A BLUEPRINT FOR LOVING!

Blueprint for LOVING!

The Second Part of the Ten Commandments

Continuing with a series of articles that appeared in "DISCIPLESHIP JOURNAL" - issue 21 - 1984 (Vol.4, number 3)

The Apostle Paul tells us that "love is the fulfillment of the

law" (Ro.13:10). Here are some ideas for how we can learn what

love demands by studying the Ten Commandments. Such

considerations can give us concrete, clear directions for doing

something we often find hard to define.

by Dr. John A. Sparks

BLUEPRINT FOR LOVING

The Ten Commandments

     DURING YEARS OF WORKING WITH college students and 

studying Scripture with adult groups, I often hear troubled pleas for a

clearer understanding of how the second table of the Ten

Commandments ought to be regarded and acted on by Christians.

That statements so clear and simple should cause so much

consternation seems strange until we remember that Christ Himself

had to reteach the meanings of the commandments to the crowds who

had come to hear Him. Why? Because the very leaders who should

have known so much about these commandments, the scribes and

Pharisees, had distorted their meanings (Mt.5:21,27,31,33,38,43).

     Why then should we be any different? We need the clarifying

words of our Savior as He comments on the second table as much 

as did the crowds, scribes, and Pharisees of old.

TWO OBJECTIONS

     The commandments are extremely important to Christ. Yet one

common notion is that the Decalogue is something for the nation

of Israel in the Old Testament and that it is of only passing

interest to New Testament Christians. Many Christians, old and

new, say something like this at one time or another.

But Christ explained that He came not to abolish the law but to

fulfill it (Mt.5:17-18). He said we are not to teach the

relaxation of any of the Ten Commandments (Mt.5:19-20). 

True enough, the law is a source of frustration for the unbeliever

because it makes his miserable state apparent. But Christ sets

men free from such a burden and His commandments and His laws 

can be a joy to us.

     Another common objection to the commandments is that they

cannot create joy because they are negative.

     Consider carefully this charge. Our era is fond of the positive. 

"Positive thinking," "positive goals," "positive self-image" - 

all these are part of the preoccupation with "being positive." 

Parents are counselled not to say that blunt, negative

word "no" to their children. Instead, when Junior is doing

something wrong, his father and mother are supposed to channel

him into something "positive," never draw strict limits.

The examples are endless, but suffice it to say that our age

adores the positive and is repulsed by the negative.

     Having said that, it is little wonder that Christians, who

are, after all, creatures of the age in which we live, find

ourselves at odds with the Ten Commandments, especially the

second table. There they are - "Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt

not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal." They are the

negatives of the Word, or as some refer to them, the "don'ts" 

of Scripture. The Christian has to short circuit the cultural

programming he has received about "negative and positive" 

before he can profit from the commandments.

     Actually, those who argue against the commandments this 

way are not really consistent in regarding other negatively stated

standards. For example, do those who berate the "negativism" of

the commandments also object to the first ten amendments to the

U.S. Constitution? Those amendments - the Bill of Rights - are

predominately stated in terms of "thou shalt not." Remember 

what they say in part: Congress shall make no law respecting an

establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.... 

No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house.... 

and so forth. "No," "not," and "nor" appear over fifteen times in 

the Bill of Rights. Yet one seldom hears the Bill of Rights described 

as "just a list of no, no's!" The accusation of negativism directed at 

the commandments is really a specialized attack against their content, 

not a consistent stand against negatively stated standards.

     Negatives and restraints are good things. God provides them

to correct us, reprove us, and guide us on the path He would have

us take. These negatives and our thorough knowledge of what is

prohibited by them help keep us out of the path which the evil

one wishes us to take. It does us well to remember that when

Christ answered Satan in the wildemess, when He fought against

temptation in its starkest and most enticing form, He quoted two

out of three times the negative wamings of Scripture: "Man does

not live on bread alone..." and, "Do not put the Lord your God to

the  test" (Mt.4:4,7).

MURDER AND LIFE

     Thou shalt not kill  - that is the injunction of the sixth

commandment. Life is given by God and, consequently, cannot be

taken except in self-defense, capital punishment or a just war

(Under the NT "just wars" so-called, cannot be for the Christian

to partake in. See my in-depth study for the truth of the matter

on "Warfare and the Christian" - Keith Hunt).

     Actually taking someone else's life will normally not be the

kind of temptation from which the Christian has to keep himself.

     But the commandment means much more than refraining from

killing. It requires, for example, that we take a strong public

stand against murder or violence done to others and that we give

support and aid to those policing agencies charged with the duty

of investigating and preventing violent crime.

     Each year over 21,000 people are murdered in the U.S. alone

(remember this article was written in 1984 - Keith Hunt). Tens of

thousands more are maimed or left emotionally scarred from

assaults and attempts on their lives. The old and the young - two

of the most defenceless groups in society - are often victims. If

one remembers that for each of these victims there are mothers,

fathers, brothers and sisters, friends, wives and children who

have their loved ones torn from this world, often for the most

paltry, insignificant reasons, then one begins to see the moaning

heartache and distortion murder brings to the world. If we add to

this the hundreds of thousands of children killed by abortion, it

is easy to see that we desperately need to hear and heed this

commandment 

(And let me add which President since Wade verses Row, giving the

basic freedom to practice abortion, has STOPPED IT!!? Not a one

of them! Do you think a "President" can really fulfil his work

under the name "Christian" [and they all say they are

"Christian"]? I would think a true dedicated Christian would not

be able to sleep at night, literally, and go mentally in torment,

until "abortion on demand" is totally against the law, and made a

captital crime to practice. This is just ONE reason that a true

Christians can not run for President - in todays society, such a

person would be laughed at, ridiculed, shunned, and would never

get out of the dug-out to run for the office of President. 

ABORTION ON DEMAND IS TOTAL MURDER!! No person - 

no Christian person can be in charge of a town, country, and ALLOW 

abortion on demand. If he/she has not the POWER to STOP the 

present law that most countries in the world now practice, then he 

cannot possibly be in politics or public office. He or she should put 

politics out of their mind and get busy at PROCLAIMING the truths 

of God and the laws of God.

I've said, and I'll say it again, when I see a Joseph of the book

of Genesis, who has the WILL and the POWER to INACT God's laws

[one being NO abortion on demand], I'll be the first in line to

vote for him/her. See my study "Political Voting and the

Christian." - Keith Hunt).

     Leaving the question of outright murder aside, we must

recognize that all such unjustified violence has its root in the

heart. It is precisely to this problem of our disfigured hearts

that Christ spoke. He said in Mt.5:21-22 that we are mistaken if

we believe that  only the convict locked in the state prison or

the "hit man" roaming the street with a gun is a murderer. Says

our Lord to each of us, "You are really all murderers at heart!"

(cf. Ro.3:10-18; Mt.15:16-19). That certainly takes us back. What

can this charge mean?

     For many years a comic strip called "Out Our Way" appeared

in newspapers nationwide. In almost every instalment the author

had in cartoon caption the words, "the urge to kill." Usually

these words represented the unspoken thoughts of one of the

characters about someone else who was causing him consistent

frustration. All who read the comic knew he would not actually

kill, but we identified with the sentiments.

     At some time every reader of that comic strip had thought

about someone, "I could kill him! If no harm would come to me, if

no one would think ill of me, or if no one would send me to

prison, I could be rid of this person and his influence on me!"

     No matter how we may wish to deny it, when thoughts similar

to these - anger, hatred, unforgiveness - kindle in our minds and

hearts, they are the small flames which become the roaring fire

of murder. That we do not act out our heart's desire does not

mean we obey the sixth commandment. Only as our hearts are

reshaped by the work of the Holy Spirit can we say that our

rebellious, murder-prone tendencies are gradually overcome.

     Surely, then, loving our neighbors, the general formula for

understanding the second table of the law (Ro.13:8-10), means

that we do not kill or do violence to them.

     But the commandment also means that we vigorously support

efforts to protect these same neighbors against the violent

depredations of others. "Thou shalt not kill" also means we

should pray and work for the reordering of our whole deformed

heart, which in its flawed state is the root of the murderous

impulses which eventually work their ways into acts of bloodshed.

But, as if this were not enough for us to attend to, there is one

final instruction for us in the sixth commandment.

     To carry it forward is a lifetime of work. Christians stand

against death. At the same time, we are to be the champions of

spreading life. As Christians we should enrich our neighbor's

life at every opportunity. We should endeavor to make our

neighbor's days vital, zestful, meaningful. We should not kill

our neighbor's enthusiasm for the wonder of the created world by

our "take it for granted" attitude. We should not kill his

interest in searching the Word by our demeanor of superiority. We

should not kill this exuberance for an evangelistic outreach by

saying, "That has all been tried before." Instead we should

steadily enliven, inspire, and animate our brothers and sisters

in Christ. We ought to direct our energies at reviving the

dedication of a neighbor who has fallen away.

     "Thou shalt not kill" is an injunction against murder, but

it is also a challenge to bring life - life which really only begins 

with belief in Jesus Christ.

ADULTERY AND FAITHFUL LIVING

     The prohibition of adultery is intended by God to protect

the fundamental unit of society, the family. The marriage vows of

husband and wife exhort them to be faithful to one another and to

God.

     Infidelity threatens to break apart the family unit. We know

the results only too well today. Children are damaged when child

raising is disrupted. If adultery leads to divorce, the children

are often the victims of custody fights by which the parents

continue to hurt each other. All the wrongs and slights of the

past become the ammunition of the divorce battle. Confidence,

privacy, and consideration are shattered in the exchanges. Those

of us who practice law witness the awful, wrenching impact of

unfaithfulness on husbands, wives, children, and friends.

Christ warns us that while this seventh commandment may be

externally broken with the adulterous affair, its breach begins

with the lustful longings of the heart. Those desires may be for

sexual gratification. However, a husband may simply desire

"greater understanding" from another woman when his wife seems

not to understand him. Or, the husband may be "too busy" with his

career to give needed attention to his wife. She may fall into

the companionship of another man and eventually share herself

with him as if she were his wife.

     In either of these cases, initial discontent with one's own

spouse and, often, a blindness to one's own faults, lead to

greater discontent. Finally, the unhappy spouse begins to think:

"If I were only loved by someone else, I would be truly happy."

     How can we deal with these beginnings of lust and irritation? 

When we are discontent we ought to pray for guidance, proper 

communication, and a spirit of forgiveness about whatever

has come between us. But prayer, communication and forgiveness

should all be set in the unalterable commitment that we will be

faithful to our husband or wife. If the thought, even the glimmer

of the thought, arises that some other person would be more

enjoyable or understanding, then Christ tells us we have to take

immediate and drastic action. Christ says that if your eye is

wandering longingly after someone other than your spouse, you

should pluck it out (Mt.5:27-30). He says that not to encourage

acts of self-mutilation but to emphasize how important it is to

deal with such lust while it can still be controlled. As in all

the areas covered by these commandments, the external sins 

begin with the internal desiring of our hearts.

     Each person can take practical steps to deal with desires

for someone of the opposite sex. Avoidance is a good technique.

If a woman from some other office makes a man's heart beat at a

morning coffee break, then he should skip the break until he has

himself under payerful control again.

     Sending the proper signals to others about one's intentions

is important for them and for oneself. A Christian counselor once

explained that he had devised certain techniques to protect

himself and those he was counseling from losing control. He knew

that he had many unhappy wives visiting him for help. From time

to time some ofthem, because of the natural temptation stemming

from their unhappy marriages, began to be too reliant on and

intimate with him.

     In order to counter that temptation both in himself and in

them, he placed numerous large pictures of his wife and children

in his counseling office. These were reminders to him that he was

happily married and they were signals to his counselees that he

was "off-limits."

     Each of us knows techniques by which we can put some social

distance between ourselves and persons of the opposite sex to

whom we are attracted or who are attracted to us. We must always

remember that prayer for a faithful heart is the single best way

to guard against the lust of the flesh.

     To love our neighbor means to regard our wives and husbands

as the true treasures they are. It certainly means to confess our

sins of the wandering eye, the sexual fantasy, the fleeting,

wishful glance at another.

     However, true marital faithfulness is part of a larger pattern

of faithfulness in our daily lives. We must be faithful to

our God, faithful to our own word, and faithful to our friends,

employers, and employees. If we practice fidelity in these

places, faithfulness in marriage should follow. Ultimately, it is

the utter dependability of our God which is the example of what

being faithful really means. He is immutable, He is unvarying, He

is faithful.

THEFT, COVETING, AND REJOICING 

     "Thou shalt not steal" and "Thou shalt not covet" are

intimately related. What would a world be like in which at every

turn one were confronted with thieves? Some citizens of our major

cities know what that is like. If they leave goods in a car for

just a few minutes, the goods are gone. Elaborate locks and

security precautions increase the cost and inconvenience of life.

Billions of dollars are lost each year to large, organized rings

of thieves.

     Thefts are sometimes described as crimes "against property."

But theft is really a crime against persons. Persons work hard

for money with which to purchase needed goods. When these goods

are taken, in some sense the embodiment of the owners effort and

time is stolen (Lk.10:7).

     Theft almost always arises out of coveting, though it is

possible to covet something without actually stealing it.

     To covet is to wish enviously for that which belongs to

another. It demands that one concentrate one's energies and

efforts on that which one covets. Why is coveting so

destructive?   

     First and foremost it may lead to theft. "I want it" may

lead to "I must have it" and thence to "I will take it" So the

wishes of the heart may be translated into acts of theft.

     Second, if we earnestly desire what another possesses, our

coveting occupies our time and saps our energy - time and energy

that could be used to further the Kingdom of God.

     Suppose our friend, George, has just written a book and

achieved a measure of fame. He has been interviewed on a

television program or two and has been asked to lecture at the

next conference of some society. He has had success. Let's assume

we experience the tensions of coveting. We want in the worst way

to receive the attention and notoriety George has.

     The cancer of coveting attacks us in many ways. When we see

George we may purposely avoid asking him about his book and its

success. Because he has what we want, it is too painful for us to

talk about it. Or perhaps, rather than genuinely rejoicing with

him about his efforts, we may belittle him ever so cleverly by

saying, "They haven't made that book of yours into a movie yet

have they?" Perhaps our covetous attitude will drive us to try to

write something that will get us the attention George got, no

matter what the sacrifice.

     Coveting is usually what could be called an attack of faulty

perspective. We focus so intently upon getting what someone else

has that we lose our perspective on life. We are consumed by 

desire. We lose our equilibrium. We  become dizzy with the rush

toward what we covet.

     The commandments against stealing and coveting warn us

against these dread maladies. Covetousness and stealing bring us

to a state of suffering just as quickly as the worst infections

and vitruses. But the commandments offer us a tremendous positive

challenge. We are not to take from others or covet what, they

have. Instead, we are to give to  others and to rejoice in what

blessings they have received. We ought not to wish less for them

and more for our selves, but more for them and less for t

ourselves.

     Above all, coveting and stealing are at root dissatisfaction

with God's providential order of things. Our Maker has said He

will provide us with every needed thing on this earth if we will

only seek first His Kingdom (Mt.6:33). We need to, team to

glorify God in the little He has given us and the much He may

have given others. Only then will the storm of covetous yearning

quiet within us so that we may serve our neighbors.

FALSE WITNESS - TRUE WITNESS 

     Witnessing is a very important part of each person's life.

Too often we assume, witnessing is limited to evangelism and

courts of law. Of course, the commandment against bearing false

witness was intended to warn against false or inaccurate

statements in court. There, false statements may mean the loss 

of life, liberty, or property, and therefore the witness is charged

not to perjure himself. However, each of us is always a witness

and each of us is always an observer.

     Every man's or woman's every word and act gives a testimony

about what he or she believes to be true or false in life. But

what does our witness hold up before others? Unfortunately, 

we often witness to the wrong things in the wrong ways. We tell

partial truths about others when it serves us best. If we are

trying to present someone else as mean and short-tempered, 

we skip telling about the times when he was moderate and patient

with us. We exaggerate and slander ever so skillfully. Why, we

even delight in occasional falls and frailties that we can pass

on to others, though we pretend to be genuinely chagrined. 

We are outstanding witnesses - but on behalf of the evil one.

     If he had carefully coached and trained us himself, the

devil could have hoped for no better witnesses. Backbiting,

depressed cynicism, maliciousness, sniping statements and, 

best of all, church squabbles and fights, usually over things that

matter very little, show us to be convincing witnesses for the

prince of darkness.

     But Christ wants us to be witnesses for Him! Are we able?

Often, the remarkable answer is "no." We can talk of baseball,

football, weather, politics, sewing crafts, child rearing, and so

forth. And yet we cannot make conversation about anything even

remotely connected with our faith. Businessmen who could convince

hard-headed bankers to invest funds in plastic molding machines

that are only on the drawing board somehow cannot seem to blurt

out a few words about how Christ altered their formerly dreary

existence. The housewife who "talks the leg off" of the neighbors

for hours each day clutches when her friend is at the end of her

secular rope. It seems incredible, but it is true in case after case.

     How can we be better witnesses for Christ? There are three

simple steps: Prepare, Practice, and Plunge.

     Of course, we must know what we believe. Our understanding

of our faith should increase daily as we set aside time for Bible

study and prayer. All too often we have not taken the time to

know more about what we believe. Pleading ignorance can be an

easy way out of witnessing. But even in courts of law there are

experts and non-experts. Both can be good, effective witnesses.

One need not be a graduate of a theological seminary to carry the

Word of God to others. None of the disciples had a single degree

or special qualification other than that the Lord had chosen each

of them. If He has chosen us, then we, too, should he ready 

(I Pet.3:15).

     Among other things, preparedness means knowing a few

techniques and practicing them in advance. Here are a few 

ideas that might be of help. I have found them helpful for

college students and young adults, but they certainly can be

adapted to one's own particular use.

     Practically all of us have a friend to whom we wish to

witness who confides in us about a personal problem. It might 

be a death in the family, a failure, or consternation about what to

do in a certain situation. After listening and, perhaps, offering

an idea or two, earning his trust, we might say, "Bill, if I were

you, I'd pray about it. I'm going to put you on my prayer list. I

guess I have never asked you, but, do you have any religious

convictions?" Another opener might be, "Were you raised in any

particular Christian denomination? Do you attend a church now?" 

A question that often helps start discussion is, "What is the most

important thing in life to you other than your wife and family?"

     Here is another idea. Most Christians attend Sunday morning

service and Sunday school. We may even attend a Sunday evening

service as well. (I'll put or add - Sabbath school and Sabbath

service - Keith Hunt). Unfortunately, for the rest of the week we

seldom talk to anyone else about what we hear in those two or

three hours. But it can be a good "across the fence" opener for a

Sunday afternoon. "Bill, something our minister said this morning

really got to me. It hit me right where I live. I've been bothered by 

it ever since." Bill has to ask, after an introduction like that, what 

was said, Now we can rehearse the whole sermon right there in the 

back yard. If remembering the sermon is a problem, take notes 

and then add, "What he said got to me so much I even wrote part 

of it down." Bill learns three things from this exchange. We take 

time to go to church, we get mhelp there for daily living, and we 

care enough to share it with him.

(Are you seeing 7th Day Sabbath observing people, this can just

as easy apply to us - Keith Hunt)

     Prepare, plan, practice. Executives I spend hours going over

a "big presentation." Is there any bigger presentation than the

gospel to others in the world? Being a witness takes preparation,

but it also takes the nerve to take the plunge. Sky divers tell

us they can do all the ground preparation and even try jumping

from towers, but at some point the ground preparedness must give

way to the real thing. When we take the risk to stick our necks

out just a little for Christ, we find that the Holy Spiritm provides 

the words we need and the appropriate time in which to say them. 

The ninth commandment teaches us, then, to be true and ready 

witnesses for Christ.

     The second table of the law is full of additional meaning

for each of us. Meditate on it. Look up parallel passages. Think

what a joy it can be to love our neighbors by being obedient to

the requirements and opportunities of this portion of God's Word.

                               .............

When this article was written DR. JOHN A. SPARKS, Ph.D., was a

Professor of business administration at Grove City College, Grove

City, Pa., a lawyer and elder in a Presbyterian Church of Grove

City, and President of Public Policy Education Fund, Inc., /na.

He and his wife Marion and their children were actively involved

in Christian schooling.

NOTE:

I consider the above article to be a fine and good understanding

of that part of the Law of God (the Ten Commandments) which is as

Jesus said when asked about which was the greatest law, "....and

the other is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

How anyone when looking in and meditating on the 10 Commandments,

can come up with a theology that "abolishes" them for Christians

under the New Covenant, just BLOWS ME AWAY!  Such ideas that 

some "fundamental" teachers and preachers have proclaimed in North

America in the last 100 years, are so "off the wall" - so far out

"in left field" - so inept and so lacking in any sound Bible reading, 

I have to believe they are from planet Pluto, certainly not from the 

part of the universe where the Eternal Holy One lives.

I ask you to get the heart and mind of DAVID, start with reading

Psalm ONE. As a kid growing up in Britain, being schooled in a

Church of England school, we had to LEARN BY MEMORY 

Psalm One.

David was a man after God's own heart, so it is written, and one

reason why he was, is that he LOVED the LAW of God. He was 

not a perfect man, but his imperfections, faults, and sins, did not

stop him from LOVING GOD'S LAW!

Now your ready to read and meditate upon Psalm 119.

Keith Hunt

Entered on my Website March 2008