We looked at the Ten Commandments this week in our Cover to Cover series but not as a list of rules to live up to but a vow of commitment between God and His people. Like a marriage vow, this relationship was not one person’s demands over another but a mutual covenant of acceptance, commitment, and behavior agreed upon by both.
We have the benefit of having the accounts of both the Old and New Testaments to gain perspective from. We can see how the apostles were teaching that the law was good in that it pointed out our sin, but it was also bad because it couldn’t keep us from sinning. The point of the Ten Commandments was to put people in relationship with God – not create a religion. But it is sin within us that keeps us from doing the things the commandments require of us. So, God did for us what that law could not do for us.
Romans 8:3-4 “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent His own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body, God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”
Case in point: In Luke 18, a young ruler comes to Jesus and asks Him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus responds with, “You know the commandments…” and He lists them for him. The man replied in the affirmative and that he had obeyed them all since he was a child. Jesus replies, “There is still one thing you lack,” and this guy must have thought wow, now you’re changing the rules on me? “Sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” Well, when the man heard this he became sad because he was very rich.
This brings us to the tenth Commandment, Do not Covet. This is an inordinate desire for something that does not belong to you; greed actually.
This guy had been keeping all these commandments to the best of his known ability all of his life. On the outside it looked pretty good. I’m sure he gave to the poor; he took care of his parents. It sounds as though he had enough of his own things that he didn’t need to take anything from his neighbor. I would imagine he was influential as an up and coming ruler and his word was good in the community. He was familiar with Jesus being a teacher in the synagogues and was probably faithful in his attendance desiring a right relationship with God.
But what Jesus is addressing here is a matter of the heart – not behavior. You see, the very things Jesus is asking him to give up are the very things he is using to claim obedience to the Ten Commandments. He could afford to spend time in church and follow the Rabbi’s around. His affluence kept him from wanting anything his neighbor had. He had built a name for himself. He had influence. His word was good. He had a good upbringing knowing right from wrong.
This greed, or covet thing, is something that can affect the rest of what we do in obedience to God. To this guy it probably didn’t seem as though he was greedy with all that he might have been doing with what he had. But Jesus is asking him to stop attempting to live up to the Ten Commandments with what you have. Come away from your own life of failing to live them out with a sinful heart and follow Jesus, the One who came to provide the way away from the sin that controls our heart and behaviors.
This is the place where religion and relationship get separated. Jesus wants this guy, and all of us, to trust Him and follow Him and not rely on our own resources to do the things required in the commandments. Even though this guy was doing all the commandments, there was still one thing…it was a matter of the heart!
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40
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