If I Want to Go to Heaven, Don’t I Just Follow the 10 Commandments?

Exodus 20…..
1And God spake all these words, saying,
2I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13Thou shalt not kill.
14Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15Thou shalt not steal.
16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Now let’s get on with the topic. I remember at one point listening to a CD in my car, it was quite the sad situation. For every person that was interviewed, NONE knew the 10 commandments, if memory serves me right, only 1 person could name 6 of them.
The sad part of this whole situation was, the question was asked, how do we get to heaven? And most replied back with “just follow the commandments”. So the person conducting the interview followed with their statement and said “so name them”. To which most replied “don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t lie….don’t cheat…..” and that was the extent. When then asked if they ever killed, they replied no, they were then asked if they stole, and if they were honest, they admitted it. And for the lying part, they all admitted this.
Then the interviewer asked if they can name 4, where are the other 6?

What am I getting at with this topic? If we were to follow the 10 commandments, and we can’t name them, what are the chances of reaching and obeying them? Very slim. Anyone you ask, that is very successful in any industry…Sales, fitness, reading, self improvement…will all tell you one thing in common, have goals, memorize them and follow them daily.
So if your goal is to get to heaven, and you don’t even know the commandments, how can you follow them. Compare your life to the 10 listed above. You DO fall short, myself being a Christian am guilty of all 10. Here’s the reason the commandments were given. They were given to show God’s standard. And to show how short we fall before him. It was to prove that in man’s depravity, his ungodliness, he is completely unable to attain God’s standard. Romans 3:23 shows this.The easiest way I can illustrate this is this way. Say you wake up in the morning. And you go to your bathroom, and look in the mirror. What a sight. You see all your hair out of place, some drool marks on your cheeks, bear whiskers (men usually) ready for a shave. Now here’s the kicker, the mirror is absolutely powerless to change any of this.
It does a great job showing you’re your facial flaws, and your strong points, but it does nothing for them, you have to do something about them yourself.

Same as your sin, you can try to obey the commandments, but you can’t, they are just there to prove that you can’t.
That’s why Jesus died on that cursed cross 2000 yrs ago. He did follow the law to perfection. And He did it because He knew you couldn’t.
Wouldn’t you face the fact that you can’t save yourself no matter your sincerest effort and trust Him.