Today we come to the second part of the Ten Commandments, those that regulate the way that we treat other people. And once again we need to avoid the sin of legalism, of using these commandments as a checklist to make us feel good about our own spiritual condition. “I’m not a murderer. I haven’t cheated on my husband or wife. I’m not a thief. So I must be a pretty good person.”

Jesus, of course, pulled the plug on this kind of thinking when He said these commandments necessarily deal with our thoughts as well as our actions. In Matthew 5, He said the commandment which prohibits murder means that we mustn’t even be angry with others. The commandment that prohibits adultery also means we mustn’t even look at anyone else lustfully. Sinful actions begin with thoughts and feelings, so our hearts and minds must be as pure as our behavior.

Of course, the commandments themselves can teach us the same lesson. At the beginning of today’s passage we find the commandment to honor our parents, to consider them worthy of the greatest respect. And at the end of the passage, we find a prohibition on coveting what belongs to others, desiring things they have, even if that means they can’t have them anymore. Coveting is to stealing what lust is to adultery and anger is to murder – all sin thus begins with our thoughts and feelings.

In short, the more closely we look at these commandments, the clearer our need for a Savior should be. For even the most self-controlled among us can’t claim complete purity of heart and mind. No, we all need Christ to live within us, to give us the power to be as selfless, as self-sacrificial as He is.

And that brings us to the second problem we must avoid – treating these commandments in a purely negative sense. After all, Jesus taught us that the sum and substance of these rules is to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. So, once we have trusted Christ as Savior and bowed the knee to Him as Lord, once He has filled us with His Holy Spirit and given us the ability to live in the way that God wants us to live, how can these commandments help us learn how to love others effectively and completely?

Let’s look at each of these commandments. If we love our wives or husbands of course we won’t commit adultery, cheating on them. But that necessarily means we will try to fulfill our marriage vows completely, loving them with all we are and all we have. It also means we will try to protect other people’s marriages, encouraging them to greater fidelity and love.

Of course we wouldn’t try to murder someone we love. Instead, we should strive to help our neighbors’ lives be full and rich, promoting their health and well-being however we can.

Of course we wouldn’t steal from those we love, or even want things that they have. Instead, we should do all we can to enrich our neighbors, to protect what they have, and even their right to possess it (the 8th and 10th commandments should remove all doubt that God believes in private property).

Of course we won’t tell lies or spread hurtful gossip about those we love. Instead, we’ll defend them from other people’s slanders and do our best to build up their reputations. We’ll speak words of encouragement and blessing to others and about others.

And if we love our parents, of course we’ll treat them and their opinions with the greatest respect. And notice that this commandment carries a promise of long life and social stability. Maybe we Americans, in our constant quest for novelty and our zeal for casting off traditions should take a closer look at this one.

Exodus 20:12-17 (KJV)

12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
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.