Grow In Grace
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments were given by God to Moses. We find them recorded in two places: Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:1-21.
The commands of God are like a CURB that keeps people within moral boundaries. We have learned that God wrote his law on people’s hearts and, although consciences are dulled by sin, this innate sense of right and wrong serves to prevent complete chaos in this world, limiting to some extent, the damage sin causes.
When a person first views God’s specific commands, they serve as a MIRROR, showing them what they really look like in God’s eyes. A person sees that they have not perfectly obeyed those laws. This leads to guilt and fear before the holy, all-knowing, and all-powerful God.
The message of the gospel is that Jesus paid for the guilt of our sin with his perfect life, his sacrifice on the cross, and his resurrection from death. The person who trusts this “good news” has forgiveness and eternal life. In thankfulness to God, they want to live for God. So God points them back to his moral law. With the eyes of faith, the Christian now sees these commands as positive things that they want to do for God! These commandments serve as a GUIDE for Christian living.
It is important to recognize that following God’s law does not save a person. Only _________________________________ saves. Living by God’s commands is how we show that we have ___.
For Additional Study
The Ten Commandments
1 You shall have no other gods beside me.
2 You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.
3 Remember the Sabbath day by setting it apart as holy.
4 Honor your father and your mother.
5 You shall not commit murder.
6 You shall not commit adultery.
7 You shall not steal.
8 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
When asked about the greatest commandment of God, Jesus summarized the whole of the Commandments in this way:
Matthew 22:37-40 “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
The Ten Commandments can be divided into two parts, as Jesus’ answer suggests. The first part is made up of three commands. They have to do with our relationship with God. The second part is comprised of the last seven commands, which instruct us about our relationship with other people.
9 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
10 You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.
Martin Luther’s explanation for each commandment will appear under each commandment. These come from Luther’s Catechism.
Commandments 1-3: Love the Lord your God
The First Commandment: You shall have no other gods beside me. We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.
Psalm 33:8 “Let all the earth fear the LORD. Let all the inhabitants of the world revere him.”
This psalm uses a type of Hebrew poetry called _______ ______.
This helps us to understand what it means to “fear” the LORD. In this sense, fear means to ____ ___ God.
Isaiah 45:21 “There is no god except me, a righteous God and Savior. There is no one except me.”
1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Matthew 4:10 “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”
To worship anyone or anything other than God is called _____ ____.
1 Samuel 12:24 “Above all, fear the LORD, and serve him in truth, with all your heart, considering the great things he has done for you.”
1 Peter 5:6-7 “Therefore humble yourselves under God’s powerful hand so that he may lift you up at the appointed time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.”
Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.”
Complete this sentence: We keep the First Commandment when we…
For Additional Study
Genesis 22:1-19
Abraham feared, loved, and trusted God that he was willing to offer his son.
Daniel 3:1-8
Three men in the fiery furnace fear God more than facing certain death.
Daniel 6:1-23
Daniel would not worship the king instead of the LORD. He placed himself in God’s hands, trusting in him as he was thrown into a den of lions.
Matthew 19:16-22
The rich man loved material things more than he loved God.
1 John 2:23 “Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father. But the one who confesses the Son has the Father as well.”
Any church or organization that has religious elements, which purposely omits Jesus or the Triune God, violates the First Commandment.
Can you think of examples of this?
Matthew 4:1-11
Jesus perfectly kept this commandment by refusing to disobey God.
Matthew 6:24
Matthew 10:37
The Second Commandment: You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.
We should fear and love God that we do not use his name to curse, swear, lie, or deceive, or use witchcraft, but call upon God’s name in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.
When you hear someone’s name, what do you think of?
The same is true when we hear God’s name. It brings to mind everything we know about God from __________________________.
Psalm 54:6 “I will praise your name, O Lord, because it is good.”
Joel 2:32a “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Psalm 22:22 “I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”
Psalm 105:1 “Give thanks to the LORD Proclaim his name. Make his deeds known among the peoples.”
Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.”
When we use God’s name for the good purposes he intends, we please God and serve as a witness to others. We break the Second Commandment when we fail to use his name in prayer, praise, and thanks.
Leviticus 19:12 “You shall not swear falsely by my name so that you do not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. ”
James 5:12 “Above all, my brothers, do not swear not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Just let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no,’ so that you do not fall under judgment.”
Do those passages bring to mind some popular phrases which use God’s name in a careless and wrong way?
For Additional Study
Jeremiah 23:31 “Indeed, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their own tongues to say, ‘This is what the LORD declares!’”
These words of God warn us that not every __ _________ that uses the Lord’s name is to be trusted.
Matthew 15:7-8
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 “Let no one be found among you who makes his son or his daughter pass through fire, or who uses divination, or who engages in fortune telling, or who observes omens, or who practices witchcraft, or who casts a magic spell, or who consults a ghost or a familiar spirit, or who inquires of the dead. Anyone doing these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these abominations, the LORD your God is driving them out before you.”
How does practicing the things mentioned above go against the Second Commandment?
For Additional Study
The Third Commandment: Remember the Sabbath day by setting it apart as holy.
We should fear and love God that we do not despise preaching and his Word, but regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it.
Exodus 35:2-3 “For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”
The Old Testament command was to worship on ___ _____, the seventh day of their week.
After Jesus came and kept all of God’s commands and expectations perfectly, things changed. God’s people are no longer under the Old Testament civil and ceremonial laws. The Ten Commandments, the moral law, still stands, but Jesus brought a change to the application of the Third Commandment.
Colossians 2:16-17 “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”
Galatians 4:10-11 “You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.”
Hebrews 10:25 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
God wants New Testament Christians to join for ____ ______ and he does not restrict worship to ____ ______________.
“Sabbath” is a Hebrew word that means “rest.”
Numbers 15:32-36
A Sabbath-breaker is put to death.
Ezekiel 20:12
Christians chose Sunday as their normal day of worship because on Sunday morning. For Christians, each Sunday is a like a ________, because we celebrate Jesus’ victory over sin and death and rejoice in his promise of forgiveness and a resurrection from death for all who trust in him.
The New Testament believer’s attitude is the same as believers of all time:
Psalm 122:1 “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD ’”
Isaiah 29:13 “The Lord says: These people approach me with their words, and they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is nothing but commandments taught by men.”
God doesn’t simply want our attendance; he wants our ___ ___.
Our love for God and his Word is shown in several ways:
Luke 10:38-42 “As they went on their way, Jesus came into a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who was sitting at the Lord’s feet and was listening to his word. But Martha was distracted with all her serving. She came over and said, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me.’ The Lord answered and told her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is needed. In fact, Mary has chosen that better part, which will not be taken away from her.’”
Christians come to worship to _____________________________________.
Psalm 100 “Shout to the LORD with joy, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness. Come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courtyards with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. For the LORD is good. His mercy endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations.”
Christians come to worship to _____________________________________.
1 Corinthians 16:2 “On the first day of every week, each of you is to set something aside in keeping with whatever he gains, saving it up at home, so that when I come, no collections will need to be carried out.”
2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one should give as he has determined in his heart, not reluctantly or under pressure, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Christians come to worship to ___
For Additional Study
Luke 11:28
John 8:47a
Romans 10:17
Acts 17:10-12
Psalm 150
Colossians 3:16
Exodus 23:19
Malachi 3:6-10
Matthew 6:19-21
We worship using an order of service called a liturgy. This is a type of service where both the pastor and the people are involved in a dialogue with God:
We acknowledge our sin to God.
He announces forgiveness to us.
We praise him.
He speaks to us in his Word.
We offer our gifts and prayers.
He comes to us in the Sacrament and with his blessing.
The Christian Church Year is set up for an orderly worship of God. It includes a Festival Half, which highlights the Life of Christ, and a Non-Festival Half, which focuses on the Life of the Christian.
Commandments 4-10: Love your neighbor as yourself
The Fourth Commandment: Honor your father and your mother so that you may spend many days on the land that the LORD your God is giving you. We should fear and love God that we do not dishonor or anger our parents and others in authority, but honor, serve, and obey them, and give them love and respect.
When God originally gave this commandment to his people through Moses, he attached a promise to it. Their keeping of this commandment would allow them the blessing of living for an extended time in the Promised Land that the LORD would give them.
Though that promise was specific to God’s Old Testament people, the commandment to obey parents still stands. This commandment allows us the opportunity to not only consider God-pleasing obedience to authority in the home, but in other areas of life as well.
God’s Representatives in the Home
Colossians 3:20 “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, so that they do not become discouraged.”
Ephesians 6:1-4 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with a promise: ‘that it may go well with you and that you may live a long life on the earth.’ Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”
Proverbs 13:24 “A person who withholds his rod hates his son, but one who loves him administers discipline promptly.”
God has established__________________ as the authorities in the home. He expects children to ___________ and parents to ______________________.
For Additional Study
Appendix 7: The Order of Service
Appendix 8: The Christian Church Year
Deuteronomy
11:18-19
Proverbs 1:8
Proverbs 3:11-12
1 Timothy 5:8
2 Timothy 3:1-2 mentions disobedience to parents as a sign of the end times!
Consider the blessings that come from obeying and respecting parents, especially Christian parents.
For Additional Study
God’s Representatives in the Government
1 Peter 2:13-17 13 “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.”
Romans 13:1-7 “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
In the verses from Romans, how many times does Paul say that God has made the government his servant?
What are the duties of governmental authorities?
What confidence can the Christian have even when worldly authorities don’t know they are God’s servants or do not behave in a God-pleasing way?
Romans 8:28
Consider the blessings that come from obeying and respecting authorities in the government
God’s Representatives in the Church
Hebrews 13:7,17 7 “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.”
1 Timothy 4:16 “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”
How are pastors, as God’s representatives in the Church, to go about their work?
Consider the blessings that come from obeying and respecting God’s authorities in the church.
When we consider the roles of parents, government leaders, and leaders in the church, we find that they are not only authorities, but ______________.
As Christians find themselves in these positions, God wants them to have the attitude of Jesus:
Philippians 2:5-8 “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross!”
Luke 2:49-52 49 “‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them. 51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”
Matthew 22:19-21 19 “’Show me the coin used for paying the tax.’ They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose inscription? 21 ‘Caesar’s,’ they replied. Then he said to them, ‘So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’”
For Additional Study
Matthew 10:37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
Acts 5:29b “We must obey God rather than human beings!”
When it comes to our obedience to those in authority over us, the passages above guide us to do what?
Daniel 6
Daniel was ordered to do evil but disobeyed in order to remain faithful to God.
The Fifth Commandment: You shall not commit murder. We should fear and love God that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need.
1 Samuel 2:6 “The LORD puts to death, and he makes alive. He brings down to the grave, and he raises up.”
Acts 17:25, 28 “Neither is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, since he himself gives all people life and breath and everything they have. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’”
Psalm 139:13-16 “For you created my inner organs. You wove me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and my soul knows that very well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unfinished body. In your book all of them were written. Days were determined, before any of them existed.”
God is the one who ___ ______________________.
Christians often refer to a person’s lifetime in this world as their “time of grace.” It is the time God has given them to know him as their God and Savior.
In this commandment, God is protecting the lives he has created. “The LORD alone puts to death, and he makes alive” (1 Samuel 2:6) Therefore no one is to murder another human being. God does, however, delegate this responsibility to the government.
Genesis 9:6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for God made man in his own image.”
For Additional Study
Genesis 4:1-16
Cain and Abel
Exodus 21:12-14 “Anyone who strikes a man so that he dies must certainly be put to death. However, if this was not done intentionally but rather was an act of God, for that kind of case I will appoint a place among you to which that man can flee. But if a man plots and kills his neighbor deliberately, you shall take him from my altar, so that he may be put to death.”
Romans 13:1-4 “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities. For no authority exists except by God, and the authorities that do exist have been established by God. Therefore the one who rebels against the authority is opposing God’s institution, and those who oppose will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to evil. Would you like to have no fear of the one in authority? Do what is good, and you will receive praise from him, because he is God’s servant for your benefit. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because he does not carry the sword without reason. He is God’s servant, a punisher to bring wrath on the wrongdoer.”
Since the fall into sin, God has always had a provision for __ ________
___________. Romans 13 would also include those serving in government jobs such as police officers, border patrol, and those serving in the military.
Psalm 139:13 “For you created my inner organs. You wove me together in my mother’s womb.”
Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I set you apart.”
God knows a person already ___ ___________.
Psalm 51:5 “Certainly, I was guilty when I was born. I was sinful when my mother conceived me.”
There is a sinful nature already at conception. Immediately at conception, there is a __ ___ and a __ __, which is beginning to develop. From conception, this is a life that is to be protected.
Luke 1:39-44 John the Baptist felt joy before he was born.
Exodus 21:22-24 22 “If men are fighting and they injure a pregnant woman so that the child comes out, yet no harm follows, they must certainly be fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges approve. 23 But if any harm follows, then you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
Based on the verses above, how would you describe the value God places on an unborn child?
For Additional Study
In the eyes of God, abortion is ___ ______________.
The taking of one’s own life, suicide, is also forbidden by God. It is self-murder.
Ephesians 4:26, 31 “‘Be angry, yet do not sin.’Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Get rid of every kind of bitterness, rage, anger, quarreling, and slander, along with every kind of malice.”
Romans 12:17-19 “Do not pay anyone back evil for evil. Focus on those things that everyone considers noble. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, maintain peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
1 John 3:15 “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.”
What kinds of harmful things does God forbid in the verses above?
Psalm 31:15
Suicides in the Bible: Saul (1 Samuel 31:1-6), Judas (Matthew 27:3-5)
Galatians 5:19-21
Ephesians 4:32 “Instead, be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven us.”
Galatians 6:10 “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the household of faith.”
Romans 12:20a “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink.”
Matthew 5:43-45a 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven.”
We keep this commandment when we .
Colossians 3:12-13
Proverbs 31:8
1 John 4:7,20
Luke 10:25-37 The Good Samaritan