Under no circumstance can an unsaved individual (an individual who is not a Christian) be a moral individual. Now, I may be criticized, but it is as Biblical a teaching as anything. If you are without Jesus Christ, you are wicked and immoral as you can be. This statement is not a matter of any opinion, philosophy, or ideal of mine; it is rather an indisputable fact of absolute truth, and I will prove it with the Bible, the final test of authenticity of all ideals.
The Unsaved Man Has Broken Every One of the Ten Commandments
To begin, a discussion of the most popular standard of morality will be used – the Ten Commandments. Let us look at each commandment, and see exactly where we all are outside of Jesus Christ.
The first commandment reads this way:
Exodus 20:3 – “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
This is the chief commandment, on which the others hang. It is the commandment forbidding idolatry. Every person who is not a Christian is guilty of idolatry, because God Almighty is not his god. And, if God is not your god, you will serve Buddha. Or, if not Buddha, perhaps Allah. Or, if not Allah, perhaps Baal. Or, if not Baal, perhaps Confucius. And, if you will serve no god, claiming that there is none, you always, in every circumstance, worship the god of SELF. As a matter of fact, most atheists boldly announce that MAN is god. God Almighty has commanded all men everywhere to repent and turn to His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. And to refuse this, you are doing what YOU choose to do, rejecting what GOD said to do. To do so is to be an idol worshipper, and everyone is not a Christian is guilty of breaking the first commandment.
The second commandment reads:
Exodus 20:4-6 – “Thou 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: Thou 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; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”
The second commandment forbids the making of images. This commandment is related to the first. The first forbids worship of any god other than God Almighty (the God of the Bible), and the second forbids any image depicting these so-called “gods.” If you make no literal image depicting a god, it is certain you contain images of the mind. You bow to your own images (II Corinthians 10:5); you serve your own philosophies, rather than the word of God. If you are not saved, you not only have gods in your life other than Jesus Christ, making you an idolator; you also bow down to them and serve them. Everyone who is not a Christian has broken the first two commandments, simply because Jesus Christ is not your God.
Then, we come to the third commandment:
Exodus 20:7 – “Thou 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.”
Every person who is not a Christian, who has said a prayer to God or sung a song containing God’s name, has used His name in vain. Unless you are praying a prayer of faith, believing in Jesus Christ for your salvation, Proverbs 28:9 states that even your prayer is an abomination.
Here is the fourth commandment:
Exodus 20:8-11 – “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 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: For 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.”
The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week. Unless you have worshipped the Lord and abstained from work every Saturday, you have broken the fourth commandment. The command to work six days is just as sacred as the command to rest on the seventh. If you have not worked six days every week, and rested on every seventh, you have broken this commandment. And, giving you the benefit of the doubt, let me say this. Even if you have worshipped in a church every Saturday and worked six days every week, the unsaved has still broken this commandment. Regarding the Sabbath day, we are commanded to “keep it holy.” The man who is unsaved is incapable of keeping anything holy, for Titus 1:15 says, “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” So, everyone who is an unbeliever has not kept the Sabbath day holy; nor is he even capable of doing so.
Now, for the fifth commandment:
Exodus 20:12 – “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
If you are unsaved, you dishonor your natural parents, bringing them shame. Not to mention, you dishonor the heavenly Father, who is ready to save you right now, making you part of His family.
How about the sixth commandment:
Exodus 20:13 – “Thou shalt not kill.”
Now, you may say, “I’ve never killed anyone.” Oh, but you have. I John 3:15 says that if you hate your brother (meaning, your fellow man), you are a murderer. And, just in case you feel that you have never hated anyone, you killed the Son of God Himself. Jesus died, not for any wrongs of His own, for He had none. He died for your sins and mine. You killed Jesus Christ the Son of God. If Jesus is not your God, you are a murderer of the worst kind.
The seventh commandment:
Exodus 20:14 – “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
Anyone who has been unfaithful to his/her spouse is guilty of adultery. If you clear yourself in this accusation, let me point out that Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5:28 that if you look upon a woman to lust after her, you have committed adultery with her IN YOUR HEART. And, even if you are not guilty of looking with lust, the scriptures declare that if you are an idolator, you are guilty of spiritual adultery (Ezekiel 23:37). I have already shown that every unbeliever is guilty of idolatry because God is not his god, and is therefore guilty of adultery.
The eighth commandment:
Exodus 20:15 – “Thou shalt not steal.”
If you have ever taken something that was not yours, you are a thief. Even if you have never stolen from another person, if you have not given 10% of your income to God Almighty, you have robbed God, according to Malachi 3:8. But, even more so, if Jesus Christ is not your God, and you trust in anything other than in Him, Jesus said in John 10:1 that you are the same as a thief and a robber. If you do not know Jesus, you are, by definition, a thief.
The ninth commandment:
Exodus 20:16 – “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
Perhaps you feel that you have never lied. The scriptures, however, declare otherwise. Romans 3:3, 4 tells us that if you do not believe Jesus Christ, God is true, and you are a liar. The person who refuses to place their faith in Christ, is a liar.
The tenth commandment reads this way:
Exodus 20:17 – “Thou 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.”
The tenth commandment forbids covetousness. Covetousness is the root of all sin. Therefore, since you have broken the first nine commandments, you are guilty of covetousness. Furthermore, Colossians 3:5 states that covetousness is idolatry. Since every unbeliever is guilty of idolatry, everyone who is not a Christian is also guilty of covetousness.
What the Bible Concludes
The Bible concludes that every person who is not a Christian is an idol-worshipping, image-making, Sabbath-breaking, parent-dishonoring, cursing, lying, stealing, killing, coveting adulterer. The unsaved man or woman is far from moral. Yes, I am sure there are men and women who are good to their neighbors, faithful to their spouse, and wouldn’t do anything to hurt anyone. But, notice – these people have already hurt Jesus Christ. Although you may be moral regarding your treatment of others; you are immoral in your treatment of Jesus Christ if you are not a Christian.
Galatians 3:22 sums it all up – “But the scripture hath concluded ALL UNDER SIN, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”
Believing on Jesus Christ is the only thing that will make you a moral person. Outside of this, man is filthy in the sight of Almighty God.
The Unsaved Man Has Broken Every One of the Ten Commandments
To begin, a discussion of the most popular standard of morality will be used – the Ten Commandments. Let us look at each commandment, and see exactly where we all are outside of Jesus Christ.
The first commandment reads this way:
Exodus 20:3 – “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
This is the chief commandment, on which the others hang. It is the commandment forbidding idolatry. Every person who is not a Christian is guilty of idolatry, because God Almighty is not his god. And, if God is not your god, you will serve Buddha. Or, if not Buddha, perhaps Allah. Or, if not Allah, perhaps Baal. Or, if not Baal, perhaps Confucius. And, if you will serve no god, claiming that there is none, you always, in every circumstance, worship the god of SELF. As a matter of fact, most atheists boldly announce that MAN is god. God Almighty has commanded all men everywhere to repent and turn to His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. And to refuse this, you are doing what YOU choose to do, rejecting what GOD said to do. To do so is to be an idol worshipper, and everyone is not a Christian is guilty of breaking the first commandment.
The second commandment reads:
Exodus 20:4-6 – “Thou 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: Thou 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; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”
The second commandment forbids the making of images. This commandment is related to the first. The first forbids worship of any god other than God Almighty (the God of the Bible), and the second forbids any image depicting these so-called “gods.” If you make no literal image depicting a god, it is certain you contain images of the mind. You bow to your own images (II Corinthians 10:5); you serve your own philosophies, rather than the word of God. If you are not saved, you not only have gods in your life other than Jesus Christ, making you an idolator; you also bow down to them and serve them. Everyone who is not a Christian has broken the first two commandments, simply because Jesus Christ is not your God.
Then, we come to the third commandment:
Exodus 20:7 – “Thou 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.”
Every person who is not a Christian, who has said a prayer to God or sung a song containing God’s name, has used His name in vain. Unless you are praying a prayer of faith, believing in Jesus Christ for your salvation, Proverbs 28:9 states that even your prayer is an abomination.
Here is the fourth commandment:
Exodus 20:8-11 – “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 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: For 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.”
The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week. Unless you have worshipped the Lord and abstained from work every Saturday, you have broken the fourth commandment. The command to work six days is just as sacred as the command to rest on the seventh. If you have not worked six days every week, and rested on every seventh, you have broken this commandment. And, giving you the benefit of the doubt, let me say this. Even if you have worshipped in a church every Saturday and worked six days every week, the unsaved has still broken this commandment. Regarding the Sabbath day, we are commanded to “keep it holy.” The man who is unsaved is incapable of keeping anything holy, for Titus 1:15 says, “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” So, everyone who is an unbeliever has not kept the Sabbath day holy; nor is he even capable of doing so.
Now, for the fifth commandment:
Exodus 20:12 – “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
If you are unsaved, you dishonor your natural parents, bringing them shame. Not to mention, you dishonor the heavenly Father, who is ready to save you right now, making you part of His family.
How about the sixth commandment:
Exodus 20:13 – “Thou shalt not kill.”
Now, you may say, “I’ve never killed anyone.” Oh, but you have. I John 3:15 says that if you hate your brother (meaning, your fellow man), you are a murderer. And, just in case you feel that you have never hated anyone, you killed the Son of God Himself. Jesus died, not for any wrongs of His own, for He had none. He died for your sins and mine. You killed Jesus Christ the Son of God. If Jesus is not your God, you are a murderer of the worst kind.
The seventh commandment:
Exodus 20:14 – “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
Anyone who has been unfaithful to his/her spouse is guilty of adultery. If you clear yourself in this accusation, let me point out that Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5:28 that if you look upon a woman to lust after her, you have committed adultery with her IN YOUR HEART. And, even if you are not guilty of looking with lust, the scriptures declare that if you are an idolator, you are guilty of spiritual adultery (Ezekiel 23:37). I have already shown that every unbeliever is guilty of idolatry because God is not his god, and is therefore guilty of adultery.
The eighth commandment:
Exodus 20:15 – “Thou shalt not steal.”
If you have ever taken something that was not yours, you are a thief. Even if you have never stolen from another person, if you have not given 10% of your income to God Almighty, you have robbed God, according to Malachi 3:8. But, even more so, if Jesus Christ is not your God, and you trust in anything other than in Him, Jesus said in John 10:1 that you are the same as a thief and a robber. If you do not know Jesus, you are, by definition, a thief.
The ninth commandment:
Exodus 20:16 – “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
Perhaps you feel that you have never lied. The scriptures, however, declare otherwise. Romans 3:3, 4 tells us that if you do not believe Jesus Christ, God is true, and you are a liar. The person who refuses to place their faith in Christ, is a liar.
The tenth commandment reads this way:
Exodus 20:17 – “Thou 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.”
The tenth commandment forbids covetousness. Covetousness is the root of all sin. Therefore, since you have broken the first nine commandments, you are guilty of covetousness. Furthermore, Colossians 3:5 states that covetousness is idolatry. Since every unbeliever is guilty of idolatry, everyone who is not a Christian is also guilty of covetousness.
What the Bible Concludes
The Bible concludes that every person who is not a Christian is an idol-worshipping, image-making, Sabbath-breaking, parent-dishonoring, cursing, lying, stealing, killing, coveting adulterer. The unsaved man or woman is far from moral. Yes, I am sure there are men and women who are good to their neighbors, faithful to their spouse, and wouldn’t do anything to hurt anyone. But, notice – these people have already hurt Jesus Christ. Although you may be moral regarding your treatment of others; you are immoral in your treatment of Jesus Christ if you are not a Christian.
Galatians 3:22 sums it all up – “But the scripture hath concluded ALL UNDER SIN, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”
Believing on Jesus Christ is the only thing that will make you a moral person. Outside of this, man is filthy in the sight of Almighty God.
