We were stopped at a traffic light in Colorado Springs, Colo. The bumper sticker on the car in front of us asked a simple question. “What would happen if everyone told the truth?” With a laugh, I repeated the question, “What would happen if everyone told the truth?” I turned to my wife and said, “The whole political establishment in Washington, D.C., would collapse instantly!” Our nation and the nations of the world need a huge infusion of basic biblical morality. The standards of this morality come to us in God’s moral law.

Even in Christian circles, we fail to have proper perspective on the ten commandments. The law smacks of legalism to us, and the Bible tells us that we are not under law but under grace (Rom. 6:14). In this article and those that follow, it is my plan to review the ten commandments and offer some perspective.

Let’s begin with the preface to the ten commandments. “Then God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the Lord your ...