Ten Words · Stop 6
Why do the commandments end with wanting, and what do they show us about God?
The last two commandments aren't about anything you do. They're about what you want. Nobody can keep them perfectly. Today you'll find out why that's exactly where the good news begins.
Start this stopFree to love
The ninth and tenth commandments say not to covet, which means wanting what belongs to someone else so badly that you'd scheme to get it. Luther said instead we should help our neighbor keep what's theirs.
Comparing is everywhere. Scroll for five minutes and you'll see someone with a better house, phone, body, or life. The opposite of coveting is being content, and grateful for what you have.
Here's the hard part. If even our wants can break the commandments, nobody keeps them all. Luther taught that this is one job of the Law: it shows us we need a Savior. Lutherans often compare it to a mirror. It shows the dirt but can't wash it off.
The Gospel is what washes. Jesus kept the commandments for us and forgives us when we don't. Now we're free to keep them. We don't keep them to earn God's love. We keep them because we already have it. Paul says the whole law comes down to one thing: love your neighbor as yourself.
Read it in your Bible
- Romans 3:23–24. Paul says everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glory. And everyone is made right with God as a free gift, by God's grace, through Christ Jesus.
- Galatians 5:13–14. Paul tells the church they were called to be free. Don't use freedom as an excuse to serve yourself. Serve each other in love, because the whole law is summed up in one command: love your neighbor as yourself.
The Ninth and Tenth Commandments, from Luther's Small Catechism
You shall not covet your neighbor's house.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God that we may not craftily seek to get our neighbor's inheritance or house, and obtain it by a show of right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it.
You shall not covet anything that is your neighbor's.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God that we may not estrange, force, or entice away our neighbor's wife, servants, or cattle, but urge them to stay and do their duty.
Words to know
- Covet. To want what belongs to someone else so much that you'd scheme to get it. The last two commandments reach all the way into our hearts.
- Content. Being at peace with what you have, the opposite of coveting. It's easier when you notice what you've already been given.
- Mirror. A Lutheran picture of the Law: it shows the dirt but can't wash it off. The Law shows us we need help. The Gospel is the help.
- Gospel. The good news that God forgives and loves us freely in Jesus. The Law shows what's wrong. The Gospel makes it right.