May 21
30
Baptist Catechism 86
Q. 86. What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his. (1 Cor. 10:10; James 5:9; Gal. 5:26; Col. 3:5)
Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:1–17
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:1–17, ESV)
*****
Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
*****
Last Sunday afternoon I began by drawing your attention to the uniqueness of the tenth commandment from the other nine. The tenth commandment speaks only to the condition of one’s heart. It does not speak to the words we say or the deeds we do. Yes, covetousness in the heart will produce sinful words and sinful deeds, but those would be something other than covetousness.
Today I would like to begin by making a very general but important observation. When God commands us to not covet in the heart, this implies that we do have control over what goes on in our mind and heart. We have the ability to control the thoughts that rattle around in our heads and the desires that reside within our hearts. If this were not the case, then God would not command us saying, don’t covet.
Now, what I have just said need to be considered in light of man’s depraved condition by nature, his natural bondage to sin, and the unique freedom that those in Christ enjoy. Having been renewed by the Holy Spirit believers especially have the ability to control the thoughts that rattle around in their heads and the desires that reside within their hearts. Those not in Christ are in bondage. So it is no wonder that the world acts like they cannot control what is in them. But it is not so for the Christian.
The law says, don’t covet. By nature, we were in bondage to sin and bound to covet. But in Christ, we have been freed from sin and have the ability to put off covetousness, along with other sinful thoughts and desires that reside within the inner man. Are you following me? I am saying that the Christian ought never to say, this is simply who I am, I cannot change. Or, these are the thoughts that I think, the emotions that I feel, and the desires I have — they are outside of my control. That is simply not true. God’s law says, don’t covet. And this law has been written, not only on stone but on your heart by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit if you are a Christian. And so you do have the ability to obey in Christ from a renewed heart and mind with the help of God’s sanctifying Spirit.
Sanctification is a process, of course, and it is a battle.
The passage that I have just read in Colossians 3 proves both that it is possible to obey God in the mind and heart and also that it is a process and a battle. In that text, Paul commands Christians to put away internal sins like “impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (isn’t it interesting how Paul links the tenth and the second commandments there. Covetousness… is idolatry”, he says. Covetousness is a form of idolatry in the heart). And he speaks of the putting away of these sins as if it were a process. “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”, he says. “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you…” And “seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator… Put on then… compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” etc. “And above all these put on love…” I could go on, but I think it is clear that Paul views sanctification as a process, and as a daily battle.
Christian, you do have the ability to control your inner life. You have been renewed by Christ and by his Spirit. You are not in bondage to sin. And God does call you to put off the old man and to put on the new, and that is to be done not only in word and deed but also in the mind and heart. In fact, that is where true sanctification emanates from, the mind and the heart.
Do you have covetousness in your heart? Have you grown bitter against God or others? Is their lust in your heart? Jealousy? Evil desires? Then with God’s help, turn from these things. Put them off, and put on the “new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
*****
Baptist Catechism 86
Having now made that general observation that God cares about the inner thought life of his people, and that he has freed us from our natural bondage to sin so that we might serve him from the heart, lets us now consider baptist catechism 86 which asks, what is forbidden in the tenth commandment? The answer is very helpful.
“The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate… ” To be content is to be satisfied in the Lord and with his will for you.
1 Timothy 6:6-10 says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”
Next, our catechism says, “The tenth commandment forbiddeth all… envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor…” To be discontent before God is to fail to love him to doubt his love for us. To envy or grieve at the good of our neighbor is to fail to love our neighbor. What should we do if our neighbor is having success? Certainly, we should not be sad about that. Neither should we be jealous. Instead, we should rejoice with our neighbors concerning the blessing that God has determined to bestow upon them by his mercy and grace. By way, if God has determined to bless someone with something, who are we to complain about that? That’s God’s business. He knows what he is doing.
After this, our catechism forbids “all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his.” That word “inordinate” is super helpful. It means “excessive”. And it helps us to see that there is nothing at all wrong with looking at what your neighbor has and thinking, I would like to have one of those someday. That is not necessarily the sin of covetousness. It can easily become the sin of covetousness! It is that with anger too. There is such a thing as righteous anger, but when anger overflows its boundaries — when it grows to be inordinate, it becomes sinful.
So you may look at your neighbors’ house, or car, or family, or whatever your neighbor may have and think, I would like one of those someday. That is not sin. But be very, very careful with that. Guard your heart against covetousness. Find your contentment in God and his will for you, and give thanks to him. And then you will be free to pursue those godly things that you wish to have in a godly way from a heart that is kept pure before the Lord. But if we allow ourselves to be drawn to things that others have (that is what the language of motions and affections is referring to), in an inordinate or excessive way, it will lead to all kinds of evil. As Paul has said, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:9–10, ESV)
*****
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23, ESV)
Q. 86. What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his. (1 Cor. 10:10; James 5:9; Gal. 5:26; Col. 3:5)
