The Tenth Commandment forms a fitting conclusion to the law that God spoke at Sinai. It also shows you something about your relationship with God, as the apostle points out in 1 John 1:8–10.
Don’t claim to be without sin. God is light. The Word revealed this. Rather than quoting a specific saying of Jesus, John seems to be reflecting Jesus’ teaching about the Father. He sums it up in one sentence: “God is light.” Jesus, as the eternal Word, not only describes God as light, he is light, cf. John 1:4, 9, 14, 18; 8:12. God reveals himself as light. Light describes God’s character. This is one of a number of John’s brief statements about God: “God is love,” 1 John 4:8, 16; “God is Spirit,” John 4:24. “God is light” is not a comprehensive, exhaustive, definition of God (He is greater than our words or concepts), but is one of the ways that God describes himself. Why “light” to describe God? Light was the result of God’s first creative word. The shekinah cloud of glory led Israel through the desert. God clothes himself in light, Psalm 104:2. The promised Messiah would rise as the “sun of righteousness,” Malachi 4:2. Jesus proclaims himself “the light of the world,” John 8:12. God “lives in unapproachable light,” 1 Timothy 6:16. Because he is light, in him there is no darkness at all. God’s holiness is unqualified.
Don’t deceive yourself! Some of the Gnostics claimed to be free from sin. Some “holiness” Christians make similar claims (by defining sin as “a wilful violation of a known law). More common to us is the influence of the rationalism of our culture, which denies sin as an offence against a personal God. Instead, problems are viewed from a sociological or medical model. Personal responsibility is minimized. The claim to be without sin is self-deception, verse 8.
Sin often begins with coveting. Achan’s sin had consequences for all Israel — and it began with his coveting things that were devoted to the Lord. God requires heartfelt obedience. Sin does not begin with the final act. Rather, it starts with desire, or coveting, a sin of the heart, James 1:13–15. The Tenth Commandment strikes at Phariseeism. When Christ taught that God condemns not only murder, but anger (Matthew 5:22), not only adultery, but lust (Matthew 5:28), he was reflecting the principle of the Tenth Commandment. The Pharisees externalized the law and ignored the sweeping nature of this commandment. And inside each of us is a Pharisee, looking to justify our own actions and point the finger at someone else. Coveting subtly creeps into the household of faith. Christians can covet one another’s spiritual gifts and abilities. Paul reflects on the joy that some reflected at his imprisonment, seeing it as an occasion for them to shine (yet he could rejoice in the gospel being preached).
“[T]he change initiated in Adam… consisted in that, by his doubt and unbelief, his pride and covetousness, and finally by the sinful deed itself, the person himself progressively detached himself further from God and his law, positioned himself outside the circle of his favor and fellowship and began to use all his gifts and powers above all against God and his commandments. And when this happens, when a human being positions himself or herself outside God’s fellowship and God’s law, the sinful state automatically follows, just as the darkness sets in when the light goes out.”
Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 3, p. 108
Confess your sin. Confess–because Christ is your propitiation. You can’t walk the walk in your own strength. You keep falling down. You do sin. But when you do there is hope. Instead of denying sin, confess it! Admit it — first of all to God, but also to yourself and to those against whom you have sinned. Jesus Christ is faithful and just to forgive. He reflects the holy compassion and mercy of God revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai, Exodus 34:6–8. This forgiveness is granted by Christ. It is based, not on ignoring sin, but on the penalty being paid by Jesus Christ. For God to continue to hold against you what he has already punished in Christ would make him unjust–and he is not that. Not only is your guilt forgiven, but you are also cleansed, purified, from the contamination and the sense of shame that results from sin. Crucial to Christ’s work is the concept of propitiation. Propitiation does describe Christ’s work. The term is used in Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10. Don’t avoid the force of the language of Scripture. I John 2:2 explains how Christ can be the one who speaks to the Father for you. God’s love and anger are not irreconcilable. God loved you when you were an object of wrath, Ephesians 2:3, 4. God’s love is seen in sending Christ to be propitiation, 1 John 4:10. Christ bore God’s punishment for sin, Isaiah 53:5; Romans 5:11. Christ appeased the Father’s wrath by his suffering, John 10:17. John Murray wrote “`Propitiation’ bespeaks the essence of Calvary.” Propitiation emphasizes the extent of Christ’s work, its ethical character, and his uniqueness. He is the only propitiation for your sins.
“Sin creates a situation in relation to the Lord, a situation that makes the covering necessary. It is this Godward reference of both the sin and the covering that must be fully appreciated.”
John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, p. 30
Walk as he is in the light. Walk as he is in the light. To have fellowship with God involves walking in the light of his presence. If you refuse to set your life in harmony with God’s will, your claim to fellowship is a lie. Learn contentment. Paul knew that secret, Philippians 4:12, 13. Be content with what you have, Hebrews 13:5, because you have God himself. Remember where your real treasure lies, hidden in heaven with Christ in God, Colossians 3:1–3; Matthew 6:19–21. Don’t forget God’s care for his creation in general, and you in particular, Matthew 6:22–34. With the psalmist, desire the presence of God, Psalm 84. Only one person ever kept this commandment. You break it daily. It is involved in your other sins. Christ gave up the glories of heaven to be your Savior, living the exact opposite of covetousness, Philippians 2:5–8. Christ’s death was necessary to pay for you coveting and your other sins. Remember that he was tempted by this sin, and knows how hard it can be to resist. Be comforted, by his sacrificial (in every sense of the word) love to you. You now have a new life in him. You are no longer shackled by the desires you once had, but have been set free to serve and glorify your Lord. Look at the grace the Lord showed to Peter, restoring him after his shocking denial. The restored Peter could preach the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ much more effectively — for it had touched him.
The Tenth Commandment may seem anticlimactic — the series begins with a call to have no other gods, and ends with how you look at your neighbor’s well-fed donkey. But this commandment really calls you to love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength, and might. This week rejoice in your fellowship with God — and you’ll find the idolatry of coveting something you are overcoming.