You Shall Not Covet

“I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death (Romans 7:10).” If Christianity had an alphabet, it would probably start with the letter “O.” The “O” would stand for “Obedience.” Many Christians believe that obedience to God proves our love to Him, demonstrates our faithfulness to Him, glorifies Him to the world and opens avenues of blessings for us. It sounds good, but is it true? The Ten Commandments are often referred to as a Christian’s guide to living the Christian life. The tenth Commandment says, “You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor (Exodus 20:17)." Proponents of a Christian being subject to the Ten Commandments rarely mention the law against coveting. I believe this is because coveting is a silent or invisible sin. You don’t necessarily see someone coveting although it can be argued that coveting is the root cause of many sins. For example, you first have to covet your neighbor’s ox or donkey before you attempt to steal it. But, what did the Apostle Paul say about the commandment against coveting? “But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. (Romans 7:8).” The commandment against coveting didn’t prevent Paul from coveting. No, the complete opposite happened. He says it “produced in me every kind of covetous desire.” What that means is that the moment he understood the law against coveting he began to notice all the things around him that he coveted; i.e. his neighbor’s house, wife, servants, ox, donkey, etc. 

It led him to say that the commandment brought death! He realized just how sinful a person he was. You see, if you believe you must be “obedient” to God, in the sense of behaving properly, you must have a law or commandment from God to obey. However, the Bible tells us that “the power of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56).” One of the main reasons God gave us His law, i.e. the Ten Commandments, was to show us our sinfulness and need for His grace and mercy because of the impossibility of living up to its requirements. God did not create mankind to be obedient to commandments designed to get us to behave properly. No, God created us so He could indwell us and lead us from within. That is why Paul said, “we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith (Romans 1:5).” True obedience comes from faith not from responding to commandments. Instead of trying to prove our love for God we rest in the love He has proved to us. Rather than trying to be faithful to Him through obedience to commandments we cannot keep, we rest in the fact that He is faithful to us through the finished work of Jesus Christ. God is not glorified by our obedience to His commandments. He is glorified by our love for one another. Avenues for blessings are not opened up through our obedience. We have already been given every spiritual blessing from God through our faith in Jesus Christ. If there was a Christian alphabet, I suggest it should start with the letter “R.” The “R” stands for “Rest.” Rest in what Jesus Christ has done for you and not in your failed attempts to do for Him what you never will.