content/07/05.md
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pagetitle: What rules are to be observed for the right understanding of the Ten Commandments?
date: February 19, 2020
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#### Larger Catechism
<span class="q">Q 99.</span> What rules are to be observed for the right understanding of the Ten Commandments?
<span class="q">A.</span> For the right understanding of the Ten Commandments, these rules are to be observed:<ol><li>That the law is perfect, and bindeth every one to full conformity in the whole man unto the righteousness thereof, and unto entire obedience forever; so as to require the utmost perfection of every duty, and to forbid the least degree of every sin.[^fnref:wlc1]</li><li>That it is spiritual, and so reacheth the understanding, will, affections, and all other powers of the soul; as well as words, works, and gestures.[^fnref:wlc2]</li><li>That one and the same thing, in divers respects, is required or forbidden in several commandments.[^fnref:wlc3]</li><li>That as, where a duty is commanded, the contrary sin is forbidden[^fnref:wlc4]; and, where a sin is forbidden, the contrary duty is commanded[^fnref:wlc5]: so, where a promise is annexed, the contrary threatening is included[^fnref:wlc6]; and, where a threatening is annexed, the contrary promise is included.[^fnref:wlc7]</li><li>That what God forbids, is at no time to be done;[^fnref:wlc8] what he commands, is always our duty;[^fnref:wlc9] and yet every particular duty is not to be done at all times.[^fnref:wlc10]</li><li>That under one sin or duty, all of the same kind are forbidden or commanded; together with all the causes, means, occasions, and appearances thereof, and provocations thereunto.[^fnref:wlc11]</li><li>That what is forbidden or commanded to ourselves, we are bound, according to our places, to endeavor that it may be avoided or performed by others, according to the duty of their places.[^fnref:wlc12]</li><li>That in what is commanded to others, we are bound, according to our places and callings, to be helpful to them;[^fnref:wlc13] and to take heed of partaking with others in what is forbidden them.[^fnref:wlc14]</li></ol>
[^fnref:wlc1]: <div class="esv"><h5>Psalm 19:7</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p19019007.01-1">The law of the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> is perfect,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>reviving the soul;<br /> the testimony of the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> is sure,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>making wise the simple;</p> </div> </div><h5>James 2:10</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p59002010.01-2">For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.</p> </div><h5>Matthew 5:21-22</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <p id="p40005021.02-3"><span class="woc">“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’</span> <span class="woc">But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.</span> (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc2]: <div class="esv"><h5>Romans 7:14</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p45007014.01-1">For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.</p> </div><h5>Deuteronomy 6:5</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p05006005.01-2">You shall love the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.</p> </div><h5>Matthew 22:37-39</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40022037.01-3">And he said to him, <span class="woc">“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.</span> <span class="woc">This is the great and first commandment.</span> <span class="woc">And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.</span></p> </div><h5>Matthew 5:21-22</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <p id="p40005021.02-4"><span class="woc">“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’</span> <span class="woc">But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.</span></p> </div><h5>Matthew 5:27-28</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <p id="p40005027.02-5"><span class="woc">“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’</span> <span class="woc">But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.</span></p> </div><h5>Matthew 5:33-34</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <p id="p40005033.02-6"><span class="woc">“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’</span> <span class="woc">But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,</span></p> </div><h5>Matthew 5:37-39</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40005037.01-7"><span class="woc">Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.</span></p> <p id="p40005038.02-7"><span class="woc">“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’</span> <span class="woc">But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.</span></p> </div><h5>Matthew 5:43-44</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <p id="p40005043.04-8"><span class="woc">“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’</span> <span class="woc">But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,</span> (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc3]: <div class="esv"><h5>Colossians 3:5</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p51003005.01-1">Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.</p> </div><h5>Amos 8:5</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p30008005.01-2">saying, “When will the new moon be over,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>that we may sell grain?<br /> And the Sabbath,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>that we may offer wheat for sale,<br /> that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and deal deceitfully with false balances,</p> </div> </div><h5>Proverbs 1:19</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p20001019.01-3">Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>it takes away the life of its possessors.</p> </div> </div><h5>1 Timothy 6:10</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p54006010.01-4">For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc4]: <div class="esv"><h5>Isaiah 58:13</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p23058013.01-1">“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>from doing your pleasure on my holy day,<br /> and call the Sabbath a delight<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and the holy day of the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> honorable;<br /> if you honor it, not going your own ways,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;</p> </div> </div><h5>Deuteronomy 6:13</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p05006013.01-2">It is the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.</p> </div><h5>Matthew 4:9-10</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40004009.01-3">And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, <span class="woc">“Be gone, Satan! For it is written,</span></p> <div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p40004010.13-3"><span class="woc">“‘You shall worship the Lord your God<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and him only shall you serve.’”</span></p> </div> </div><h5>Matthew 15:4-6</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40015004.01-4"><span class="woc">For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’</span> <span class="woc">But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”</span> <span class="woc">he need not honor his father.’</span> <span class="woc">So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.</span> (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc5]: <div class="esv"><h5>Matthew 5:21-25</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <p id="p40005021.02-1"><span class="woc">“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’</span> <span class="woc">But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.</span> <span class="woc">So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,</span> <span class="woc">leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.</span> <span class="woc">Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.</span></p> </div><h5>Ephesians 4:28</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p49004028.01-2">Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc6]: <div class="esv"><h5>Exodus 20:12</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p02020012.01-1">“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> your God is giving you.</p> </div><h5>Proverbs 30:17</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p20030017.01-2">The eye that mocks a father<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and scorns to obey a mother<br /> will be picked out by the ravens of the valley<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and eaten by the vultures. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc7]: <div class="esv"><h5>Jeremiah 18:7-8</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p24018007.01-1">If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.</p> </div><h5>Psalm 15:1</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p19015001.12-2"><span class="chapter-num" id="v19015001-2">15:1 </span>O <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>, who shall sojourn in your tent?<br /> <span class="indent"></span>Who shall dwell on your holy hill?</p> </div> </div><h5>Psalm 15:4-5</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p19015004.01-3">in whose eyes a vile person is despised,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>but who honors those who fear the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>;<br /> who swears to his own hurt and does not change;<br /> who does not put out his money at interest<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and does not take a bribe against the innocent.<br /> He who does these things shall never be moved.</p> </div> </div><h5>Psalm 24:4-5</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p19024004.01-4">He who has clean hands and a pure heart,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>who does not lift up his soul to what is false<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and does not swear deceitfully.<br /> He will receive blessing from the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span><br /> <span class="indent"></span>and righteousness from the God of his salvation. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc8]: <div class="esv"><h5>Job 13:7-8</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p18013007.01-1">Will you speak falsely for God<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and speak deceitfully for him?<br /> Will you show partiality toward him?<br /> <span class="indent"></span>Will you plead the case for God?</p> </div> </div><h5>Romans 3:8</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p45003008.01-2">And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.</p> </div><h5>Job 36:21</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p18036021.01-3">Take care; do not turn to iniquity,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>for this you have chosen rather than affliction.</p> </div> </div><h5>Hebrews 11:25</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p58011025.01-4">choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc9]: <div class="esv"><h5>Deuteronomy 4:8-9</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p05004008.01-1">And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?</p> <p id="p05004009.01-1">“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children—</p> </div><h5>Luke 17:10</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p42017010.01-2"><span class="woc">So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”</span> (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc10]: <div class="esv"><h5>Matthew 12:7</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40012007.01-1"><span class="woc">And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.</span> (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc11]: <div class="esv"><h5>Matthew 5:21-22</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <p id="p40005021.02-1"><span class="woc">“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’</span> <span class="woc">But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.</span></p> </div><h5>Matthew 5:27-28</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <p id="p40005027.02-2"><span class="woc">“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’</span> <span class="woc">But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.</span></p> </div><h5>Matthew 15:4-6</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40015004.01-3"><span class="woc">For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’</span> <span class="woc">But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”</span> <span class="woc">he need not honor his father.’</span> <span class="woc">So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.</span></p> </div><h5>1 Thessalonians 5:22</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p52005022.01-4">Abstain from every form of evil.</p> </div><h5>Jude 1:23</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p65001023.01-5">save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.</p> </div><h5>Galatians 5:26</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p48005026.01-6">Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.</p> </div><h5>Colossians 3:21</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p51003021.01-7">Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc12]: <div class="esv"><h5>Exodus 20:10</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p02020010.01-1">but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.</p> </div><h5>Leviticus 19:17</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p03019017.01-2">“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.</p> </div><h5>Genesis 18:19</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p01018019.01-3">For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> by doing righteousness and justice, so that the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”</p> </div><h5>Joshua 24:15</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p06024015.01-4">And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>.”</p> </div><h5>Deuteronomy 6:6-7</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p05006006.01-5">And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.</p> </div><h5>Hebrews 10:24-25</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p58010024.01-6">And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc13]: <div class="esv"><h5>2 Corinthians 1:24</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p47001024.01-1">Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc14]: <div class="esv"><h5>1 Timothy 5:22</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p54005022.01-1">Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.</p> </div><h5>Ephesians 5:11</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p49005011.01-2">Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>