Why:
5th Commandment: dishonoring parents is disregarding one’s self as a gift to his/her parents from the Lord (Psalm 127:3). This is “the first commandment with a promise” (Eph. 6:2-3). Therefore, it amounts to dishonoring God who may shorten one’s life on earth for dishonoring his/her parents (Ex. 20:12). It is also being ungrateful for one’s own existence which by God’s will was only possible to originate inside a woman’s womb (Gen. 30:22-23). It’s irrational for one to dishonor his/her parents and thus regret his/her own existence.
6th Commandment: murder in God’s eyes is destruction of His image in which He created all men (Gen. 1:27). That’s why He told Noah “Whoever sheds human blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made mankind” (Genesis 9:6). Therefore, it’s irrational to murder a human, destroying the apex of God’s creation, but it’s rational to kill
(execute) a human who “is enraged against his neighbor, so as to kill him in a cunning way, (God says) you are to take him even from My altar, to be put to death” (Exodus 21:14). Irrational people allow hatred to take root in their heart from which proceeds the fruit of murder (1 John 3:15).
7th Commandment: adultery is violating God’s purpose for marriage. God the Creator said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Adultery is technically adding a third partner (1 Cor. 6:16). Adultery is senseless, destructive to a legitimate marriage, harmful, disgraceful, and has lasting shame (Prov. 6:32-33). In God’s eyes, adultery merits capital punishment (Lev. 20:10). However, like murder, it is a forgivable sin (2 Sam. 11:9-13; John 8:1-11; 1 Cor. 6:9-11).
8th Commandment: simply put, stealing is depriving a person of what is rightly his/hers. It is illegally taking a God-given blessing from a person to be wrongfully possessed by another person or entity (business, government, etc.). Technically, it is a form of enslavement, denying a person the freedom to own something, including himself. Under Moses’ Law, which Paul highly respected (Rom. 7:12, 14, 16), slavery was designed to benefit the slave and was temporary, freeing the slave after six years to be on his own, take care of himself, and have his own property (Ex. 21:2-6). That’s far more rational than depriving a person of owning things. Individual ownership is freedom and anti-socialistic. It was ordained by God, and females are also beneficiaries of the right to own things (Num. 27:1-11).
9th Commandment: bearing false witness is harboring a lie about someone or something. It is irrational because a lie denies reality and can be used as a weapon against another person (Prov. 25:18). Falsehood in governments has resulted in socialism, Nazism, and fascism. Truth, however, is based on the reality of God. Falsehood has no basis, being unreal. Therefore, it results in wickedness and evil imagination (Gen. 6:5). Scripture says, “…let God be true but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). The opposite of bearing false witness is following Christ who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
10th Commandment: coveting is having an intense and inordinate desire for what belongs to someone else, be it his property and/or his wife. It’s rooted in the heart. This command forbids coveting a person’s “house…wife…male servant, his female servant…his ox, …his donkey” or “anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:17). It’s irrational because violating the 10th Commandment also violates the 1st Commandment and each commandment between them, causing a chain reaction of violations.
No one, except Jesus, has ever kept the 10 Commandments nor any of the additional 603 besides them. Breaking one is being guilty of breaking them all (James 2:10). That’s why Paul wrote, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19). To dispel the guilt from your mind, read the entire chapter of Romans 5. Then you’ll see that it’s far more rational to have faith in Jesus Christ than to try to keep the 10 Commandments in order to gain salvation. Paul said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31).
Blessings!
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