Adult Confirmation: Ten Commandments--Second Table (part two)

After a break last week due to the flooding (my church was flooded), we finished up the 10 Commandments this week.

Sixth Commandment

Diagnostic Questions

• Am I content in my spouse (delight)? (married) 
• Am I content in my chastity (delight)? (single) 

Only commandment with a “do do” not a “do not do and do do”

Chaste – purity

Opposites:

• Impure 
• Lust 
• Indecent 

Lord gives us rules about having sex: appropriate only for a husband and wife with each other—and that’s it.

Sexual immorality is now such the norm that being chaste is considered immoral.

Sexual immorality is the only internal, rather than external, sin. It is a joining not only of flesh, but of spirit.

Intimacy is much more than our culture acknowledges.

Picture of…

• …responsibility: parent 
• …irresponsibility: sex 

Sex must be the act of someone responsible, not irresponsible. Not recreational, but procreational.

Different risks for sex:

• Man’s risk is minimal 
• Woman risks pregnancy 

Feminism should be about accountability for men, rather than “reducing” risk for women

Abstinence is the negative side of chastity. Continence is the gift of perpetual abstinence.

Can be broken in:

• Adultery: sexual activity with someone not your spouse 
• Fornication: any sexual activity by unmarried people 
• Divorce: two reason that are acceptable (but not necessary)— 
• Abandonment 
• Abuse (understood as a form of abandonment) 
• Adultery 
• Marriage: between one man and one woman 
• Polygamy is tolerated, but never okay (never ends well) 
• Homosexuality is not allowed 
• Pornography: sexually explicit writing and images (dulls our conscience so we become unaware of our sin—addictive like drugs and alcohol; doesn’t manifest itself like other addictions, masquerades as a secret) 

Chastity includes our eyes and imagination

There is a lot of guilt and shame associated with the sixth commandment: nakedness and depression; whether you commit sexual sin or have it committed against you.

“What I have called clean do not call unclean.”

Does marriage belong to the church or state? It’s God’s own separate institution, which means it is apart from both.

Seventh Commandment

Not just stewards, but owners

Commands us to be generous, sin is to be greedy (lust for stuff)

Laziness is a sin against the 7th commandment (diligence)

Anti-socialism commandment

• Inflation is theft (manipulation of value) 
• Usury in the realm of theft 
• Debt is destabilizing 

Economics is a continued meditation on the 7th commandment

Eighth Commandment

Anti-gossip commandment (intent to destroy reputation)

Establishes the judiciary and courts

Attempt to protect neighbor’s reputation in private first (then public if necessary); unless it is a false teaching, then address it publicly

Test for bringing sin to light: you risk your own reputation, be willing to bring it to court (Luther’s test)

Ninth and Tenth Commandment

Contentment

10th: enticement

Every sin starts with 9th and 10th commandments (faulty desire)

1st and 2nd + 9th and 10th are matters of the heart (others with mouth and actions)

Adult Confirmation: Ten Commandments--Second Table (part one)

Click on the links to see notes from Week 1 and Week 2.

This week, we dug into the meat of the 4th and 5th commandments ("Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother," and "Thou shalt not murder," respectively).  We were supposed to cover the rest of the commandments... but you know how that goes.

Here are my notes from tonight's class.

Review

• 1st Commandment--God gives us Himself, and takes everything else away (deals with our heart)
• 2nd Commandment--God gives us his name and gives us a life of prayer (deals with our lips)
• 3rd Commandment--God gives us the gift of worship and His Word (deals with our ears)
• The Commandments are not only restrictive ("do not do this bad thing"), but also positive ("do this good thing")
• What does it mean to live a Christian life?  Listening.  Our "action" is passive, not active.

Before we got into the rest of the class, my husband asked a good question about why we say "fear and love" in the response to each Commandment in our Small Catechism.

• Fear and Love are contradictory ideas
• Some say that fear is "holy awe and respect"--but the Bible doesn't say that (those words could have been used, but weren't)
• Fear leaves you completely at the the mercy of God
• God commands us to fear Him only--once we believe, the threat of damnation (fear) is removed, and only love remains
• Fear gives way to love; Law gives way to Gospel
• We have a continual battle between Fear and Love (Law and Gospel), which is why we say both

We then talked about Luther's "tower experience" (when he first understood the Gospel)

• Romans 1:16--Luther was hung up on the phrase "righteousness of God"
• He believed that the Law = 10 Commandments, and the Gospel = more commands
• That makes this "active righteousness", or our works used to fulfil the Law and the "Gospel commands"
• Luther felt this was oppressive and wondered why God would do this--it's like asking us to complete an impossible task
• Luther realized, unlike any other theologian, that we don't need to try and make God's Word more palatable; we don't need to add or subtract anything--we just need to believe (and not always understand)
• The Scriptures tell us all we need to know, not all we want to know
• He realized that righteousness was passive (through faith and trust) rather than active (through works)

Second Table

• The Fourth Commandment (establishing authority) is the font of societal order and the foundation of all other commandments following.
• Estates: the ordering of society
• 1st: Family - parents --> children
• Foremost estate of human society--the primary building block
• 2nd: Church - preacher --> preachee (hearer)
• Also deals with the 3rd commandment
• Canonical governance, means of disseminating Law and Gospel
• 3rd: State - ruler --> ruled
• Civil governance (derived from family)
• Unlike the other two estates, the structure of the state is complex, although overly simplified, it becomes ruler and ruled
• Unique caveat with constitutional representative government (like America)
• Family does not serve the state, the state serves the family (since the estate of the family is the building block of the state)
• It is VERY important not to confuse these estates (i.e. in a theocracy unless it is established by God--the ONLY one ever established was in Old Testament Israel)
• Vocation: calling and station in life
• Who is my neighbor?
• Who our neighbor is determines how we specifically act towards those involved with our vocations.
• Authority vs. Power = function of vocation vs. essential
• Authority is to give gifts
• Satan attacks the institutions of the family and attempts to pervert the balance of family supremacy over the state
• See my previous post on the Left Hand and Right Hand Kingdoms here (we reviewed it in class tonight)
• When dealing with the 5th Commandment (which protects life), understand that there is a distinction between killing and murder (i.e. self defense, war, capital punishment)
• How do you distinguish between the two?  Ask: "Am I angry?"
• The Just War Theory was developed to help determine when it was justified for Christians to be involved in war
• Violence is sometimes necessary to use against death to bring death to an end.

Next week, we will finish up the 10 Commandments and hopefully start the Apostles' Creed.  The political animal in me is looking forward to more thorough discussion of the 7th Commandment, which Pastor calls the "anti-socialism" Commandment.  I already enjoy the discussions we've had about the 4th Commandment and authority.  A little teaser for next week:

Adult Confirmation: Ten Commandments--First Table

Tonight we had a brief review of Law and Gospel, an overview of the Ten Commandments, and talked a little more in-depth about the first table of the Law (see below for a definition of that).  Here are my notes.

Law and Gospel (review)

See my notes from last week's class for more on Law and Gospel.

Briefly, the Law condemns, and the Gospel brings salvation.

There are three uses of the Law:

1. Curb (for all people)
2. Mirror (the primary purpose of the Law, for all people)
3. Guide or Rule (exclusive to Christians)

The Holy Ghost drives us in different directions based on Law and Gospel, but always towards the same place.

Forgiveness of sins is meaningless without a knowledge of sin.

Ten Commandments Overview

There are two tables to the Ten Commandments:

The First Table is God's table, or how we relate to God, and is the first three commandments.

The Second Table is our neighbor's table, or how we interact with our neighbor, and is the last seven commandments.

Note: Lutherans and Catholics number our commandments a little differently than protestantism.  This is because when God gave the commandments, He didn't number them, just said there were 10, and as Pastor pointed out last week, there really should be 9 or 11 "logically", so we make them work as 10 as best we can.  Protestantism separates our first commandment into two, and combines our ninth and tenth into one.  I'll say what each commandment is when I talk about it to hopefully help avoid confusion.  I don't know if there is a right or wrong way to number then, this is just how we do it.

The First Table drives us vertically in faith towards God; the Second Table drives us horizontally in love towards our neighbor.

If you were to boil down the Ten Commandments even further from the two tables, they can be summarized in one word: love.

Love is a very deadly word.  Love ensures that we know we have never fulfilled the Law.  Remember, the Law always accuses.

The Ten Commandments are institutions that establish order in this world.  The commandments protect what God institutes.  The commandments are less of a "leash" (to yank us back when we sin), and more of a fence (to protect God's institutions).  In each commandment, God gives us these gifts:

• God Himself (in the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods," God take everything else away from us and gives us the gift of Himself)
• His Name (in the second commandment, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain," God gives us the gifts of prayer, worship, and right doctrine)
• Holiness (in the third commandment, "Thou shalt sanctify the holy-day," God gives us the gift of His Word and the Church)
• Authority (in the fourth commandment, "Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother [that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long upon the earth]," God gives us the gift of family and the state)
• Life (in the fifth commandment, "Thou shalt not murder," God gives us the gift of life)
• Marriage (in the sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," God gives us the gifts of marriage and sex)
• Property (in the seventh commandment, "Thou shalt not steal," God gives us the gifts of money, labor, and possessions)
• Honor (in the eighth commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor," God gives us the gifts of reputation and our good name)
• Contentment (in the ninth and tenth commandments, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house," and "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is his," God gives us the gift of contentment)

First Table

Below are specific notes on each commandment from the first table.  The questions are diagnostic questions to help self-examine when reflecting on the commandments.

First Commandment: There is no fear left.  God, who can destroy our body and soul, won't because He destroyed his Son instead of us.

• Primary: Of what am I afraid?  What do I fear?
• Secondary: In what do I trust?  What do I love?

Second Commandment: God is trusting us to rightly use His name, not to hide it away.  Jews, for fear of misusing God's name, wouldn't use it, however, we are sinning when we don't use His name rightly--which also means when we don't use it at all.  When praying, you ask (because that is who He is) and give thanks (for what He gives).

• Primary: How are my prayers?

Third Commandment: The way something is made holy is by having God's name put on it.  Holy means to be set apart.  Holiness isn't a form of morality.

• Primary: What is my attitude towards worship?

The Importance of Doctrine

The second and third commandments in particular warn against false doctrine.  Dr. Luther said that all false doctrines strike at Christ.  We misuse the name of God when we teach something false in His name.  We do not worship God when we teach false doctrine in our churches or use it in worship.  That is why right doctrine is so important.  The one of the most loving things we can do for our neighbor is insist on sound doctrine.  Other forms of prevalent false worship today are:

• Unionism: joining in worship with other denominations who teach incorrect doctrine
• Syncretism: worshiping with those of other religions, giving the impression that "all paths lead to God"

That is why, as Lutherans, we practice closed communion, because we cannot partake of a table where false doctrine is the confession.  We also do not allow those we know do not confess as we do to commune with us.  This is a loving, not mean, thing.  It protects the Pastor (who is accountable for those he communes), the congregation (who then would partake in a unified confession of false doctrine), and you (who may potentially eat the Body and drink the Blood to your damnation, as 1 Corthinians 15 says).

Sermon Notes: Law and Gospel and the Two Kingdoms

This week's sermon came from our Gospel reading Matthew 9:1-8 (with references to our Old Testament reading from Exodus 20:1-8, 12-18).

Pastor prefaced the sermon with a note on politics, or more specifically, the two kingdoms and the role of law (the 10 Commandments, or our interpretation of Natural Law) in Christians deciding how to vote.

I won't recount the entire sermon, since the audio is online so you can listen for yourself, but I wanted to make a few observations about Two Kingdoms Theology in general (some of which comes from a previous Bible Study) as well as some of the points Pastor made both in the sermon and our discussion of it in Bible Study following service regarding the Christian's role in politics and voting (as well as the rest of the Sermon--since we can't have the Law without the Gospel!).

Regarding "Two Kingdoms Theology"

Two Kingdoms Theology refers to the Lutheran teaching of the proper distinction between the Left-hand Kingdom (or the Kingdom of Man) and the Right-hand Kingdom (or the Kingdom of God).  I personally consider Romans 13 to be the original separation of Church and State document.  By this, I don't mean that they are completely severed from each other at all, but as another Pastor reminded me, it shows the proper distinction of the Kingdoms, and more importantly, the proper role of a Christian in both Kingdoms.  

I also mean by "separation of Church and State" that a) theocracies are a BIG no-no (basically, preachers are preachers and rulers are rulers, the two roles should not be combined--that is, no blurring of the clear lines between the two Kingdoms); b) that the Left-hand Kingdom is meant to not interfere with the Right-hand Kingdom (First Amendment, anyone?); and c) Christians are called to be involved in government, not using government to advance Christianity, but rather, to advance Natural Law (which we'll get to in a minute).

For a better illustration, here are some of the differences between the two Kingdoms:

Left-hand Kingdom	Right-hand Kingdom
Kingdom of the Man (State)	Kingdom of God (Church)
Law	Gospel
Sword: Internal* and External**	Word, no swords
Power	Grace
Exists for Order	Exists for Mercy
External Righteousness	Internal Righteousness
Realm of Morals	Realm of Faith
Ruled by Reason	Ruled by Scripture

 *Internal Sword = police, etc.

**External Sword = military

Now, from the Christian (and particularly Lutheran) perspective, Natural Law is exemplified in the second table of the Ten Commandments.  The first table deals with the Right-hand Kingdom, or our faith in God, and the second table deals with the Left-hand Kingdom, or Natural Law and interaction with our neighbor.

From that perspective, here is how the Commandments shape up as compared to Natural Law (my own analysis based somewhat on Pastor's Voter's Guide to the 10 Commandments):

Commandment	Natural Law
4th Commandment: Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.	Establishes earthly authority  (not just parents, but “masters”: teachers, bosses, rulers, etc.; also places emphasis on a stable family unit)
5th Commandment: Thou shalt not murder.	“Do not encroach on other persons.” (keep in mind that “murder” ≠ “kill” -- that is, self-defense and justified wars do not fall under the “murder” category; also places emphasis on the government respecting all life)
6th Commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery.	“Do all you have agreed to do.” (especially since from a state perspective, marriage is essentially contract law, and adultery would be a violation of your contract)
7th Commandment: Thou shalt not steal.	“Do not encroach on [other persons or] their property.” (economic issues and theft fall under this commandment--something interesting we discussed was that socialism would also fall under this commandment)
8th Commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.	“Do all you have agreed to do.” (again, contract law—also addresses slander)
9th Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house.	“Do not encroach on [other persons or] their property.” (eminent domain)
10th Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, not his maidservant, not his cattle, nor anything that is they neighbor’s.	“Do not encroach on [other persons or] their property.” (cross-applies to the 7th commandment and theft of personal property/items)

Of course, we can then argue how much of a role the government has in some of these issues.  Anyone who knows me politically knows I take a pretty extremely libertarian (or limited government) stance, especially when it comes to social issues, but that's a different discussion for a different blog.  But as you can see, the second table of the Ten Commandments works well with natural and common law (I used Richard Maybury's summary of common law above because it is that with which I am familiar and ridiculously succinct to boot at 17 total words).

Regarding Christians and Politics

A few brief notes from Pastor's sermon (these are the bullet points I wrote down, I've been taking sermon notes since confirmation):

• Many Pastors say that you must "Take your faith into the voting booth," but that is wrong
• It is not faith, but reason, by which we should vote because the Left-hand Kingdom is ruled by reason (the Right-hand Kingdom is ruled by faith)
• We should bring not the Apostle's Creed but the 10 Commandments into the voting booth
• We don't need to elect someone who is Orthodox, but someone who understands and values Natural Law
• Pagans and Christians should vote the same, because it is by reason and natural law that we should all cast our votes
• The 10 Commandments are the Christian's "Cliff Notes" of Natural Law
• Knowing the 10 Commandments makes us reasonable, keeping them makes us wise
• The State exists for order and the Law, the Church exists for mercy and the Gospel

Regarding the "Rest" of the Sermon

Now, before I go into the "rest" of the sermon, I wanted to briefly discuss Law and Gospel, since this is another fairly uniquely Lutheran thing--and is important to understand the distinction between to understand why this sermon was so well constructed.

The Law is what God demands of us, but because of Original Sin, we cannot fulfill.  The Gospel is the "good news" of God that forgives our sins and gives us what we cannot do on our own.  It is not simply Old vs. New Testament, nor is it always easy to distinguish in modern Christendom (sometimes even inside the Lutheran church).

I bring this up because, more obvious than usual, the Law and Gospel were very clearly defined in this sermon.  Our Left-hand Kingdom duty in politics is clearly covered the by Law.  But no good Lutheran sermon would be complete without the Gospel.  So today we had the story of the healing of the paralytic.  My notes:

• Jesus' words ("Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven.") were likely shocking and offensive to the onlookers
• The man came for healing, not forgiveness of sins, why would a paralytic need forgiveness of sins?  Wouldn't he rather "need" his arms and legs healed?
• Jesus was questioned by the scribes, who thought Jesus was blaspheming
• Jesus poses an interesting question to the scribes: "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?"
• Both require higher power, but for us, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven' almost seem harder, not easier (luckily we have Jesus who does that for us), but it was the most important thing to say
• He forgives sins so that we may know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive our sins
• Like many, the paralytic very well may have been consumed by thinking his disability was caused by his sin (which, in a way, it was--or specifically, his sin nature which brings death, disease and decay)
• Jesus wants all to know that nothing in life will prevent us from receiving forgiveness of our sin, even if we think we don't deserve it.
• Melancholy sometimes sets in when we think of the state of this world, especially politics (because it is the Law)--but the Gospel undoes this for us
• Christ tells us to take heart and be of good cheer--we are forgiven and He will come again

So, as you see, this brings it full-circle--the balance of Law and Gospel in another great sermon.  I spent a lot more time on the "politics" side of it than I did the actual sermon side--probably because I am surrounded by politics usually--so I would encourage you to listen to the sermon for yourself, since it brings a better balance than I did.