Starting on September 15th, we will begin a series on the Ten Commandments. Each Sunday we will look at one of the commandments using Scripture and with help from the Heidelberg Catechism (see Question and Answer 92-115). Here is a link to the Heidelberg Catechism online: http://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/confessions/heidelberg-catechism
In his commentary entitled, “The Ten Commandments,” from the “Interpretation” commentary series, Partick D. Miller writes:
There are few biblical texts that have played as large a role in church and public life as the Ten Commandments. From their setting in Scripture to the contemporary debate about their public display, the Commandments have seemed to embody God’s will for human life as fully as any particular body of teaching or Scripture. Martin Luther famously said, “This much is certain: those who know the Ten Commandments perfectly know the entire Scriptures and in all affairs and circumstances are able to counsel, help, comfort, judge, and make decisions in both spiritual and temporal matters.” The Ten Commandments – also known as the Decalogue (the Ten Words) – probably rank with the Twenty-third Psalm and the Lord’s Prayer as the best known and most memorized texts from the Bible. (pg.1)
When studying the Ten Commandments, it’s important to note that the numbering of the commandments differs slightly between Reformed and Roman Catholic/Lutheran traditions (Jewish people also number the commandments slightly different as well). The reasons for the differences are due to: (1) Hebrew grammar, (2) theology; and (3) Scripture’s affirmation that there are only Ten Commandments even though there are more commands (“Do this,” or, “Don’t do this”) within Exodus 20:1-17 or Deuteronomy 5:6-21. If this is of interest to you, please feel free to ask me about it and I will gladly explain much further.
These are the commandments as we will address them (with the guidance of the Heidelberg catechism):
Prologue: And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
As we study each of the commandments, the Heidelberg Catechism will help us interpret them and apply them to our lives. The first thing to note about the Ten Commandments in the Heidelberg Catechism is that they are found in the “gratitude” section of the catechism (Q&A 86-129). Earlier in the catechism (in the “misery” section), the summary of the law from Matthew 22 was used to show that we cannot keep God’s law. That admission paved the way for the “deliverance” section (Q&A 12-85) where we learn of our mediator – Jesus Christ – who sets us free from our misery and makes us right with God. Then, in the “gratitude” section, the catechism instructs us that, as Christians delivered from misery by Jesus Christ, we obey the law as a rule of gratitude not as a means to be saved.
The other important thing to note about the Ten Commandments in the Heidelberg Catechism is how it treats them. Fred Klooster writes, “When we carefully examine the Heidelberg Catechism’s explanation of the Ten Commandments, we soon discover that a threefold pattern of exposition is present, one that reflects Jesus’ pattern of teaching the commandments in his Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5:17-48). … In this way the author’s attempt, following Jesus’ example to discover the divine intention of each commandment. And in that light the negative expression of the commandment is expanded and the positive implications are set forth.” (Fred H. Klooster, “Our Only Comfort – A Comprehensive Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism,” p. 931) Therefore, as we study the commandments we will be paying careful attention to the divine intention (or “the scope”) of the commandment, the negative expression, and the positive expression for each one.
It is my prayer that as we go through this series we will find life and freedom in the commandments. Although we have been delivered by Jesus from keeping the law in order to be saved, the Heidelberg Catechism reminds us that the Ten Commandments still apply to us, only in a different manner. As a rule of gratitude, the Ten Commandments guide us in the way we were created to live, and show us how we can live with gratitude to God for our deliverance and bring glory and honour to His name.
It is also my prayer that in the Ten Commandments we will see and hear the Gospel message clearly because they point to Christ who kept the commandments on our behalf so that we are granted salvation through grace and faith, not through strict obedience. Without the cross, these commandments only highlight our unworthiness and sin. However, because of the cross these commandments point us to the righteousness we have in Jesus Christ.
Because of Jesus, the Ten Commandments become for all who believe in Him the way to live to say “Thank You” to God, not the measuring stick for our salvation. Thanks be to God. Amen.