Lesson 5 - 1st-3rd Commandment

Question 1

What are the reasons for taking the Ten Commandments as a summary of the moral law?

Answer 1

1. ) Written directly by God
2. ) Republication of the creation ordinances (work, sabbath, marriage, worship)
3. ) Confirmed by natural law
4. ) Given to God’s covenant people as the central terms of the covenant
5. ) It is repeated (Exodus 20, Deut. 5)
6. ) It is cited and endorsed in the NT (Luke 18:20, Rom. 13:9, James 2:11)
7. ) Christians have traditionally taken it as a summation of the moral law
8. ) Any ethical issue can be treated as an application of one or more of the 10 Commandments
9. ) We have divinely inspired expositions of the 10 Commandments in Scripture

Question 2

What are the principles for how to apply the Ten Commandments?

Answer 2

1. ) Broad/Narrow Application
   - - Do not steal/also do not corrupt your company, form of stealing
2. ) Positive/Negative application
   - - Do not murder/Preserve Life
3. ) External/Internal Application
   - - Do not murder/hate in your heart
4. ) Direct/Indirect Application
   - - It is not only sinful to break a commandment, but it is also sinful speaking, acting, or doing anything to increase the likelihood of breaking that commandment.
5. ) Each commandment sheds light on the others
6. ) Each commandment is perfectly compatible with the other 9

Question 3

How does the 1st commandment relate to education?

Answer 3

1. ) Secularism is the notion that religious convictions should be kept out of public life, such as government policy and education. Secularism is the toughest challenge in living out the 1st commandment (being committed to God above all)
   2) .How should Christians think about state-funded, state-run education?
   - - We need to think carefully about our education.
   - - Our children need to be raised with Biblical Principles, raise up with a Biblical worldview in order to learn how to worship God above all, especially through education

Question 4

How should the Old Testament consecration and ritual purity laws be applied today?

Answer 4

1. ) They have been fulfilled in Christ, not set aside (Mark 7:18-19, Acts 10:9-33, 15:1-19)
2. ) Ceremonial Laws (Moral, Civil)
   - - They should be applied to Christ
   - - We are set apart for Christ, Christ has made us pure

Question 5

What are the rationales, with biblical references, for the Second Commandment?

Answer 5

2nd Command is prohibition of images as objects or mediums of worship (Exodus 32, Leviticus 26:1, 2 Kings 18:4)

1. ) God is invisible (God is spirit) and any merely human depiction misrepresents Him (Deuteronomy 4:15-19)
2. ) Images are typically impersonal, ineffectual, and controllable (Isaiah 40:18-20)
3. ) Worship through images blurs the Creator-creature distinction (Romans 1:20-25)
4. ) Worship through images invites idolatry and covenant infidelity (Exodus 20:5, 34:14)

Question 6

What is the curse and blessing of the Second Commandment and what is the general point of each?

Answer 6

1. ) Curse: “visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me”
   - - General point: idolatry begets idolatry; we pass things onto our children
2. ) Blessing: “showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments”
   - - God’s grace/mercy is greater than his wrath

Question 7

Discuss the Regulative Principle of Worship. Can it be defended biblically? How strictly and consistently can it be applied?

Answer 7

The 2nd Commandment requires worship only as directed by God’s Word

• • We are not allowed to worship God in the way we see fit.
• • We worship God through his Word and this teaches us how to worship him rightly.

Reformed (Regulative) Principle: “Whatever is not commanded is forbidden.”

• • Everyone hold to some regulative principle of worship
• • No Christian thinks you can worship God any way you want to
• • What we all want: How we worship should be constrained and informed by the Word of God instead of ourselves.

Question 8

What is the biblical significance, with biblical references, of a name?

Answer 8

1. ) Names are an exercise in dominion (Gen. 2)
2. ) Names characterize something
   - - Gen. 17:1 - God Almighty
   - - Exodus 3:14 - I am who I am
   - - Jacob - the deceiver
3. ) Identify or locate things
   - - Gen. 4:26, Is. 42:8, Joel 2:32, Romans 10:13 – you have to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved

Question 9

Does the Third Commandment rule out all oath-taking?

Answer 9

• • Scripture frequently endorses, at least implicitly, the taking of oaths (Hebrews 6:13-18; Matthew 26:63-64; Revelation 10:5-6; Romans 1:9; Galatians 1:20; Philippians 1:8; Genesis 14:22-23, 21:23-24); Hebrews 6 - God takes an oath.
• • It is the misuse and abuse of oaths that is forbidden (not the oath itself)

When Oaths are an occasions for sin

1. ) Making oaths that are ungodly
2. ) Not keeping an oath
3. ) A good oath can be bad from a bad motivation of the heart.