The Ten Commandments Part 11

Exo 20:17 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.

Deu 5:21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's.

This command is interesting in that it is the only one for which there are no proscribed punishments in the law. This is because it deals not with outward acts, which are provable and thus able to be prosecuted, but instead with desires. It is easy enough to prove adultery or theft, but how do you prove that your neighbor is coveting?

This commandment thus shows something in an obscure way that is made open by Christ, that God deems evil attitudes and desires as sins, not just evil acts. Jesus forbade anger as being murder in the heart and lust as being adultery in the heart (Matt. 5:22-23; 27-29). Now the evil desire is the seed of sin, and is sinful in itself, but it is not as evil as the deed. Some might say, coveting is as bad as stealing. No, coveting is not as bad. People have coveted without stealing, but no one has stolen without coveting. The same can be said of lust. This does not excuse covetousness, which is a great evil, but it is to emphasize that while it is bad to want to do a sinful deed, it is worse to do it.

James gives us the progressive order of sin, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Lust or desire tempts us, we dwell on that desire and commit the act. The act carries with it a penalty – death! The key to victory over sin is in the desires. If we can put away evil desires and not dwell on them, then we won’t advance to the second stage and actually commit evil deeds. The Apostle Paul in Colossians gives lists of two different types of sins, some that need to be mortified and some that need to be put off. There are five that must be starved to death, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and coveteousness. Passion differs from evil desire in that it denotes a will that is set on a course, like the feet that are swift in running to mischief (Prov. 6:18). Evil desire is like the heart that devises wicked imaginations. Covetousness is desiring something God has not given you, and is compared with idolatry (Eph. 5:5). Fornication and uncleanness cover the whole range of sexual immorality. These five desires must be taken captive, and starved until they are destroyed. These sins must be put to death as John Bunyan has my Lord Willbewill do unto Harmless-Mirth (Lasciviousness in disguise) in his book “The Holy War.”

There are other sins mentioned later in Colossians 3 that are to be put off, such as anger, filthy speaking, etc. When we are tempted to be angry we make a choice to not allow it, we put it off.

If we hunger and thirst after righteousness, God will change our desires from evil desires to desires of righteousness. This is part of the total redemption which Christ purchased for us on the cross, Praise God!