My Book about the Ten Commandments
by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Saturday, December 26, 2009 at 5:23pm

So far in my lifetime God has enabled me to write 20 books (“Set Free! What the Bible Says About Grace” being the last one). My first book was a small one (95 pp.), published by Standard Publishing in 1973, on the subject of the Ten Commandments. Its title was “His Way.” It is no longer in print in English, though it is published in the Polish and Spanish languages. About two years ago (Jan. 2008), on the occasion of a reprint edition of the Polish version, I was asked to prepare a new preface for it. I thought it might be of interest to my readers; so here it is:

I am pleased that my little book, “His Way,” is being published again in the Polish language, this time with the title “The Ten Commandments: How To Understand Them Today.” I first wrote this book about 35 years ago (1973) in English. It was based on a course I had been teaching at Cincinnati Bible Seminary called “Personal Ethics.”

Some may find it surprising that a book written so long ago, in another language for another culture, could still be useful today for modern Polish-speaking Christians. The reason it is still relevant, of course, is because its subject matter (the Ten Commandments), though originally given around 35 HUNDRED years ago in yet another language and culture, is still as applicable and as needed today as ever.

These commandments are the heart and soul of God’s will for his people, and (except for the Sabbath commandment) are intended to form the backbone of His moral law for human beings in all times and places.

One reason these commands transcend all cultural, temporal, and language barriers is that they are general in nature, and as such are able and intended to be adapted to specific conditions and problems whenever and wherever they arise. For example, even since 1973, many new ethical issues have sprung up as the result of the now-ubiquitous use of computers and the internet. The Ten Commandments, however, are still the norm: computer porn is forbidden by the seventh commandment, computer fraud by the eighth commandment. The first commandment warns us not to make computers and computer games our god, and the tenth commandment warns us not to covet all the stuff so easily obtainable from internet sites.

These commandments, especially as interpreted for us by Jesus and the New Testament Scriptures, are still a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). May this little book help to lead many along the path of righteousness illuminated thereby.