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  “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.” Exodus 20:17   In Romans 7 Paul explains what it means to die to selfishness and sin, and to be committed to Christ. He makes the statement that by being committed to Christ we are “delivered from the law”, meaning we are freed, in Jesus, from the full consequences of the law (1 John 3:4; Romans 6:23). Then in verse 7 he asks an important question “Is the law sin?” Immediately, he answers the question, “Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” This is an excellent passage of scripture for the Christian walk, for various reasons, the reason I’m focusing on today is its direct hit at the heart of sin – covetousness.   The first four commandments we covered outlined what love to God looks like. The ne...

  “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” Exodus 20:16   We have all learnt this commandment to mean don’t tell lies. Lying is any expression of falsehood, designed to mislead. Most of us find it difficult to tell a lie. The body physiologically responds to the telling of a lie (this is the foundation of a lie detector test). But this commandment is not limited to simply the speaking of a falsehood. This command encompasses any word, action, inaction, or expression that seeks to deceive. The five senses of a human being can easily be deceived – ask any sleight-of-hand artist – this is why it is imperative that we, as children of the Living God, do all things clearly and precisely without ambiguity (Proverbs 11:1; Matthew 5:37).   One of the most devious manifestations of this, in churches, is the wilful misrepresentation of Scripture to make it seem complex, and in need of a human interpreter (2 Peter 1:20). When pastors and church leaders do th...

  “Thou shalt not steal.” Exodus 20:15   The vast majority of us are not cat burglars or highway robbers, however, most of us have engaged in some form of stealing at one point in time or another. Office supplies from work, the neighbour’s WIFI, or even the excess changed received from the tired supermarket clerk. What about time? Do you steal your employers time, by being late for work or meetings or by scrolling through social media sites, or shopping for the weekend’s outfit on company time? Do you steal the time of your friends and family by being chronically late for every event or by distracting yourself on your phone? Have you robbed God?   A few years ago, I learnt the difference between theft and robbery. Theft is done without the victim’s knowledge outside of his/her presence. Robbery, on the other hand, the victim is fully aware that it is happening and is present for the crime. Yes, this is the tithe and offering speech. Malachi 3:8-10 informs us that ...

 “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14   A preacher, I like listening to, presented this philosophy, ‘if we want to know what God expects study the pattern set in the first three chapters of Genesis’ (words to that effect). Because our goal is restoration to our Eden home this is an excellent plan. What then, is adultery? Based on scriptural descriptions, adultery covers all sexual activity outside the bonds of marriage (Leviticus 18; John 8:2-11). So then, what is marriage? Well, utilizing the above principle, Genesis 2:18-25 describes marriage as a covenant made before God and our community between one man and one woman. Any relationship outside of this covenant is not marriage; and therefore, any sexual activity outside of this bond is adultery.   Adultery, however, is not limited to physical acts with inappropriate partners; Jesus taught that the thoughts that lead to those acts also bring condemnation (Matthew 5:27, 28). Because we are visual creatur...