The Ten Commandments

One thing that I think is imperative for us as parents to teach our children is the Ten Commandments.  In today's culture it is very rare that your children will hear much about God's Law, specifically the Ten Commandments; if WE don't teach them, it is likely they will never be shown and taught them at all!  Sadly, too often today's churches bypass the Law and simply focus on the grace of the Gospel.  However, these two concepts are marvelously intertwined!  The currrent thought is that all that is necessary for any child to be saved is for him to "ask Jesus into his heart." Now, that sounds great on the surface.  After all, isn't that why Christ came...to nullify the Old Covenant and it's Law and usher in the New Covenant of God's grace and mercy through Christ?  But that is a falsehood and it is NOT biblical.  No, Christ came to fulfill the law, not to nullify it!  Anyone, including a child, who comes to Jesus must have knowledge of sin and exercise genuine biblical repentance.  It is VITAL for our children to know God's Law and see for themselves how they are unable to attain it by their own good efforts in their daily lives.  If we have ONE responsibility as parents, it is to teach our children the LAW so that they can better understand the nature of their sin and their undeniable need for a Savior.

The Law actually serves several vital functions for us as non-believers and believers alike.  One role of God's law is to stop the mouth, to stop sinners from justifying themselves (Romans 3:19).  The law also tells us what sin is and helps us to recognize it in our own hearts (Romans 3:20, 1 John 3:4, Romans 7:7).  As the Apostle Paul teaches us, the law actually serves as the means by which we SEE our NEED for God's grace and His forgiveness made possible through our Savior Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:24).  If we never see that we have a moral deficiency (and therefore will never be acceptable to God on our own merit), then the Gospel fails to have relevancy to our lives!  But don't take my word for it...listen to mighty men of God through the ages...

For this reason, Martin Luther believed, "The first duty of the gospel preacher is to declare God's Law and show the nature of sin."  

Martin Lloyd-Jones said, "The trouble with people who are not seeking for a Savior, and for salvation, is that they do not understand the nature of sin."

Charles Spurgeon stated, "Lower the Law and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt; this is a very serious loss to the sinner rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion.  I say you have deprived the gospel of its ablest auxiliary [most powerful weapon] when you have set aside the Law.  You have taken away from it the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Christ...They will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy Law.  Therefore the Law serves a most necessary purpose, and it must not be removed from it's place."   He also said it so well and so succinctly, "They must be slain by the law before they can be made alive by the gospel."

John R. Stott said it best when he stated, "We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses, to be condemned.  But once we have gone to Moses, and acknowledged our sin, guilt and condemnation, we must not stay there.  We must let Moses send us to Christ."  Put another way, we as parents must lead our children to Mt. Sinai (symbolizing God's law) FIRST...and then and only then can we lead them to Mt. Calvary (symbolizing Christ's sacrifice on the cross and His free gift of salvation).

With all that said, I have run across a few fantastic resources which have enabled me to confidently teach the Ten Commandments to my children (and have also helped me to finally embed them in my heart as an adult!).  The first is this Ten Commandments memory card (pictured below) that I received from my current church family, Hibernia Baptist Church.  I keep one in my wallet and we have a larger one for use in our morning Bible time over breakfast.  What I LOVE about this card is that it utilizes visual aids incorporating the number of the commandment so it really helps you to secure the meaning and the order of the commandments in your mind!  Check out the card below--front and back are pictured for you.  (As always, feel free to click on the pictures to see them enlarged and in greater detail if necessary!)

 You will notice that the first 4 laws are on the front, and the last 6 are on the back.  They are grouped this way for a reason--the first 4 commandments have to do with our relationship with God...the last 6 involve our relationship with others (obviously, the two categories are interrelated, but you get the idea).

 So here is an example of how I might use this commandment card with my children. I might ask them, "What's the ninth commandment?"...and they can think to themselves (having secured the pictures in their mind) Hmmm...the number nine was lying down...so the ninth commandment must be..."You shall not lie."  Great!  And then I can ask, "Which commandment tells us not to murder?"  And they can think through the pictures in their mind and think...hmmm...the number six looked like a bomb, so that must be the commandment to not kill..."The sixth commandment!"  Right again!  See how that works?  We might also discuss concepts such as idolatry, adultery, and coveting, so they would better understand the Law's meaning. I LOVE this resource because the kids do NOT need to be able to read and the pictures make it fun!

Another resource that can be useful for you is to keep the Ten Commandments visible in your home.  I found this poster as part of a six-poster set on Oriental Trading Company's website.  Quite simply, it can be out and able to be seen and discussed throughout the day as needed.  Please keep in mind, the Law is never something we beat over the heads of our children in a demeaning way.  Instead, as they sin day-to-day, we as parents can lovingly guide them through these Commandments, helping them to see their sin for what it is...and to then lead them to the solution, which is Christ.  We can also talk with them about OUR sin and OUR need for repentence and confession with the Lord on an ongoing basis. (Note: I do not currently have this hanging up as a permanent fixture in our home, but look forward to doing so when we move into a larger home next month!) 

Let me leave you with one more resource that might be helpful to you!  I think this is a fantastic teaching illustration of God's Law and it worked well with my three children recently.  Ray Comfort suggests a way to show (not just teach) our children about God's Law by doing the following exercise... "Now gather a large mirror, a hammer, and some lipstick.  Draw a small square on the mirror.  Then tell your children, 'I'm going to break this mirror with the hammer, only inside the small square!'  Pull back the hammer, then ask, 'Should I?'  Hopefully the kids will say, 'Don't do it!'  They should be able to see that you can't break one part without breaking the whole thing.  Turn to James 2:10 and read, 'Whoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.' (There's another good memory verse.)  Tell your children that God's Law is like a mirror.  When we break one part of it, we break it all.  Explain that the Bible says the Law of the Lord is perfect (see Psalm 19:7).  If your kids have broken even one Law, that's like dropping a perfect vase and cracking it--they have shattered its perfection" (How to Bring Your Children To Christ...and Keep Them There: Avoiding the Tragedy of False Conversion).  This illustration brought some interesting discussion around our breakfast table about God's law!

 I pray and trust the above memory aids, resources, and teaching illustrations can enable you to proactively instruct YOUR children about God's Law...not in a severe way, but in a loving way...to guide them to more fully understand their sinful and fallen nature so they can better see the hope of the Gospel and their need for Jesus as their Lord and Savior in their own life!  You might also want to check out Ray Comfort's book referenced above in conjunction with another one of his books, God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life: The Myth of the Modern Message, to learn more about the role of teaching/preaching the Law in conjunction with the Gospel message in the context of evangelism for children AND adults!