Foreword:
The following exerpt is taken from The Ten
Commandments by Arthur W. Pink
(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)
In this blog series I will work through this very
important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style
questions at the end. I have been much convicted by the writings of Pink and I
pray your walk will also be strengthened meditating on his teaching of
scripture …
THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT PART I
"Thou shalt not steal" (Ex. 20:15). The root from
which theft proceeds is discontent with the portion God has allotted, and
therefrom a coveting of what He has withheld from us and bestowed upon others.
With his usual accuracy Calvin hit the nail on the head when he wrote,
"This law is ordained for our hearts as much as for our hands, in order
that men may study both to protect the property and to promote the interests of
others." Like the preceding one, this precept also respects the government
of our affections, by the setting of due bounds to our desires after worldly
things, that they may not exceed what the good providence of God has appointed
us. Hence the suitability of that prayer, "Remove far from me vanity and
lies: give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me;
lest I be full and deny Thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and
steal, and take the name of my God in vain" (Prov. 30:8, 9).
"Thou shalt not steal." The positive duty here
enjoined is this: thou shalt by all proper means preserve and further both
thine own and thy neighbor's estate. This commandment requires proper diligence
and industry so as to secure a competency for ourselves and families, that we
may not through our own default expose ourselves and them to those straits
which are the consequence of sloth and neglect. Thus we are to "provide
things honest in the sight of all men" (Rom. 12:17). But even more, this
commandment is the law of love with respect to our neighbor's estate. It
requires honesty and uprightness in our dealings one with another, being
founded upon that first practical principle of all human conduct:
"Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to
them" (Matt. 7:12). Thus this commandment places a sacred enclosure around
property which none can lawfully enter without the proprietor's consent.
1) Show how resisting the impulse to steal is related to
loving others.
2) How does your salvation prohibit your taking anything
that is not yours in this world?
3) Elaborate and make specific to your own life the prayer
of Proverbs 30:8-9.
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