Only One Man has perfectly lived according to the Principles of the Decalogue.  Jesus Christ the Messiah is the Only One and He is the Only One Who saves.  Obedience grows out of a heart that has been captured by His Love, Mercy, and Grace.

The first part of the Decalogue, the first four words are principles for believers to adopt and shape their lives around.  The first four words can be summed up by this, "God is to have first place in our hearts."  There are many implications that flow from these principles.

The Lord graciously initiates salvation by establishing and fulfilling His Covenant to make sinners holy and empower them with His presence to perfect His plan for creation.

This chapter has two parts.  The first part remembers God's Saving Grace.  Then, the hinge pivots to prefigure God's Shaping Law.  Understanding the relationship between God's Grace and God's Law is crucial for the culture and leadership of God's People.

God's testing exposes us.  Do not harden your hearts when exposed, but trust in the Lord to deliver you from your sin and provide all that we need for a life with God.  

Everything east of Eden is a Wilderness that the Lord uses for testing.  Testing reveals what is underneath the surface, what we as created worshipers are believing and in which we put our trust.  It is under the surface that repentance happens.  God's testing is gracious and enables repentance.

We give glory to the Lord by living from and toward Christ!

In Romans 1:16, Paul (carried along by the Holy Spirit) called the Gospel "the power of God for salvation."  In Exodus 14 we experienced a powerful story of how God accomplished salvation for His People even though at one point their hand was high in pride, and at another point low in despair.  It is the Lord that saved His People for His Glory, which is always good for us.  

We tend to live our Christian lives oscillating between High Handed Christianity and Drop Hand Christianity.  The Solution for both is the same:  Look at the Salvation of the Lord--Literally, "Look at Jesus."  When we consider the exodus of Jesus on the Cross, with his hands outstretched for the defeat of our sin and death.  Our only response is to lift our hands in worship of the One True Lord and Savior--restoring us to a right relationship with our Creator.  Glory be to God!   Amen and Amen!  

Constantly and consistently recalling how the LORD has saved us is vital to nurturing our relationship with Him.  The Lord gave the Israelites 3 ways to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt that are helpful for us to consider today, as well.  

God provides a sign of his mercy for His just judgement to passover His people who participate (by faith) in the distinction He has made.