The Ten Commandments, Part 4

Author : Keith Sharp

You Shall Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

The last six requirements of the Ten Commandments regulate our relationships with each other. They are summarized by the command “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9) “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:10)

These commands spring from and reveal the holy nature of God and are designed to cause His people to share His holy nature (Exodus 19:5-6; Leviticus 19:1-2; Deuteronomy 7:6; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 2:5,9-10).

Honor Your Father and Mother
(Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16)Because God is holy and awesome we are to reverence Him (Psalm 89:5-14). To reverence God is to hold him in awe and godly fear.

Parents stand in relationship to their little children as God does to us. Children are to honor their parents (Ephesians 6:1-3). This honor is shown by being respectful in word and action, by obeying them while living in their house and by providing for their needs when they are unable to do so (Ephesians 6:1; Matthew 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-13; 1 Timothy 5:4).

By learning to honor their parents, children learn to respect and obey all proper authorities: school teachers, civil rulers, elders of the church and God. Thus, when we teach our children to honor us, we are teaching them the way to live a long, happy, fruitful life (Deuteronomy 5:16; Ephesians 6:3). Honor for parents is the foundation of a strong society that will insure the strength of the nation and the church (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16). Under the Mosaic covenant a youth who rebelled against his parents was to be put to death (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). Thus, “Honor your father and mother … is the first commandment” in our relationships with each other (Ephesians 6:2).

You Shall Not Murder
(Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17)The Lord, an immortal Spirit (John 4:24; 1 Timothy 1:17), is the living God (Deuteronomy 5:26). Man is made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27), a living being (Genesis 2:7) having an immortal spirit (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Thus, human life is sacred and can only be taken by divine permission.

The great sin which brought about the destruction of the world by the Flood was violence (Genesis 6:13). Thus, immediately after the Flood the Lord by implication established civil government when he commanded that the murderer should forfeit his own life (Genesis 9:6). This command is rooted in the fact that man is made in the image of God (Ibid).

The Old Testament not only forbid outright murder; it also forbid and punished acts of violence (Exodus 21:18-19) and forbid the carelessness (Deuteronomy 22:8) and hatred (Leviticus 19:17-18) that led to death. Jesus forbids the hatred and anger that leads to violence and murder (Matthew 5:21-25), even of our enemies (Matthew 5:43-47).

Civil government is authorized to take human life to uphold justice. The very law that commanded, “Thou shalt not kill” (KJV), demanded the death penalty for the most serious crimes (Exodus 21:12-14) and permitted just warfare (Numbers 31:1-7). The law of Christ requires civil government to mete out justice with deadly force when necessary (Romans 13:1-7).

You Shall Not Commit Adultery
(Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18)God is faithful and keeps His covenants (Deuteronomy 7:9). Thus He demands that we be faithful in the most serious fleshly covenant we enter, the marriage relationship (Malachi 2:13-14). The home was the first divine institution (Genesis 2:18-24) and is thus sacred. Christ forbids the look of lust that leads to adultery (Matthew 5:27-28) as well as all forms of sexual immorality (Ephesians 4:17-24; Hebrews 13:4).

You Shall Not Steal.
(Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19)The Lord is just (Exodus 32:4), and we must be as well. We must respect the property rights of others. The New Testament condemns all forms of unjustly taking what belongs to others (Ephesians 4:28; Romans 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:10). We are to acquire property by honest labor with a view to helping others (Ephesians 4:28).

You Shall Not Bear False Witness
(Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20)God is the God of truth (Deuteronomy 32:4), and we must always tell the truth in all situations (Ephesians 4:25). No characteristic is more destructive to individual character and public welfare than dishonesty. We should be so trustworthy that our simple “yes” or “no”is as secure as a legal contract. “[A]ll liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

You Shall Not Covet
(Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21)The Lord is the God of love (Deuteronomy 7:7-8; 1 John 4:8). We should so love others that we will not set our desire on anything that belongs to them.

The Old Testament primarily dealt with outward, fleshly concerns (Hebrews 9:9-10). This is the one of the Ten Commandments that primarily goes to the heart of man rather than dealing with the outward act. It thus rises above all merely civil law, which by nature cannot deal with the soul, and leads to the New Testament which primarily addresses the spirit (Romans 2:28-29). Inasmuch as all sin springs from the heart (Matthew 15:18-20), Paul uses this commandment as representative of all the law (Romans 7:7-8).

ConclusionThe code represented by the Ten Commandments was the highest ethical standard the world had known until Christ came to fully reveal God to man.