God’s promise to be a Father to us demonstrates the importance he places on the role of parenting. It is the first commandment on the second tablet...
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Seems right; if I did not respect my dad, he might have killed me! When he got out that paddle, I had cause to wonder. However, this is hardly what the Fourth Commandment means.
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We are to honor our parents. One of the ways that is done is by respecting, obeying, serving, and otherwise loving them throughout our shared days.
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The commandment to love our neighbor begins at home. We are to love others as we love ourselves—not just loving those closest to us.
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The principal way one honors their parents is to care for them in their old age, when they cannot take care of themselves anymore.
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The Sabbath of the old covenant observed God’s completion of creation. The Sabbath of the new covenant celebrates recreation—that people are recreated, or born again, through faith in Christ.
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What do you depend upon for religious education, for correction or downright reprimand, and for training in virtue? What is it that governs your maturity in the Christian faith? Your opinions? TV shows? Newspapers? Social media?
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The reading of Scripture to the congregation is vital. Indeed, the use of Scripture throughout the liturgy is central to our worship. But why is this the case?
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Faith comes through the proclaimed word of Christ Jesus, the message of the gospel. It is the good news because salvation comes by no other name.
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It is the Word of God received in faith that makes one holy. The preaching of that Word is vital, whether it is a lector reading the Word aloud, a pastor proclaiming it from a pulpit, or the Holy Spirit speaking through a printed Bible or app.
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When we gather around the Word of God, we are separated from the world for a while. For the moment, we are devoted only to God. This is one major way that we keep the Third Commandment.
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But the Sabbath is a Saturday, not a Sunday, you may argue. Yes, the Jewish Sabbath was Saturday; actually, it was Friday evening until Saturday evening.
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The Sabbath is a day of rest, a miniature holiday or holyday. This day of rest is to be kept because God not only commanded it, he observed it.
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Worship is always the correct attitude. If your conscience, the law, or the devil accuse you of sin, the right response is worship. Do not hide from God, as if you could.
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Let us be clear. God will not hold guiltless the one who takes his name in vain. Yet, the one who calls upon his name in sorrow over that sin will be forgiven.
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It is easy to notice the faults of others. For example, you will hear God’s name used wrongly — whether as an outright expletive or by swearing by it to gain another’s trust.
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“God told me.” When people say this, they are taking the Lord’s name in vain. They say, “God told me to do this,” so that no one will be able to disagree with them.
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So, we see that taking the Lord’s name vainly does not only break the Second Commandment; it also breaks the First Commandment. For taking the Lord’s name in vain demonstrates a lack of fear, love, and trust in God above all things.
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Why does one need to lie or otherwise deceive in order to receive some necessary thing? God knows what you need, so ask your heavenly Father, and he will provide the needs of the day.
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The Second Commandment deals with far more than using a specific word or words. If you are a Christian, then all you say and do is said and done in the name of God.
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Too much talk can lead to grand statements, to bragging backed up with oaths. Be content with silence, for the whisper of God may be heard there.
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The best way to use God’s name properly is in prayer, and the best prayer is the one Jesus taught us. In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray that the Father’s name will be hallowed, or “holied.”
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We are to use God’s name properly. Because we trust God, we may believe that he will take care of us. Therefore, we do not need to resort to deceitful practices of any sort in order to have our needs met by the Father.
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There are things that people fear, love, and trust above God. People may fear illness, suffering, and death above God. The result can be slavish devotion to fitness or to doctors and medicine.
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Keeping the Ten Commandments is not something that we must do in order to be saved. God does not forgive us because we keep the rules.
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While the effects of sin may linger a while, the steadfast love of God endures forever. That is the idea in the idiom: “a thousand generations.” It is like saying, “a million years.”
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Scripture teaches us that children do not pay for the sins of their parents. Nevertheless, they often suffer the consequences. The bad choices we make affect others.
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The effects of sin linger. I look at my own parents’ sins every day, as so many are alive in me. I learned those sins from them but they are my sins.
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The Hebrew word typically translated as “jealous” in Exodus 20:5 can mean zealous, passionate, even outraged — or simply protective. Luther translated it as “zealous” (eifriger) but the major English translations all read “jealous.”
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The idea of serving idols (“or serve them”) in verse five is specific to bringing them the service of worship. The NIV translates it so.
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Imagine that those who are made in the image of the Almighty God would bow down to figurines of human invention. Ludicrous!
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