Reformation
500 WEEK 44: Heidelberg Catechism QA 113-115
Question 113: What does
the tenth Commandment require?
That not even the least inclination or
thought against any commandment of God ever enter our heart, but that with our
whole heart we continually hate all sin and take pleasure in all righteousness.
The Tenth
Commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house [or wife, or anything
that is your neighbor’s],” is the one commandment that speaks directly
to the heart. The word covet means
“strong desire.” By itself it is not a bad word. It depends on what we strongly
desire. We can earnestly desire good things, as Paul commanded us in 1
Corinthians 12:31: “covet [earnestly
desire] the best gifts.” The Tenth Commandment forbids “coveting those things
which God has forbidden” (Ursinus, 606). Even if we don’t take what belongs to our neighbor, it is a sin to want it. Even if we don’t sleep with our
neighbor’s spouse it is a sin to wish we could. Even if we don’t rob a bank, it
is a sin to wish we could and to rejoice in others who do. Love “does not
rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6). The Tenth
Commandment is last to teach us that obeying all of God’s commands is a matter of the heart. “You shall love
the LORD your God with all your heart” (Deut. 6:5). “You shall not
hate your brother in your heart…. but you shall love your
neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:17-18). “The Lord Jesus Christ re-emphasized
this truth in His sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:20-48), that the commandments
require heart-purity and heartfelt love to God and our neighbor. The natural,
unregenerate man – such as the Pharisees in Jesus’ day were proud of their
outward obedience and resented Jesus’ teaching about the heart [Matt. 23:28; John 7:7]”
(Jones, Study Helps,
283).
When God redeems
us by faith in Jesus Christ, He not only forgives the eternal penalty of our wicked heart, He also purifies our hearts in sanctification,
so that with our whole heart we continually hate all sin (even the least
inclination or thought against any commandment of God) and take pleasure in all righteousness. “Make me walk in the path of Your
commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies,
and not to covetousness” (Psalm 119:35-36).
The cure for covetousness is contentment. “Let
your conduct be without covetousness;
and be content with such
things as you have: for He has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you”
(Heb. 13:5). “And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation…For
the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:8-10). Therefore,
to sum up how to be content: “1. We must be satisfied with what God gives us
because He is free and sovereign, and He gives us what He wishes us to have for
our best. He alone is Master of our lives. 2. God is all-wise and infinitely
good in giving His gifts. His love toward us in Christ is perfect. He never
withholds from us that which is for our spiritual good and for His glory. To
think that God would be unfair to us is folly and unbelief. We deserve nothing,
and all we have, we have received by God’s rich mercy. 3. Contentment with
God’s providence enables us to live in peace and joy, in gratitude and praise.
The unsatisfied person is never happy, and is likely to break the commandments
of God in order to get what he desires. Having the Lord and His salvation, we
need nothing more, and our joy is full” (Jones, 284).
Question 114: Can those
who are converted to God keep these Commandments perfectly? No, but even the holiest of men, while in this life, have only a small
beginning of such obedience, yet so that with earnest purpose
they begin to live not only according to some, but according to all the
Commandments of God.
“The natural man, who is
un-regenerated, is not able to obey God’s holy will in any degree [Rom. 8:7] ….
But the question asks if the converted or regenerated person can keep
God’s holy commands perfectly.” Since the regenerated person “still has his ‘old
man,’ the old nature of sin, he is unable to give God perfect obedience…. The
most sanctified Christians, such as the Apostles, are still sinful and not
perfect. The Scriptures tell us of Noah’s drunkenness [Gen. 9:21]. Job cursing
the day of his birth (Job 3:1-2), David’s acts of adultery and murder (2 Sam.
11), Peter’s shameful denial of his Lord (Luke 22:54-62), and Paul’s confession
of indwelling sin (Rom. 7:21). … Christ taught us to pray for daily
forgiveness, even as we pray for our daily bread (Matt. 6:11-12; cf. 1
John 1:8-10)” (Jones, 287-288). Since the Lord commands us to “be perfect, just
as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48), we only have a small
beginning of the obedience which God requires. But at least by God’s grace we
have a beginning, and an earnest purpose to obey all of God’s
commands, just as Paul did: “I delight in the law of God according to
the inward man” (Rom. 7:22). “For this is the love of God, that we keep His
commandments” (1 John 5:3).
Question 115: Why then
does God so strictly enjoin the Ten Commandments upon us, since in this life no
one can keep them? First,
that as long as we live we may learn more and more to know our sinful nature,
and so the more earnestly seek forgiveness of sins
and righteousness in Christ; second,
that without ceasing we diligently ask God for the grace of the Holy Spirit,
that we be renewed more and more after the image of God, until we attain the
goal of perfection after this life.
There are two reasons why God
requires us to obey His commands perfectly even though we never will in this
life. First, the more we learn what God requires in His commands, the
more we discover how far short we fall (Rom. 3:20-23; 7:7); and the more earnestly
we seek forgiveness and righteousness in Christ. “O wretched man that I am! Who
will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our
Lord!” (Rom. 7:24-25). Second, God’s law is not only designed to drive
us to Christ for forgiveness but also for renewal
(sanctification), so that God’s holy image is more and more restored in us
(Eph. 5:1). We not only need daily forgiveness
for covetousness, we also need daily renewal so that we “put to
death…evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5) and learn to
be more content with the Lord’s loving presence in our hearts (Rom. 5:5). “Not
that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I
may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of
me...forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those
things which are ahead…. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also
eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:12-13, 20). So,
“God commands us to seek and to desire the perfect fulfillment of the law in
this life…because He purposes at length to accomplish it in those who desire
it, and to grant it to us after this life, if we here truly and heartily desire
it” (Ursinus, 616).
NOTE: These Posts were written and designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .
Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert: Reformation HC Lord's Day 44 QA 113-115
For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 44
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