The Fundamentals

The Ninth and Tenth Commandments

Tue, 19 Nov 2019 10:00:00 +0000

The Ninth Commandment: You are not to covet your neighbor’s house.
What is this? Answer:
We are to fear and love God, so that we do not try to trick our neighbors out of their inheritance or property or try to get it for ourselves by claiming to have a legal right to it and the like, but instead be of help and service to them in keeping what is theirs.

My thoughts
Words have the power to create and to destroy. Being people of the Word, a word that transforms our lives in the gospel, God does not want us using our words to tear people down, or destroy those he calls us to bring life too.

Luther
"Besides our own body, our spouse, and our temporal property, we have one more treasure that is indispensable to us, namely, our honor and good reputation. For it is important that we not live among people in public disgrace and dishonor. [256] Therefore God does not want our neighbors deprived of their reputation, honor, and character any more than of their money and possessions; he wants everyone to maintain self-respect before spouse, child, servant, and neighbor."

James 3:1-12
"If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water."

The Tenth Commandment: You are not to covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, cattle, or whatever is his.

What is this? Answer:
We are to fear and love God, so that we do not entice, force, or steal away from our neighbors their spouses, household workers, or livestock, but instead urge them to stay and fulfill their responsibilities to our neighbors.

What then does God say about all these commandments? Answer:
God says the following: “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. Against those who hate me I visit the sin of the fathers on the children up to the third and fourth generation. But I do good to those who love me and keep my commandments to the thousandth generation.”

What is this? Answer:
God threatens to punish all who break these commandments. Therefore we are to fear his wrath and not disobey these commandments. However, God promises grace and every good thing to all those who keep these commandments. Therefore we also are to love and trust him and gladly act according to his commands.

The Eighth Commandment

Tue, 12 Nov 2019 10:00:00 +0000

The Eighth Commandment
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor”

James 3:3-10 (ESV)
If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,[a] and set on fire by hell.[b] 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,[c] these things ought not to be so.

Mark 14:6-10 (NIV)
“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

The Seventh Commandment

Tue, 05 Nov 2019 10:00:00 +0000

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Luther Quote from the Large Catechism.
"For to steal is nothing else than to acquire someone else’s property by unjust means. These few words include taking advantage of our neighbors in any sort of dealings that result in loss to them. Stealing is a widespread, common vice, but people pay so little attention to it that the matter is entirely out of hand. As a result, if we were to hang every thief on the gallows, especially those who do not admit it, the world would soon be empty and there would be a shortage of both hangmen and gallows. For, as I just said, stealing is not just robbing someone’s safe or pocketbook but also taking advantage of someone in the market, in all stores, butcher shops, wine and beer cellars, workshops, and, in short, wherever business is transacted and money is exchanged for goods or services."

The Sixth Commandment

Tue, 29 Oct 2019 10:00:00 +0000

The Sixth Commandment: You are not to commit adultery.
We are to fear and love God, so that we lead pure and decent lives in word and deed, and each of us loves and honors his or her spouse.

Exodus 20:14
14 “You shall not commit adultery.

Matthew 5:27-30
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

The Fifth Commandment

Tue, 22 Oct 2019 10:00:00 +0000

Matthew 5:21-22
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Large Catechism
[186] The meaning of this commandment, then, is that no one should harm another person for any evil deed, no matter how much that person deserves it.

Large Catechism
[183] But the occasion and need for this commandment is that, as God well knows, the world is evil and this life is full of misery. Therefore he has erected this and the other commandments to separate good and evil.

The Fourth Commandment

Tue, 15 Oct 2019 10:00:00 +0000

The Fourth Commandment: You are to honor your father and your mother.
We are to fear and love God, so that we neither despise nor anger our parents and others in authority, but instead honor, serve, obey, love, and respect them.

FaithLife Study Bible
Honor your father and your mother This acts as a hinge between the two categories of the laws since it has elements of both divine and interpersonal relationship. The dual focus demonstrates that faith to God was of central importance for the family. This is the only law with an entirely positive message and an offer of reward.

Exodus 20:12
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Matthew 15:1-9
15 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites!

Gen X, in this stage of life where they are raising their own children and taking care of their parents. -Jason Dorsey “The Center for Generational Kinetics”

Luther’s Large Catechism.
[108] It must therefore be impressed on young people that they revere their parents as God’s representatives, and to remember that, however lowly, poor, feeble, and eccentric they may be, they are still their mother and father, given by God. They are not to be deprived of their honor because of their ways or failings. Therefore, we are not to think of their persons, whatever they may be, but of the will of God, who has created and ordained it so.

The Third Commandment

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:00:00 +0000

"The impact that taking a vacation has on one's mental health is profound, most people have better life perspective and are more motivated to achieve their goals after a vacation, even if it is a 24-hour time-out." - Vacations Help Job and Health, But Americans Skip Them. by Patricia Quigley Aug 13, 2011 ABC News.

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." Exodus 20:8-11

This command is not about doing nothing, but rather not engaging yourself in the things you do for work. It is about enjoying God’s creation, and remembering you are loved not because of what you can do for God, but that you are loved because you are God’s creation.

The Second Commandment

Tue, 01 Oct 2019 10:00:00 +0000

The Large Catechism

Just as the First Commandment instructs the heart and teaches faith, so this commandment leads us outward and directs the lips and tongue into a right relationship with God. For the first things that burst forth and emerge from the heart are words.

It is a misuse of God’s name if we call upon the LORD God in any way whatsoever to support falsehood or wrong of any kind. What this commandment forbids, herefore, is appealing to God’s name falsely or taking his name upon our lips when our heart knows or should know that the facts are otherwise” for example, when taking oaths in court and one party lies about the other.

James 5:12
"But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation."

Acts 19:13-16
"Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded."

The First Commandment

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 10:00:00 +0000

Core ideas

- Obedience stems from a relationship. God says, “I saved you…now have no other God’s.” The relationship already exists. Why is that important. This is not a list that tells you how to earn God’s love and favor. It is a list that shows you how you can live your life in response to God’s love and forgiveness.
- God acts first, and then we respond.
- When God, is kept in the as God over and above everything else, it gives us a sense of peace and meaning we can’t find anywhere else.

Exodus 20:1-6
20 And God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Also see - Deuteronomy 5:6-10

Large Catechism - Luther Quote
A “god” is the term for that to which we are to look for all good and in which we are to find refuge in all need. Therefore, to have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in that one with your whole heart. Anything on which your heart relies and depends, I say, that is really your God.

Questions.

What do I rely on to find meaning in my life?
- Good Job, accolades, friends,

What do I trust in for my peace?
- Good Job, 401k, investments, my kids, myself.

Notice none of these are bad things….they are just not the ultimate thing. Why? They are just as fragile as we are.

Welcome to The Fundamentals!

Tue, 17 Sep 2019 10:00:00 +0000

The Fundamentals is a podcast that walks through the basics of the Christian faith. Using Luther's Small Catechism as a guide, this podcast unpacks the core elements that shape a life of faith. A lot of what we discuss in The Fundamentals mirrors what we teach in Confirmation classes, but The Fundaments isn't just for Confirmations students. It's designed so that anyone can dig deeply into what the Lutheran faith means and what it looks like to live out that faith in everyday life today.

New episodes every Tuesday.