Commandments 4-6 

What does God say about our duty toward our neighbor?

The second table of the Law involves Commandments 4 – 10. These seven commands of our Lord govern our relationships with our neighbors, and tell us much about how we are to live. The summary of all these commands can be found in Matthew 22:39, which says “Love your neighbor as yourself.” So, let’s see how we can do that, using God’s guidelines. As we look at the commandments, we first will see how we fail to live up to God’s commands, and then how we can strive to live, out of thanks for Jesus keeping them for us, and dying for our failure.

1.  The Fourth Commandment reads “Honor your father and your mother that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”   What does this mean?

a)  Romans 13:2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

b)  Colossians 3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

c)   Acts 5:29 Peter and the other apostles replied: ”We must obey God rather than men!”

The Bible teaches us that:

a)  We should NOT despise or disobey our parents and all others who by God’s ordinance are placed over us in the home, the church, the state, at school, or at the place where we work.

b)  We SHOULD honor our superiors as God’s representatives and obey them in all things in which God has placed them over us.

I would imagine that this would be the perfect place to talk about the separation of church and state.  At what point does Acts 5:29 pop in? At what point does dissent and protest become rebellion and sin against the authorities that God has given to us?  And, at what point is discarding the advice that your parents give you no longer sinful?  Perhaps we can answer these questions, or at least attempt to.

2. The Fifth Commandment reads “You shall not murder.”   What does this mean?

a)  Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.

b)  Rom. 12:19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ”It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

c)  1 John 3:15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

d)  Rom. 12:20 On the contrary: ”If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

e)  Eph. 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

The Bible teaches us that: We should NOT

a)  Take the life of a fellow man (murder, lynching, abortion, euthanasia) or our own life (suicide).

b)  Do or say something which may destroy, shorten, or embitter our neighbor’s life.

 c) Bear anger or hatred in our heart against our neighbor.

We SHOULD

d)  Help and befriend our neighbor in every bodily need;       e) Be merciful, kind, and forgiving towards our neighbor.

Of course, many subjects may be discussed on which the Fifth Commandment holds relevance, such as, the issue of war. Many Christians through the ages have wrestled with this application of the Fourth and Fifth Commandments. Is it right to kill? Is it wrong then, to disobey the authorities when they tell us to go to war? It was just this tension between the Fourth and Fifth Commandment that led to the “just war” concept. In short, if it was a just war, then it was ok to kill. If it was not a just war, then it was not. But who decides? Ah, there’s the rub! In the end, it is a matter of conscience.

Another subject that we have just studied is that of Euthanasia.  I will not say more about that now.  Yet another subject for discussion is just how far God wants us to go to help our neighbor.  Is He saying that we ought to keep unlimited welfare benefits in place for all people?  Does God want us to practice a form of socialism? After all, we are responsible for our neighbor’s body and health, are we not?  And, if you accept this premise, then wouldn’t it be the Christian thing to pluck cigarettes out of the mouths of strangers when they light up? After all, we are responsible for our neighbor’s health, are we not?  Let’s talk about this.

3. The Sixth Commandment says “You shall not commit adultery.”   What does this mean?

a/b)  Genesis 2:18-24 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.  So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.  So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.  Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.  The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘ woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”  For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

c)  Matthew 1:18-20 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

d)  Genesis 2:18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Gen. 2:24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Gen. 33:5 Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. ”Who are these with you?” he asked. Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.”

e)  Romans 7:2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.

f)  Ephesians 5:24-25 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

The Bible teaches us that:

a)  Marriage is a “holy estate”, having been instituted by God Himself.

b)  It is a union of one man and one woman at one time! (one flesh)

c)  Marriage begins at the engagement. The acceptance of the marriage proposal is the “pledge to be married.” This is the traditional view of marriage and engagement.

d)  The blessings of marriage are companionship, children and sexual happiness. 

e)  Marriage is a life-long union.

f)  Married people are to love and honor one another according to God’s guidelines. 

What else does the Sixth Commandment teach us?

a)  Matthew 19:6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.

b)  Matthew 5:28 But I tell you that anyone who looks a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

c)  I Timimothy 5:22b   Keep yourself pure.

d)  Romans 13:13-14 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

e)  I Corinthians 6:18-19 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.

The Bible teaches us that:

We should NOT

a)  Break the marriage vow by unfaithfulness, desertion or an unscriptural divorce.

b)  Sin against this commandment by our actions, words, desires or thoughts.

We SHOULD

c)  Lead a pure and decent life in thoughts, desires, words and deeds.

d)  Fight against the temptations to sin sexually by clothing ourselves with Christ and His Word.

e)  Flee from the things that tempt us to sin. (Movies, compromising situations, and obscene literature)

If there is any commandment that has been broken more often in this land of ours today, it is this one.  The Christian will come under attack for his/her belief about sexuality and the gift of marriage.  Not only will you come under attack for “discrimination” against homosexuality in the workplace, but your children will encounter this bias in the public school system, if their teachers are sympathetic to the gay rights lobby.    Perhaps you’ve heard the uproar created on the East Coast when the New Jersey school system a few years ago promoted a book entitled “Heather Has Two Mommies”, which tried to legitimize lesbian households to its readers.  Did you also know that this book was recommended reading for kindergarten?

We can also just imagine God’s anger when “marriage” is redefined by our courts and others to mean the joining of two individuals, regardless of sex.  What has our culture done to God’s gift of marriage?  It continues to attack it – defame it – and degrade it. Just when we think it can’t get any worse, it does.  The devil is always at work.  He doesn’t even bask in his victories.  He will not be happy until every trace of God and His Word is wiped away from our lives.  BUT God is still ruling this world.  He still wants us to stand up for what is right.  He wants us to teach our children what is and is not God-pleasing sexual activity.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.  Mental cruelty is a valid reason for divorce.

2.  Many ministers no longer use the word “obey” in the marriage ceremony. Comment. 

3.  Why are divorce cases and suicide cases so difficult to judge?