burglary every

9.1 seconds

In the USA the crime clock shows that in 2009 there was: One rape / sexual

assault every 2.7 minutes

One child abused every 35 seconds

One identity theft every 8.7 seconds

Hostages of Fear Many people are hostages of their fear. Many triple lock their doors, have bars on

the windows. They lock briefcase, in locked file cabinet,

in locked office, in locked building. They lock cars, desks, doors, garage,

lawnmower, bicycle, computers

What is Wrong? Many believe that:

We can’t force people to obey the law

We can’t impose our moral values on others

Why is there no clear moral standard?

Back to the BibleProblem: Our self-chosen way leads to destruction.

Proverbs 14:12

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Back to the BibleSolution: Get back to the Bible

and obey it.

Psalm 119:172My tongue shall speak of Your

word, for all Your commandments are righteous.

Respect You are created in the image of God

and I owe you respect. We are all pilgrims together on our

earthly journey. We need help and respect from each other.

God’s Law is Good But we often:

Challenge God’s rules Disobey and defy them Breaking them is ALWAYS bad

for us.

Sin breaks the rules 1 John 3:4 - Whoever commits sin

also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God Has Rules 3,500 years ago God gave some rules

Exodus 34:27-2827 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write

these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

God Has Rules 3,500 years ago God gave some rules The specifics were temporary

Jeremiah 31:31-3231 “Behold, the days are coming, says the

LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.

God Has Rules 3,500 years ago God gave some rules The specifics were temporary Jesus fulfilled them

Matthew 5:17

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

God Has Rules 3,500 years ago God gave some rules The specifics were temporary Jesus fulfilled them The principles are eternal

We need rules. Law and Love are not opposite. Legalism – rule keeping to earn

heaven Salvation is not based on legalism Salvation is based on redemption

through Jesus Christ.

John 15:10

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.

9 Not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Rules for Living God has rules. We are to know and obey the rules. Our lives would be better if we obeyed

the rules of God. Are you obeying the rules of God?