THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Calvin’s Institutes

Week 10

A Quick Review…

■ Our fallen nature now keeps us from genuine knowledge of God

■ Our distorted image can’t reflect God due to original sin

■ The Mediator will solve this

■ But the Law was given to be a:

– Mirror: to show our sin

– Halter: to restrain sin in community

– Handbook: on how Christians reflect God’s nature

The Ten Commandments

■ Reflect God’s nature

■ Tell us how to live as God wants

– And thus how to be happy

■ Are summed in the Great Commandment

■ Encompass the opposites as well

■ Are understood in context of the purpose of the Lawgiver in giving them

■ So, now let’s consider the Ten Commandments

The Two Tables

■ God assigns “the first part of those duties of religion which particularly concern the

worship of his majesty; the second, to the duties of love that have to do with men.”

■ “The first foundation of righteousness is the worship of God.”

– Thus, even seemingly good deeds fall short when not done as acts of worship

– “It is vain to cry up righteousness without religion.”

– So, keeping the Second Table isn’t enough without keeping the first

■ The two tables fit the Great Commandment

– The first on loving God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength

– The second on loving neighbor as self

The Two Tables

■ Calvin rejects the Catholic way of dividing the 10

– They omit the “carved image” command or slide it under the first (and the

significance of this wasn’t lost on Calvin … and some Lutherans go this way)

– Then split the coveting commandment into two

■ Following the early fathers, Calvin divides into two tables:

– 1-4 on worship and honor of God

– 5-10 on love of neighbor

– So the two cover true religion and charity

First Commandment

■ I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of

slavery. You shall have no other gods before [besides] me. (Exodus 20:2-3)

■ The intro shows that God has power and the right to authority over the people

■ The Holy God calls the people to be holy (Lev. 11:44)

■ And not to revere God is to commit “the crime of ingratitude”

■ And for us, the bondage of Israel is a type of the spiritual captivity we were bound in

until God freed us

■ So, all are bound to keep the Law

First Commandment

■ PURPOSE: “The Lord wills alone to be the pre-eminent among his people, and to exercise complete authority over them.”

■ Four headings of what we owe to God:

– Adoration and obedience (including submitting our consciences to the law)

– Trust (repose in him arising from recognizing his attributes)

– Invocation (“resorting to his faithfulness and help as our only support”)

– Thanksgiving (gratitude for all good things)

■ God is jealous as these are not to be transferred to another

– Because He alone deserves them

– We make him jealous “as often as we substitute our own inventions in place of him”

■ Opposites??

Second Commandment

■ You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (20:4)

■ PURPOSE: “He does not will that his lawful worship be profaned by superstitious rites.” We are to conform to his spiritual worship, established by himself. Yet, our hearts our idol factories.

■ God is spiritual, so the people were committing this sin even as God spoke to Moses

■ And followed by threats about visiting iniquity on subsequent generations

– As a husband who is perfectly faithful demands faithfulness of his spouse

■ The consequences to subsequent generations causes problems only when we “think it is to be understood only of temporal punishments”

– Not only on the wicked, but on his family

■ Conversely, God shows mercy to thousands, his covenant mercies extending to the families of the pious

■ Opposites??

Third Commandment

■ You shall not take the name of the

Lord your God in vain (v. 7)

■ PURPOSE: “God wills that we hallow

the majesty of his name.”

■ Whatever we conceive or utter of

God should match the loftiness of

his name

■ Cursing vs. vulgar language vs.

minced oaths

■ Key function of this command is

regarding oaths

■ Oath: “calling God as witness to

confirm the truth of our word”

■ To do this can be a type of divine

worship

■ So God jealous if we swear by

strange gods (Jer. 5:7)

More on Oaths

■ Swearing falsely by his name (or I might add frivolously) is called profanation (Lev. 19:12), despoiling God of his truth

■ Biblical oaths call upon God to avenge his name if we break them (e.g., 1 Sam. 14:44; Rom 1:9)

■ “We cannot call God to be the witness of our words without asking him to be the avenger of our perjury if we deceive.”

■ Idle oaths cheapen God’s Name and make it common

■ We also are not to replace God’s names by his servants’ names

■ Does the Sermon on the Mount negate oaths (Mt. 5: 34) by saying make no oaths?

– Refers to swearing in vain

– Oaths in the law remain

– Even Paul used an oath (Ro. 1:9)

■ Opposites??

Fourth Commandment

■ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (v. 8)

■ PURPOSE: “Being dead to our own inclinations and works, we should meditate on

the Kingdom of God, and the we should practice that meditation in the ways

established by him.”

■ Two original purposes:

– Representing to Israel a future spiritual rest

– A stated day to assemble to hear the law and perform rites

■ Obedience to this very seriously commanded (e.g., Num. 15: 32-36)

■ And key meaning is the foreshadowing of heavenly rest

Why Rest on the Sabbath?

■ The outward act of mortifying the

will reflects the inward

– “We must be wholly at rest that

God may work in us.”

– “We must rest from all

activities of our own contriving

so that, having God working in

us, we may repose in him.”

■ “Seven” is significant in

representing perpetuity

■ This promise is fulfilled in Christ,

whose work affords us perpetual

rest from our labors

■ Ceremonial aspects ended with

Christ

■ Yet still,

– We gather on it

– And give rest to others under

our influence

Calvin vs. the Puritans

■ Calvin: it is not a ceremony to be scrupulous about, but a remedy to keep order in the church

■ Moved to Sunday to separate from the Jewish purposes of the Sabbath

■ So keep it, but not legalistically

– For rest, meditation, and fair treatment to those under us

■ CONTRA the Puritans (and Westminster) who see the entire day only for worship and not even rest (context of Book of Sports)

■ Opposites??

Fifth Commandment

■ Honor your father and mother, that

the days may be long in the land

that the Lord your God is giving you.

(v. 12)

■ PURPOSE: “Since the maintenance

of his economy pleases the Lord

God, the degrees of pre-eminence

established by him out to be

inviolable for us.”

■ So, forbidden to detract from the

dignity of those in authority

The Authorities

■ This flows from God’s providence

– All authorities are in place by God’s providence and ordination

■ And… “It makes no difference whether our superiors are worthy or unworthy of this

honor” because it came of God’s providence

– Yet, subjection conflicts with the depravity of human nature

■ Specifically, of course, applies to parents

– “Those who abusively violate parental authority are monsters, not men!”

■ Three key features

– Reverence, obedience, and gratefulness

Honoring Authorities

The promise

■ The promise of the first table covers

the whole law

■ The long life includes the present

life among God’s blessings

■ This is a symbol of God’s kindness

– Even in cases when obedient

children die young

The threat

■ God will avenge breeches of this in his own way

■ Yet, obedience only due “in the Lord” (Eph. 6:1)

– If they ask us to sin, we have a right to regard them not as parents

■ Opposites??

Sixth Commandment

■ “You shall not murder.” (v. 13)

■ PURPOSE: “The Lord has bound mankind together by a certain unity; hence each man ought to concern himself with the safety of all.”

■ So, the law forbids murder in the heart and an inner intent to save a brother’s life

■ “The hand … gives birth to murder, but the mind when infected with anger and hatred conceives it. See whether you can be angry against your brother without burning with desire to hurt him.”

■ “Hatred is nothing but sustained anger.”

■ This because man is God’s image

■ Opposites??

Seventh Commandment

■ You shall not commit adultery. (v. 14)

■ PURPOSE: “Because God loves modesty and purity, all uncleanness must be far from us.”

■ Includes all filth or intemperance of the flesh

■ On the other hand: we are to chastely and continently regulate all parts of our life

■ So any nonmarital sexual union is condemned

■ Modesty: “purity of heart joined with chastity of body.”

■ Celibacy OK only if truly content with singleness.

■ Opposites??

Eighth Commandment

■ You shall not steal. (v. 15)

■ PURPOSE: “Since injustice is an abomination to God, we should render to each man

what belongs to him.” (Cites Rom. 13:7)

■ “We must consider that what every man possesses has not come to him by mere

chance but by the distribution of the supreme Lord of all. For this reason, we cannot

by evil devices deprive anyone of his possessions without fraudulently setting aside

God’s dispensation.”

■ Notice again the roots in providence

■ So, Calvin wouldn’t approve of Robin Hood

More on the Eighth

■ Getting money any way that is unfair or rooted in cheating is considered to be theft

■ And if we are supposed to take care of something (company property, etc.), we steal if we fail to take care of it

■ But to the positive, we are to be content with our lot

– Seeking only lawful gain

– Even being prepared to give up something of our own rather than contend with those who are faithless and deceitful

■ Specific groups particularly to care for others

– Ministers and their people, rulers [including bosses], parents

– So, we kind of covered opposites

Ninth Commandment

■ You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (v. 16)

■ PURPOSE: “Since God (who is truth) abhors a lie, we must practice truth without deceit toward one another.”

■ So, “we should faithfully help everyone as much as we can in affirming the truth, in order to protect the integrity of his name and possessions.”

■ “We harm a man more by despoiling him of the integrity of his name than by taking away his possessions.”

■ “This precept even extends to forbidding us to affect a fawning politeness barbed with bitter taunts under the guise of joking.”

■ Applies to hearing such as well as saying it

■ Opposites??

Tenth Commandment

■ You shall not covet your neighbor’s house … wife … male servant … female servant

… ox … donkey … or anything that is your neighbor’s. (v. 17)

■ PURPOSE: “Since God wills that our whole soul be possessed with a disposition to

love, we must banish from our hearts all desire contrary to love.”

■ While other commandments address the intent to do wrong, coveting is just the

mind being pricked or tickled to do wrong

■ It addresses heart righteousness. “The heart, then, in so far as it harbors

covetousness, must be empty of love.”

■ Opposite??

Summary

■ So, the Great Commandment is “exegeted”

■ “We ought to embrace the whole human race without exception in a single feeling of love; here there is no distinction between barbarian and Greek, worthy and unworthy, friend and enemy, since all should be contemplated in God, not in themselves.”

■ And all sins are deadly (as he rejects venial vs mortal sin idea)

“We keep the commandments not by loving

ourselves but by loving God and neighbor;

… he lives the best and holiest life who lives and

strives for himself as little as he can, and that

No one lives in a more evil manner than he who lives

and strives for himself alone.”

Applying What We’ve Learned

■ Choose a commandment that you in

particular need to work on, and pray

for God’s Spirit to work in you on

this during the week

■ Who do you struggle to love?

– Or maybe even don’t love and

feel justified in doing so?

■ Seek God’s grace to change on this

Praying Together

■ Pray that we will love God more

completely

■ Pray that we love one another as we

love ourselves

■ Ask God to work on specific trouble

spots

Next week…

■ Book 2, chapters 9-11

– Christ in the Old and New

Testaments