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The Ten Commandments
us: “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16). We have at hand the solution to this pervasive and insidious human weakness. Paul urged Church members in Ephesus to “put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” How were they to do this? By “putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another” (Ephesians 4:24-25).
True Righteousness Comes From the Heart
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The Tenth Commandment
True Righteousness Comes From the Heart “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:17).
The way of truth Those who willingly believe and obey the truth of God can, by being baptized and receiving the Holy Spirit, become members of the Church that Jesus Christ built. He refers to them as the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). They represent “the way of truth” (2 Peter 2:2). Paul calls God’s Church “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Its members are the servants of “the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9). By “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), it is commissioned by Christ to preach “the truth of the gospel” to all the world (Galatians 2:5; Matthew 24:14; 28:19). Everything in the life of a Christian is anchored to truth. God wants us, as His children, to commit ourselves to truth and reflect it in everything we do. That is why God commands us in Exodus 20:16, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”!
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he last of the Ten Commandments—against coveting—is aimed directly at the heart and mind of every human being. In prohibiting coveting, it defines not so much what we must do but how we should think. It asks us to look deep within ourselves to see what we are on the inside. As with each of the previous nine commandments, it is directed toward our relationships. It specifically deals with the thoughts that threaten those relationships and that can potentially hurt ourselves and our neighbors. Our motives define and govern the way we respond to everyone with whom we come in contact. Our transgressions of God’s law of love begin in the heart, as Jesus Christ confirmed. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness,” He said. “All these evil things come from within and defile a man” (Mark 7:21-23). Therefore, it is fitting that the formal listing of these 10 foundational commands, which define the love of God, should end by focusing on our hearts as the wellspring of our relationship problems. From within come the desires that tempt us and lead us astray.
What is covetousness? Covet means to crave or desire, especially in excessive or improper ways. The Tenth Commandment does not tell us that all of our desires are immoral. It tells us that some desires are wrong. Coveting is an immoral longing for something that is not rightfully ours. That is usually because the object of our desire already belongs to someone else. But coveting can also include our wanting far more than we