SURPRISED BY THE COMMANDMENTS:
Discovering New Depths and Riches
By Graham Beynon
IVP. 160 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 1 783 594 405
Today few books are published about the Ten Commandments. This book is written in a clear, easy to read style and is suitable for any Christian who wants to explore the subject.
It is based upon a series of sermons given at the author’s Cambridge church. His aim is to show the believer that the Ten Commandments are not negative, irrelevant and boring, but essential for the Christian life. The book has a full introduction and then a chapter on each commandment. The Introduction emphasises that salvation does not come through keeping the Ten Commandments. However, it’s a pity he does not give a little space to the positive benefits that the Ten Commandments do have in evangelism, showing sinners their sin and pointing them to Christ. His main point is to show that the believer should obey the Ten Commandments because he is a believer and that doing so is the best way of showing love to God and our neighbour, as well as being a witness.
The chapters on the individual commandments are very helpful, showing that the scope of each goes far beyond what we often think. He is not afraid to tackle issues such as whether lying is ever justified, abortion, same sex marriage and so on, which he does from a thoroughly Biblical perspective.
But forget Sunday?
The chapter that many may disagree with is that on the Fourth Commandment. He suggests this commandment has been fulfilled in Christ and is therefore different from the others. He sees it as a picture of our heavenly rest in Christ (which all would agree with) and as a time of earthly rest, but he does not make enough of it being a holy day set apart for God.
Overall, the book is a helpful addition to literature on a vital subject.
