Introduction: Think about the Lord’s Prayer. What is the
first point of the prayer? It is to give glory to God. What
is the next point? It is that God should return soon, but in
the meantime His will should be done on earth as it is in
heaven. Is this a pattern of the exodus from Egypt so far?
God’s great glory is shown over the Egyptians. Then the
people travel to Mount Sinai to learn about God’s will and
how it should be done on earth. Let’s dive in and learn
about the will of God for His people!
I. The Orientation Meeting
A. Read Exodus 19:1-2. How long did it take for the
Hebrews to arrive at the foot of Mount Sinai? (Two
months. The JFB commentary calculates 50 days. That
links it to the Feast of Pentecost.)
1. Why go there? (It is not on the route to
Canaan. God has something different in mind
than just making the journey directly to the
promised land.)
B. Read Exodus 19:3-6. What promise does God give to
the Hebrews? (If they obey, they will be His
treasured possession.)
1. What kind of obedience does God require?
(“Indeed obey.” The NIV says, “obey fully.”)
2. What do you think it means to be God’s
“treasured possession?”)
3. Where is Moses for this conversation? (He is
on the mountain with God!)
C. Read Exodus 19:7-8. How do the Hebrews respond?
(They agree to do everything God requires.)
1. Does this response seem credible to you?
II. Preparing for Instructions
A. Read Exodus 19:9 and Exodus 19:12-13. How does
Moses differ from the rest of the people? (God is
going to speak only with him. If any of the other
people approach or touch the mountain they must
die.)
1. How would you view Moses if you were one of
the Hebrews?
B. Read Exodus 19:14-18. Why do you think God took
this approach with the people? They had to be
consecrated and then they trembled.
1. Why do you think Jesus came to us in a much
different way?
2. How should we approach people with God’s
message today? (We know that all except two of
those terrified people died in the desert.
They never entered the promised land. That
suggests this approach could use further
consideration. My concern is that today we
fail to adequately promote the glory, power,
and danger of God.)
3. Think back to Exodus 19:5 where God promises
the people will be His “treasured” possession.
Would you want such a powerful being on your
side?
III. Ten Commandments
A. Read Exodus 20:1-7. How would you summarize these
commandments? (Read Matthew 22:36-38.)
B. Read Exodus 20:8-11. Is this commandment about
loving God or loving ourselves? (Read Mark 2:27-28
to see how the Lord of the Sabbath understands it.)
C. Read Exodus 20:12-17. How would you summarize these
commandments? (Read Matthew 22:39-40.)
1. Notice that Exodus 20 lists the Ten
Commandments as commands, but Jesus calls them
acts of love in Matthew 22:36-40. How would
you reconcile these two descriptions?
D. Read Deuteronomy 4:1-2 and Deuteronomy 12:32. Can
you explain the logic of this instruction about the
Ten Commandments? (Anyone who adds to God’s law or
subtracts from the law puts himself in the position
of God.)
1. What do you most commonly observe, people
adding commands or saying that some commands
do not apply to us?
2. I listened to a small part of a sermon where
the preacher seemed to argue that the church
let down the younger generation by limiting
them by applying the law. Is the law a
limitation? If so, how is it fair to refer to
it as expressing love? (Read James 2:12. James
refers to the law as something that gives us
freedom. That is how I view God’s commands.)
E. Read Exodus 32:1-4. Compare Exodus 19:7-8 and
Exodus 20:3-5. How do you explain this? Are these
people brain damaged?
IV. Ten Commandments for the Brain Damaged
A. Read Romans 3:9-12. What is the state of humanity?
(We are all “worthless” when it comes to obeying
the law.)
B. Read Romans 3:19-20. What is the purpose of the Ten
Commandments? (“Through the law comes knowledge of
sin.” Romans tells us that we are all bad people in
terms of God’s law. We cannot be justified by the
law because of this. That means the reason for the
law is not to justify us, but rather to educate us
about sin.)
1. Why would we want to be educated about sin?
(To avoid it. Sin makes our life worse.)
C. Read Romans 3:21-24. How are we justified?
(“Through faith in Jesus.” It is a gift from Jesus
to us.)
1. When Romans 3:22 says, “there is no
distinction” what does that mean? (It means
that whether you think you are very obedient,
or you think you are a great sinner, there is
only one way to be saved and that is by the
gift of grace from Jesus.)
2. Let’s step back a minute and consider
Deuteronomy 4:1-2. Is Paul, the writer of
Romans, subtracting from the law? (No. He is
explaining the purpose of the law.)
D. Read Romans 3:27. What boasting is referred to
here? (Read Romans 3:28. Boasting about keeping the
law. How can a person boast about earning salvation
when it is a gift given to all who believe in
Jesus?)
V. Overthrowing the Law
A. Read Romans 3:31. Does righteousness by faith alone
“overthrow the law?” (Romans answers, “By no
means.”)
1. If you answered, “By no means,” do you think
this is an easy question to answer? That the
answer is not really debatable? (This suggests
the answer is clear and without question.)
2. Do you think the answer is without question?
If you are not saved by keeping the law, why
keep it? Why regard it?
B. Read Romans 6:15-17. What does the law do for us if
we attempt to keep it? (Verse 17 tells us that we
become “obedient from the heart.” Knowing that
Jesus died painfully to fulfill our obligation to
the law should change our attitude toward the law.)
C. Read Romans 6:21-23. What does sin do for us when
we let it into our life? (It gives us death. The
point of the law is to make our lives better.)
1. The snippet of a sermon I referred to above
reflects the attitude of many. They teach that
we should tell young people that, for example,
sexual immorality is not a problem, they can
sleep with anyone they want. If the church
taught “love is love,” then young people would
remain in the church. They would not feel they
were unwanted. Is this true? (This is a
terrible lie. There are two fundamental
truths. First, we are saved by grace and not
by obedience to the law. Second, obedience to
the law shows love to ourselves and to others.
Sin wreaks your life. You become a slave to
it. Sin makes you pay with your life.)
D. Read Romans 1:32. What should we do with religious
leaders who teach that practicing sin reflects the
will of God? (The language, “give approval to those
who practice them” is a reference to the sins
discussed previous to this verse. These teachers
are part of a cult of death. We must stand against
them.)
E. Friend, God has very good news for you! You are
saved by grace. It is a free gift to all who accept
the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus on their
behalf. You can give up the impossible struggle to
perfectly obey the law to earn heaven. At the same
time, Jesus perfectly kept the law on our behalf
because it is important. Walking in accordance with
the law makes our life better and more beautiful.
The law is a gift to direct the path of our life.
Will you share this good news with others? Why not
commit to this right now?
VI. Next week: Living the Law.
Copr. 2025, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are
from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within
parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail,
but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this
link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the
Holy Spirit as you study.
