The ninth commandment, however, also requires that we confess and defend the very existence of truth in an age when the notion that there is truth and that truth is distinct from error is widely doubted. Continue reading →
Here’s the Heidelcast series God’s Holy Law gathered into one place. There’s another episode on the way, Dv.
The 8th commandment says: “You shall not steal” We are, by and large, a wealthy people. There is no sin that, but there are dangers in wealth. A recent study has shown that even as the world measures happiness, the wealthy report . . . Continue reading →
In this episode we consider the 7th commandment: “You shall not commit adultery.” Warning: since this episode discusses sexual ethics, it may not be suitable for younger listeners. In the seventh commandment the Lord asserts his authority over our sex life. What . . . Continue reading →
Although Christ assumed human nature, yet he did not on that account assume it in order to provide a model for carvers and painters. He denied that he had come “to abolish the law and the prophets” (Matt. 5:17). But images are . . . Continue reading →
You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit pederasty, you shall not commit fornication, you shall not steal, you shall not practice magic, you shall not practice witchcraft, you shall not murder a child by abortion . . . Continue reading →
After the last episode it occurred to me that there is an obvious question that I should have addressed under the 6th commandment: abortion, the termination of a human life in the womb. Since 1973 no fewer than 50 million human beings . . . Continue reading →
In this episode we consider the sixth commandment: “You shall not murder.” You may have learned this commandment a little differently. Some translations, e.g., the Authorized or King James Version (1611) translate Exodus 20:13 as, “You shall not kill.” The Hebrew verb . . . Continue reading →
This is part 2 of a two-part episode on the fifth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you.” In Heidelberg Catechism 104 we interpret this commandment to require . . . Continue reading →
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be . . . Continue reading →
In this episode we consider the fifth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you.” In Heidelberg Catechism 104 we interpret this commandment to require “that I . . . Continue reading →
Since, therefore, the name of Father is a sacred one, and is transferred to men by the peculiar goodness of God, the dishonoring of parents redounds to the dishonor of God Himself, nor can any one despise his father without being guilty . . . Continue reading →
Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. On it you shall not do any . . . Continue reading →
That there is a Sabbath is evident in the first chapter in God’s Word. According to Scripture, Almighty God “worked” for six days, six mornings and evenings, and rested the seventh. Have you ever stopped to wonder why Scripture says that God “rested”? Was . . . Continue reading →
The Anabaptists, not content with this moderation in swearing oaths, condemn all oaths without exception, since Christ’s prohibition of them is general. “I say to you, Do not swear at all, … but let what you say be simply, ‘Yes, yes’ or . . . Continue reading →
God’s holy law says, “You shall not take the name of the Yahweh your God in vain; for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” The first thing we need to say about the name of the . . . Continue reading →
Introduction In recent years, the study of virtue has experienced a renaissance.1 While we are recovering our classical grammar of virtue, we should also to recover our vocabulary of vice as well. Concupiscence is among our choicest words to be recovered. Because . . . Continue reading →
All the commandments are challenging to us sinners. In the first commandment we saw that God will not share his glory with another. In the 2nd commandment we read and hear that we must worship the true God truly. We do not . . . Continue reading →
As a young boy I certainly believed in Santa. We made the annual cookie oblation and went to bed under the conditional covenant that he would not come if we did not sleep (or at least stay in bed). Nevertheless, I think I . . . Continue reading →
This is the fundamental commandment, the one that comes before all the others and lays the foundation for them. Before we learn anything else about what God demands, we need to know who he is, and who we are in relationship to . . . Continue reading →