Question 113: What does the Tenth Commandment teach us about God?

 

Question 113: What does the Tenth Commandment teach us about God?

Answer: We are to refrain from harboring even the slightest thought or desire contrary to God's commandments. We are to always and wholeheartedly hate sin and rejoice in goodness.

The 10th Commandment: You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Colossians 3:5 says, "Covetousness is an idol." It means that those who covet are idolaters. In Luke 4, we see Satan boldly tempting Jesus, tempting him to covet God's place. This is because Satan is fundamentally at the heart of covetousness, the desire to be like God. Covetousness is a matter of conscience before law. It defiles the conscience and leads to sin. Therefore, God tells us to put covetousness to death.

Covetousness is the love of the world. Therefore, it tells us to die to the world. 1 John 2:15-16 says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world."

1 John 5:4 says, "Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith." This means that no one can overcome the world except those who are born again. Those who are born again are those who deny themselves and are born again by the power of God.

In Luke 12:15, Jesus said, "Beware of all kinds of greed." He then metaphorically stated in Luke 12:16-21, "People hoard treasures, but if God takes their lives, they are worthless." He continues to urge us not to worry about wealth. Yet, without it, we live in a world where life is impossible. God tells us not to covet wealth, yet people believe that hoarding wealth will bring them contentment.

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