The Doomsday Clock, watched over by a group of scientists, has been a symbol of nuclear danger since 1947. Any time the keepers of the Clock believe that events are happening in the world that are moving us closer to a nuclear confrontation, they move the hands of the Doomsday Clock forward. In 2007, they moved the hands two minutes closer to midnight – from seven minutes to five minutes – over fears of what they identified as a "a second nuclear age" because of nuclear stalemates with Iran and North Korea.

How close we truly are to doomsday, I don't know. But I do think it is a sign of the times, an indicator of how we are moving in that direction. I also find it interesting that in speaking of the last days, Jesus said, "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day" (Matthew 24:37 NLT). As we look back to Noah's day, we find there were two prevalent sins, two things the people did a lot of that angered God: violent crime and sexual perversion. The people of Noah's time were living in what you might call the last days prior to God's judgment of the Earth by water. Describing those times, the Bible says, "Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence" (Genesis 6:11 NLT).

Our culture is awash in violence and crime today. Think of the headlines we see on a weekly basis. We live in a day now when mothers kill their children, when violent crime is so commonplace that we have actually become somewhat desensitized to it – even jaded. Experts have concluded that by the age of 16, the average American child has watched 200,000 violent acts and 40,000 murders on television. Think of the kinds of things young people are exposed to and how those who don't have a moral compass or a sense right and wrong will go out and do what everyone else does.

Believe it or not, God has established his laws about right and wrong, about morality and immorality, to protect us. We find these laws in the Ten Commandments, which, in fact, address the two prevalent sins of our society I mentioned earlier: violence and sexual perversion.

The Sixth Commandment says, "You must not murder" (Exodus 20:13 NLT), but does that mean that all killing is wrong? The Bible is saying that it is certainly wrong to take the life of another with no justifiable reason. Having said that, it is also true that the Bible does not condemn all killing. There are times when killing, though not desirable, is permitted according to Scripture.

For example, in the Old Testament, Numbers 35 makes the distinction between murder and killing. All murder is killing but not all killing is necessarily murder. So when would killing ever be acceptable before God? I believe the Bible allows for self-defense (see Exodus 22:2–3). Also, the Bible tells us that the military and the police are in place to keep order. Romans 13:4 says, "The authorities are God's servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God's servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong" (NLT). Clearly, the Bible is saying that the one who enforces the law has been placed there by God.

Having said that, the Bible clearly condemns murder, which includes, among other things, abortion. Biblically, abortion is murder. There is no other way to look at it. Our culture uses certain terminology in an attempt to make us comfortable with this horrific process, calling unborn babies "fetuses," "embryos," "globs of cells," "uterine content," "products of conception," or even "potential persons." I have heard all the arguments, and none of them convinces me that these babies are anything other than unborn, living human beings who are made in the very image of God. It is clear that God has a plan for every baby still in the womb (see Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5). How tragic it is when that plan is aborted. Every child is created by God and should be given the opportunity to live.

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This brings us to the next commandment: "You must not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:13 NLT). Clearly, the two are interconnected. The vast majority – though not all – of abortions take place as a result of sexual promiscuity, because we violate the Seventh Commandment, and the Bible is quite clear as to what this commandment means. Two words we often see in the Bible are "adultery" and "fornication." Adultery is having sexual relations with someone besides your spouse, while fornication is having sexual relations before marriage. Both are described as sins before God.

Imagine what a different world we would live in today if people did not break the Seventh Commandment. Imagine how many divorces would be avoided. Imagine how many families would still be together. Imagine how many fathers would still be at home to raise their children. What a different world it would be.

On more than one occasion, the Bible compares sexual sin to a fire that burns out of control. What an apt description that is. We would be wise to remember what our parents told us about playing with matches. When we play with sexual sin, it will explode out of control before we realize it.

Sometimes we forget that God created sex. We think that the Bible only condemns it, but it doesn't. The Bible condemns sex outside of marriage; but inside the marriage relationship, God blesses it. It is not bad. It is not evil in the marriage relationship. Yet the Bible makes clear that sex outside of the marriage relationship is sin (see Hebrews 13:4).

In the 21st century, it may seem virtually impossible to live up to the Bible's standards. Yet Jesus pointed out that we should be willing to give up whatever is necessary to keep ourselves from falling into sin (see Matthew 5:21-30). Anything that would morally or spiritually trap you, that would cause you to fall into sin or stay in sin, should be eliminated quickly and completely.

All of us have sinned. Every one of us has broken God's commandments. Yet he loved us so much that he sent his own son, Jesus Christ, who died for the wrongs that we have done. And with his help, we can be the people God has called us to be.