I will be posting a new series of Bible studies to help you prepare your hearts and minds for Sunday. These Bible studies are based on the readings for the upcoming Sunday, and are intended to be used in your home with your family. The material should be adaptable for all ages. This Bible Study series will be called “The Daily Bread of Life.”
The Eighth Commandment– Love God, and speak well of your neighbor.
The Eighth Commandment
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, or give him a bad name, but defend him, speak well of him, and take his words and actions in the kindest possible way.
Essentially, God is telling us that he hates it when we twist the truth for our own advantage. While this commandment is speaking most directly to the courtroom setting where it is tempting to tell a lie about someone in order to benefit yourself, there are plenty of other places in the Bible where God tells us not to lie at all. (“Do not lie to each other,” Colossians 3:9)
Without a doubt, the most common sin against this commandment is gossip. It is so easy in conversation to say things about others that should not be said, and often we do this with no better reason than simply to contribute to the conversation. What we have said may have been the truth, but it might as well have been a lie because it should have been kept quiet for the sake of the other person’s reputation. Personal problems should be dealt with personally, and there is no need to broadcast that information among all your friends, relatives, and acquaintances. What should have been private is twisted and made public, and most of the time we do it just for the fun of it.
Now, you wouldn’t want someone to ruin your reputation. God wants you to be concerned about the other person’s reputation also, because God loves that person too.
Let us remember now that Christ suffered for us, who deserve to have our reputations ruined for the times when we have gossiped about others. Christ was falsely accused. He endured the Jewish leaders of his day trying to ruin his reputation. “By the prince of demons this fellow drives out demons,” they said. They even went so far as to have him crucified on false charges of blaspheming God and insurrection against Rome. Christ endured their false testimony, though, as the punishment we deserved. His holy life he offered up in our place, to cover our sins. In him, and only in him, God forgives and calls us his truthful people.
Heavenly Father, forgive us for the sake of Christ your Son, and lead us to walk in your truth. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
The Seventh Commandment–Love God with your money and possessions
The Seventh Commandment
You shall not steal.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God that we do not take our neighbor’s money or property, or get it by dishonest dealing, but help him to improve and protect his property and means of income.
Whether rich or poor, what you have has been given to you by God because of his love for you. If you are poor, God has given what you have and nothing more, because he loves you. If you are rich, God has given you your wealth because he loves you. As the Psalmist wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it; the world, and those who live in it,” (Psalm 24:1).
If you are poor, and you trust God above all things as the First Commandment tells us to do, then you will not steal to get more. You trust God to give you what you need, and you accept that he has at the present time given you poverty. Poverty can be a gift of God. It is but one of the ways that God may afflict us so that we will find his grace in Christ, and cling to him all the more tightly.
Even if you are not poor and are not tempted to steal to get money, you still must ask yourself if you are using God’s gifts of money and possessions in the way that he intended them to be used. Your money is not your “allowance” from God, to be spent however you may choose. It’s actually a trust, to be used for his purposes. He will call you to account for the way that you have used your money. God wants you to care for the needs of others. He wants you to support the work of preaching the Gospel by giving to the church. He also wants you to care for your own needs and enjoy his good blessings in life–but you will do that naturally, and probably to excess. Be more concerned about how you are using your money to help others and support the church.
It is a serious matter when we use God’s gifts of money and possessions for ourselves rather than for God’s purpose. God has given us our money as a trust, with the intent that we use it as he intended. In government, when politicians are given money for a certain cause, but they spend it on themselves instead, we feel like we have been robbed. When we spend money on ourselves that we should have spent on others or on God, God sees that as stealing from him. Through the prophet Malachi he said, “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. ‘How do we rob you?’ ‘In tithes and offerings,'” (Malachi 3:8).
Thank God that the punishment we so greatly deserved was given to Christ. Thank God also that the perfect obedience we so deeply need was accomplished by Christ also, and given to God on our behalf.
Heavenly Father, strike us down with guilt, that you may build us up again with your gracious forgiveness in Christ our Lord, Amen.
The Sixth Commandment–Love God, and Love the Spouse He Has Given
You shall not commit adultery.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God that we lead a pure and decent life in words and actions, and that husband and wife love and honor each other.
God, who loves you, has given you a spouse; or maybe he has not. In either case, it is because he loves you. In this commandment, he wants you to appreciate, love, and honor what he has given. There are many applications for the married and the unmarried people, but today my thoughts are on those who are married.
In your marriage, love and respect your spouse. God has given you that person, together with his or her faults. Your husband is the only man God has given you to love and care for you. Your wife is the only woman God has given you to enthrall you with her beauty, love and support. She is the only object of your affection, and she is a gift of God. As a wife, your husband is always the object of your respect and admiration, because this is God’s purpose for you.
That doesn’t describe you and your marriage, but it should. It does describe Christ, though, who loved us and gave his own perfect life to God on our behalf. Christ was not married, but his perfect loving relationship with us is ideal which husbands and wives are to follow.
Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:22-28, “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 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 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.”
What I am about to describe is the perfect marriage. It doesn’t describe your marriage, but it gives you something to strive for. Work on the part that belongs to you. You can’t change your husband, but you can work on your respect for him and honor his God-given authority. Men, you might not be able to make your wives more lovable, but Christ loved the unlovable. We are to do the same.
Beginning with husbands, we are to model Christ’s love for us. He gave himself, even his own life, so that we would be holy and blameless in him. Show your wife what that looks like as you give up yourself for her. Give up every selfish interest for her. Give up your pride– when she says something hurtful, respond in patience. Tell her that she is perfect and beautiful in your eyes, just like Christ has done for you.
Now wives submit to your husbands. It isn’t enough to love them. Respect and honor them, because it is God’s will for you. You are the model of Christian submission–which is something that we all are supposed to do. We all submit to Christ, who has loved us above all. Honor your husband, and respect his authority, because he loves and cares for you, and because he puts your interests above his own. He is an extension of Christ to you.
In this sinful world, both husbands and wives will take advantage of the situation. Wives will take advantage of their husband’s self-sacrificing good will, and demand to have their way. Husbands will take advantage of a wife’s humble submission, and become a loveless tyrant. Each of you should take God’s command to heart, do your part, and entrust yourself to God. He sees the injustice, and he is pleased with your obedience. Wouldn’t it be all the more profound if you obey God in spite of your spouse’s faults?
Heavenly Father, fill us with the love of your Son, that we may be full of love for each other. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
The Fifth Commandment–Love God and Love His People
You shall not murder.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and be a friend to him in every bodily need.
For most people most of the time, it is easy enough to stop yourself from killing people. If you truly love God, though, you will do much more than avoid murdering people. If you consider that God, whom you love, has given life to every person on earth, shouldn’t you love them like you love God? God thinks you should.
Jesus explained the fifth commandment saying, “Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” Now, before you object that even Jesus was at times angry with people, ask yourself if it is even possible for you to be angry with someone without wanting to hurt the person back, either with words or actions? Can you be angry without sinning? Most of the time, probably not.
Now, its hard enough to love our brothers, sisters, husbands, and wives without ever saying a hurtful word or thinking a hurtful thought. If that were all that God had commanded, we would have more than enough to keep us busy our whole life long. God isn’t done, though. Jesus also explained the fifth commandment for us by saying, “Love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you.” Love them and protect their life, because God gave them life and he wants them to repent and be saved. “God our Savior wants all men to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4), but as often as not we would like our enemies to be damned. He wants to give life, even eternal life if they will have it, and we want to give our enemies death and damnation. Now how do you think God looks on us, when we hate those whom he loves, and what we want for them is so opposed to what he wants?
In Jesus we have a perfect example of what that should look like. When his enemies were nailing him to the cross, he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” But, once again, if it is only an example, it is useless to us. It would only continue to show us how we have failed. In Christ we have more than an example. We have a substitute. Christ is our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). In the court of God, his perfection takes the place of our imperfection. Now if God has said that you are holy and righteous because of the things Christ has done for you, then it would be good for you to make every effort to live that way. Be holy, because God has said that you are holy. This is where Christ’s life for you is useful as an example. God has looked at Christ’s life and said that is to be considered your holy life, so copy the things that Christ did. Love your enemies like he loved his, because this is who you are in God’s sight. Love your family too, be patient and forgive their faults just as Christ has patience and forgives ours.
Heavenly Father, teach us to know Christ and his holiness, and give us strength to be like him. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
“Remember God” — The Third Commandment
When God said, “Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy,” he meant much more than to command us to take a day off from work and go to church every week. Jesus taught us to look deeper than the mere action that is commanded or forbidden in the commandments. He said, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment…But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell,” (Matthew 5:22). The point he was making was that the Law reaches to your heart. God cares about what you do to a person, and he also cares about what you think and feel toward that person. If we look deeper into the Sabbath law, we see again that God cares about what you do, and that he cares about what you think and feel.
In Exodus 20:8-11, God commanded the Israelites to rest on the seventh day of the week, because God created the world in six days and then rested on the seventh. God wanted his people to take that one day a week to set aside their normal work and remember him as their Creator. He wanted it to be a special day, so that normal work would not crowd him out. It was to be the seventh day, so that they would remember God’s work in creation.
In Deuteronomy 5:12-15, God repeated his command to the people of Israel, this time with another emphasis. On the Sabbath day they were also to remember what he had done to rescue them from their slavery in Egypt. Along with that they would remember his purpose for them–he had rescued them because of his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those promises were that they would be his people, he would be their God, and he would bring a blessing to all nations in the Savior who would be born from their descendants.
In Leviticus 23:3, God commanded that the Sabbath be observed with a “sacred assembly”–basically, they were supposed to go to church. They were to gather together to remember God as their Creator, the one who had rescued them from slavery, and the one who would rescue all of us from sin, death, and hell.
The Sabbath is so much more than a ritual, more than a day off, more even than day for church attendance. It’s an attitude of remembering God. The Sabbath was God’s wise way of caring for his Old Testament people, telling them to set aside that seventh day because the fact that it was the seventh day would remind them of the great things God had done for them. It was wisdom to set aside a day, because otherwise the concerns and stress of normal daily work would have crowded God out of their minds. If you look at it that way, the Sabbath wasn’t really something they were doing for God. It was something God had commanded for their own good.
In fact, Jesus explained the Sabbath in that very way. He said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,” (Mark 2:27). In keeping with Jesus’ teaching, the early church in the New Testament began to meet on another day, because they had something more important to remember than God’s seventh day rest after creation, and more important than God’s mighty acts in the Exodus. They had the resurrection of our Lord on a Sunday morning. By that resurrection with him all are justified of their sins (Romans 4:25). Forgiveness and eternal life have been purchased and offered to all, whoever would believe in him. In his resurrection, we see our future in him. The resurrection was the greatest act of God. It was the climax of world history, from God’s view piont. More than any other day, it is a day for Christians to remember. On Sunday, every Sunday, we gather to “observe the Sabbath” by remembering the great things God has done–and central to all of these is the resurrection of our Lord.
On Sunday when you come to church, remember your Lord, who suffered death as the punishment for our sins, and was raised again after the punishment had been served to show that we have been justified. Think also about how God did this because he is your creator, and his great love for the people he created would not allow him to simply condemn us to hell for our sins. He had to save us. Perhaps you will have occasion to remember the Exodus also, and the rest of the history of how God carried out his plan to bring us a Savior from the nation of Israel. Set aside Sunday for church, if at all possible, because otherwise you will have a hard time keeping God on your mind. The stress and demands of work will take over. You will not likely take the time you should to feed your soul from the Word of God on your own time otherwise. You need the schedule, you need to be in church, because you need to remember God. As Jesus said in Mark 2, it’s for your own good. Remember the Sabbath Day.
Heavenly Father, Keep our hearts and minds in your Word, so that our sinful hearts will not so interest us in the pleasures and cares of earthly life that we forget you. Guard our hearts, because you know us better than we know ourselves. When we hear your Word, make us eager to hear more. Bless the preaching of your Word and the Sacraments, and make us eager for that day when the church gathers to hear you and receive your blessings. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
Treat God like he is real–the Second Commandment
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God that we do not use his name to curse, swear, lie, or deceive, or use witchcraft, but call upon God’s name in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.
If a name is used without meaning, that name will soon truly lose all meaning. A simple illustration will prove this. My dog has learned the word “treat.” If I use that word without giving him a treat, he will stop responding when I say “treat.” The word will become meaningless. The same thing happens with God’s name. If we use his name without meaning anything by it, his name will become meaningless to us. In effect, the person who persistently misuses God’s name will cease to believe that God exists.
The entry level offense is to throw around God’s name is if it were just another way to put a little emphasis behind your words. It doesn’t take long before you don’t notice it anymore. God’s name is used as if it were meaningless; as if God were not actually real. Our misuse of God’s name gets much worse than that, though.
People treat God like he isn’t real when they start making up things that God would say or do or think today. If their words are not drawn from what God has revealed about himself in the Bible, then they are just saying what they think and want, and they slap God’s name on it. They refuse to believe that God is real, and that God has words of his own. God does not appreciate them using his name to validate their own selfish opinions. How would you like it if someone went around telling ridiculous lies about what you think and what you would do? Yet many do that to God, as if they don’t believe that God cares. To them, God isn’t real enough to care. His name has become meaningless to them.
Recently I read a blog post that horribly misused God’s name in this way. The writer believed that God was making it clear that he didn’t want us to continue to worship him in the same old tired ways in church buildings, as part of an organized body of believers. Actually, God never said that. That is actually the blog writer’s own idea, because he dislikes organized religion. The true crime is that he put God’s name on it, as if God wouldn’t care. Unless you believe that God is too far away to care, or that he isn’t real enough, we should look in the Bible to see what he actually does say. “Do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching,” (Hebrews 10:25). God gave us those words to make his will clear. He thinks it is good for us to meet together and encourage each other. In Ephesians 4:11 we have God’s word that he gives pastors and teachers to the church, to equip the believers to serve him.
God’s name is used meaninglessly again when people justify their sin by saying, “God’s wouldn’t want me to be unhappy.” I suppose Adam and Eve might have said the same thing. I have heard people use that logic to justify their divorce after they have lost the love in their marriage. Don’t put words in God’s mouth as if he doesn’t care. Listen to what he has said. “I hate divorce, says the Lord,” Malachi 2:16. If you think that God will understand your sin if it makes you happy, then look at Job again. God wanted Job to be miserable and glorify him anyway. Think about Hosea. God wanted him to keep his adulterous wife as a way of showing how God forgives his unfaithful people. Being happy has nothing to do with it, according to God. He wants to be honored and obeyed at all costs.
In Jesus we see one who did honor and obey God at all costs. When he spoke it was the Word of God. He perfectly represented his Father’s will in everything that he said and did–even to the point of death. It was the Father’s will that the Son would offer up his perfection as the substitute for our imperfection, so that through faith in him we would be saved. But once again, this is not just my opinion. This is God’s Word. It’s in the Bible– “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God,” 1 Peter 3:18.
Heavenly Father, teach us to honor you and your name as our Savior and God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
You shall have no other gods–the First Commandment
You shall have no other gods.
What does this mean?
We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.
The wooden and stone idols that tempted the ancient Israelites are nowhere to be seen, but idolatry is everywhere among us. Your god is whatever you put your hope in for health, wealth, and happiness. Your god is the reason why you believe everything is going to be alright. Your job can be a god. Your money (even if you don’t have much) can be a god. Your wife can be your god, if she takes the true God’s place as the primary recipient of your love, time and devotion. Your husband can be a god, if he is the one you trust and love above all. Your hobbies, games, boats, cars, and recreations can be your god. Your beauty can be your god. When the going gets tough, your work ethic and determination can be your god–if “we’re going to work through this” replaces “we’re going to trust God to bring us through this.”
Consider the story of the Three Men in the Fiery Furnace (Daniel 3). The law stated that they would be thrown into the fire if they would not worship a golden statue that the king had set up. They might have trusted in a lie to keep them safe, pretending to bow down to the statue but worshiping God in their hearts. But instead, because God wants all worship for himself, they refused to worship the image and they refused to trust in their own cunning. Amazingly, they continued to trust in God when it looked like their trust had been misplaced! They were going to be thrown into the fire, and it looked like God wasn’t going to do anything about it. He had not kept them hidden from the prying eyes of the Babylonians. He had not toppled the offensive statue. He hadn’t forced the king to repentance by sending some awful plague as he did at other times. God wasn’t doing anything. Still, the three men trusted him alone. They kept the first commandment.
Now God didn’t want the rest of the Jews and all of us who read the story to see those three men get burned and think that God doesn’t care to help his people when they obey the first commandment. He does care. He stands by his people and saves them. King Nebuchadnezzar saw a fourth man walking around with the three in the fire, and they were not burned. The fourth man was God.
God wants us to fear, love, and trust him above all. He wants us to do that when it looks like he is not doing anything to help us. Its a shallow faith that only trusts God when he is doing something for you right now. God wants to see a deeper faith that understands his goodness to us in Christ, holding and trusting our salvation from our sins even when there appears to be no hope for being saved from our earthly troubles. Whether God rescues us from our troubles now or not, we know that he will rescue us from our sins and our sinful life in the resurrection. We also know, and see in the story of the three men, that God stands by his people in their troubles. Fear, love, and trust in God above all things.
Heavenly Father, as our Creator you deserve all our faith, our hope, and our love. In the stories of the Bible you have shown that you can be counted on. In the promises of your Word and Sacraments you have promised us personally that you will be our God and that you will use your power to bless us and care for us. We have experienced your loving protection in our lives. When we feel that you have let us down, deepen our faith to find your love for us in Christ even in our troubles. Strengthen us until that day when you raise us from graves where our troubled lives end. Rescue us and give us eternal life, as you have promised, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Due Thanks on Independence Day
On this day when we celebrate our independence and the birth of our great nation, we ought to remember who has given us these blessings. Yes, we remember Paul Revere and his midnight ride. We remember the Minute Men. We remember George Washington. But do we remember God, whose mighty hand is behind every event in history?
“He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and disposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.” Daniel 2:21.
Give thanks to God for raising up this great nation where we enjoy religious freedom, as well as freedom from many other evils. The world has scarcely ever seen such peace and prosperity! Pray that God will not let us become complacent and forget to thank him for these rich blessings.
One Lutheran Voice 