You shall not steal.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God that we do not
take our neighbor’s money or property, or get
it by dishonest dealing, but help him to improve
and protect his property and means of income.
Paul warned:
“Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral…
nor thieves…will inherit the kingdom of God. And
that is what some of you were. But you were washed,
you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
(1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
When God gave us his commandments, he set boundaries around relationships to show us his holy will, especially regarding our parents (the 4th Commandment), human lives in general (the 5th Commandment), and our spouse (the 6th Commandment). Now in the final commandments God reaches into our hearts to give us guidance and to show us the depths of our sins, lusts and desires regarding our neighbor’s possessions—including time (and therefore money) stolen from an employer.
Jesus kept this commandment perfectly, subjecting himself flawlessly to his Father’s will and fulfilling the commandment in our place. His death on the cross satisfied all punishment for this and all other sins and set us free from condemnation and judgment. But Jesus did not set us free from the judgment of this sin so that we could feel free to pillage, confiscate or steal anything that our fingers graze.
What property is in the world is given as a gift from God. We must look on all belongings as something God has given. Just as one congregation would not steal the church bells or the pulpit or the altar of another congregation and use them as their own, so also we must never steal away the money or possessions or food of another man, who has been given what he has as a holy gift from God.
The instinct of man is to lash out when we are accused of a sin, not only of stealing but of any sin at all, and to throw guilt and shame on someone else so that we will not stand alone under the light of accusation, or worse still, to shed the light on someone else so that it no longer shines on us at all. But we would do better, when we are accused, to confess to our guilt and know that in truth we are guiltier still.
God has given us this commandment because our hearts are still sinful, and whether we steal an idea or an item, we must realize our guilt and repent. We can resist such temptations and drive our sinful minds away from sinful impulses and say, “Christ died for me, and the devil no longer has command over me,” with the help of the Holy Spirit alone. By the blood of Jesus Christ, given once for all mankind on the cross, we have God’s forgiveness from all of our sins.
We also know that the Day is coming like a thief when we least expect it, and as it approaches, the power and influence of the Man of Lawlessness will grow. He will steal more than possessions (although possessions will stolen indeed) because he will also deceive many and steal away souls: “a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs” (Zechariah 11:16). But in Christ, we have a living fountain; through him we are cleansed from sin and impurity (Zechariah 13:1). May God keep us away from temptation and set us free to do his work.
“The wicked are waiting to destroy me,
but I will ponder your statutes.
To all perfection I see a limit;
but your commands are boundless.” (Psalm 119:95-96)
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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