New City Catechism Questions 9-12
Summary Reflections on the Ten Commandments
Questions 9 through 12 in the catechism material go into a
deeper study of the Ten Commandments, taking two or three commandments at a
time. As we studied these commandments in our Sunday morning class at
Clairemont Emmanuel, it seemed that there were several themes that came up
often throughout these four weeks of study. So rather than go into depth on
each of the Ten Commandments, it seems that it would be more beneficial to
offer some summary reflections on two of these repeating themes and topics of
discussion.
Heart attitudes: The study of the Ten
Commandments inevitably draws you (and the catechism material explicitly draws
you) to Jesus’ teaching on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. There Jesus
takes well known aspects of the Ten Commandments and reveals to us that even
when our heart condition behind each commandment is not right, we are breaking
the commandments, even if we keep them externally. For example, even if we have
not committed adultery against our spouse, when we look at another woman with
lust we have broken the seventh commandment. Or even if we have not murdered
someone, when we have anger or hatred in our hearts towards another we have
broken the sixth commandment. So any application of the Ten Commandments must
begin and end with an examination of our hearts. This of course makes the Ten
Commandments infinitely more applicable (most of us have not murdered but have
certainly hated!), but also much more difficult, because we cannot simply go
through an external checklist of behaviors to make sure we are living in
accordance with God’s law. God’s law shines a penetrating light deep into our
hearts, past the walls and façades that we set up to make us look better and
holier that we actually are, and reveals our true heart condition. And often
that heart condition is not pretty. So rather than be like the rich young man
who comes to Jesus looking to justify himself by the law, we need to allow
God’s law to reveal our heart condition, come to God in faith and repentance,
receive forgiveness, and begin to let the Holy Spirit do a healing work in our
hearts. Then we will begin to see real transformation, and our hearts will
begin to reflect true holiness that we often can only pretend that we have.
The difficulty of the positive side: The
catechism material notes Martin Luther’s teachings on the Ten Commandments,
that whenever there is a negative prohibition in the Ten Commandments there is
a positive implication assumed in that prohibition. In other words, we cannot
simply not murder, or not hate, we must also lavishly love in order to keep the
sixth commandment. We cannot simply not steal, we must also be radically
generous in order to keep the eighth
commandment. And this makes sense. The Great Commandment given by Christ
is widely recognized to be a summary of the Ten Commandments and all of God’s
law, and it is thoroughly positive: Love God, love others. Therefore Luther is
right to point out that we must look at the positive side of the Ten
Commandments as well. So obeying the Ten Commandments is not simply the
avoidance of negative behaviors and heart attitudes, it is the incorporation of
positive behaviors into our everyday lives. And when we look at these positive
implications, we realize that we have significant areas where we still need to
grow. We might not be murders, but we have a long way to go to have a deep
lavish love for others in our hearts and deeds. So like the heart attitudes,
the positive implications of these commands make the Ten Commandments both more
applicable and also infinitely more difficult to follow.
Therefore the Ten Commandments set an incredibly high standard for us to follow as Christians. As the catechism material states we are obligated to keep these commandments. The Ten Commandments are not an optional part of the Christian life. But recognizing this high standard also forces us to recognize our own sinfulness and brokenness and failures with regard to these commandments. So we have a choice. We can continue to play our game of Christian charades, putting up the façade and pretending like we are good people and following the Ten Commandments perfectly. Or we can acknowledge our own brokenness, confess our sin, and turn completely to Christ who died for that sin. Acknowledging the reality of sin in our lives as we look at the Ten Commandments is not pleasant or enjoyable. I can definitely say that I would much rather look at the Ten Commandments and get a big “Well done!” from God than acknowledge my own sinfulness. But to try and justify ourselves through the Ten Commandments then makes us miss the true purpose of the Ten Commandments: They do serve as a critical primer for Christian life and ethics, but they first and foremost reveal our sin, depravity, our desperate need for a savior, and they drive us desperately to that savior. So let us look at the Ten Commandments, and then run to the cross of Jesus Christ. Only then can true obedience begin.
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