Introduction to The Second Tablet of the Ten Commandments (Love in Theology Pt 2 Series)
The Christian life is marked by the biblical virtues of faith, hope, and love. Having seen how the essence of our faith is expressed in the Apostles’ Creed, the essence of our hope in the Lord's Prayer, we now learn how the essence of our love is found in the Ten Commandments.
The Apostle Paul teaches that love is greater than faith and hope. "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor. 13:13). Though superior, love is not separated from faith and hope. These godly virtues overlap. For example:
Our faith, rooted in the truths of the Apostles’ Creed, leads us to hope and love.
Our hope, stirred up by the Lord’s Prayer, leads us to faith and love.
Our love, founded in the Ten Commandments, leads us to faith and hope.
What does this godly virtue of love look like? The Bible tells us it looks like the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:3–17).
1. You shall have no other gods before me. (3)
2. You shall not have false images of God in worship. (4-6)
3. You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God. (7)
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. (8-11)
5. Honor your father and mother. (12)
6. You shall not murder. (13)
7. You shall not commit adultery. (14)
8. You shall not steal. (15)
9. You shall not give false testimony. (16)
10. You shall not covet. (17)
When someone asked Jesus, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" he responded:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. (Matt. 22:37–39)
In his response, Jesus is not replacing the Ten Commandments but summarizing their essence as loving God with our whole being and loving others as ourselves.[1]
The first four commandments focus on our duty to love God with our whole being.[2]
1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not have false images of God in worship.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
The next six commandments focus on our duty to love others as we love ourselves.[3]
5. Honor your father and mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony.
10. You shall not covet.
The Westminster Larger Catechism contains a helpful summary of these two sections:
Q. 102. What is the sum of the four commandments which contain our duty to God?
A. The sum of the four commandments containing our duty to God, is, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind.
Q. 122. What is the sum of the six commandments which contain our duty to man?
A. The sum of the six commandments which contain our duty to man, is, to love our neighbor as ourselves, and to do to others what we would have them do to us.
Though the commandments to love God and others are separated, they are also integrated in that your love for God is demonstrated by your love for others.
The way you fulfill the purpose for your life—to glorify God and enjoy him forever—is to love him with your whole being and love others as you love yourself, in obedience to the Ten Commandments.
In the first book on the Ten Commandments we examined the first four commandments, traditionally called the "first tablet of the law," with the focus on the meaning of loving God with our whole being.
We now begin our examination of the last six commandments, traditionally called the "second tablet of the law," with the focus on the meaning of loving others as ourselves.
What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself?
Immediately after Jesus taught that "the great and first commandment" is to love God with your whole being (all your heart, soul, mind, and strength), he quoted Leviticus 19:18 saying, "And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Matt. 22:39).
Jesus taught that your neighbor is not limited to someone who belongs to your particular group or community, but includes anyone you encounter in life, even your enemy, and especially those in need (Matt. 5:43–44; Luke 10:30–37).
The command to love your neighbor "as yourself," is not a command to love yourself, but an assumption that self-love is a natural human condition, and your love for others should mirror this natural love you have for yourself.[4] Jesus' command implies that even those with self-hatred possess an innate self-concern, which should be redirected towards loving others.
Jesus takes this opportunity to teach that the whole law of God includes both a wholehearted love for God and others. When Jesus says that this second commandment to love others "is like" the great and first commandment to love God, he means that it resembles it in importance.
The Ten Commandments reflect an ordered and integrated love for God (commandments 1–4) and others (commandments 5–10). The first four commandments that require us to love God with our whole being are the necessary foundation for the remaining six commandments that require us to love others as ourselves.
The order of the commandments—first love for God, then love for others—reflects the importance of having our primary love for God above everyone and everything else.
Only when our love for God and trust in God is first in our life, can we truly love others for their sake and for God's sake, not only for our own sake. All our other loves for people or things are properly ordered only when our greatest love is for God.
If you have not read the earlier introduction to the Ten Commandments in the first book in this series, you should read it before beginning your study of this second book. This introduction is in the appendix to this book. The topics include:
the significance of the Ten Commandments
the nature of the Ten Commandments
the purpose of the Ten Commandments
the meanings of the Ten Commandments
the Ten Commandments and the gospel
the Ten Commandments and the Christian life
the commandments to love God and your neighbor
The First Tablet of the Ten Commandments
The Lordship Catechism
What is the First Commandment?
The first commandment is, "You shall have no other gods before me."
What is forbidden by God in the First Commandment?
God forbids me to worship other gods, called idols.
What is required by God in the First Commandment?
God requires me to worship him alone as the only true God.
What is the Second Commandment?
The second commandment is, "You shall not make false images of God in worship."
What is forbidden by God in the Second Commandment?
God forbids me to have false images of him in worship.
What is required by God in the Second Commandment?
God requires me to worship him in spirit and truth.
What is the Third Commandment?
The third commandment is, "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God."
What is forbidden by God in the Third Commandment?
God forbids me to dishonor his name.
What is required by God in the Third Commandment?
God requires me to honor his name in all that I do and say.
What is the Fourth Commandment?
The fourth commandment is, "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy."
What is forbidden by God in the Fourth Commandment?
God forbids me to work on the Sabbath day, except for works of mercy and necessity.
What is required by God in the Fourth Commandment?
God requires me to set apart one day in seven to rest from all my work and be refreshed by my worship of him.
The Second Tablet of the Ten Commandments
The Lordship Catechism
What is the Fifth Commandment?
The fifth commandment is, "Honor your father and your mother."
What is forbidden by God in the Fifth Commandment?
God forbids me to be disrespectful to my parents and all those he places in authority over me.
What is required by God in the Fifth Commandment?
God requires me to honor my parents and all those he places in authority over me.
What is the Sixth Commandment?
The sixth commandment is "You shall not murder."
What is forbidden by God in the Sixth Commandment?
God forbids me to do anything that might cause harm or bring an end to human life.
What is required by God in the Sixth Commandment?
God requires me to protect, support, and honor human life in all possible ways.
What is the Seventh Commandment?
The seventh commandment is, "You shall not commit adultery."
What is forbidden by God in the Seventh Commandment?
God forbids me to cause harm to or violate his design for marriage by immoral sexual thoughts, desires, and behaviors.
What is required by God in the Seventh Commandment?
God requires me to protect, support, and honor marriage in all possible ways, especially by my sexual thoughts, desires, and behaviors.
What is the Eighth Commandment?
The eighth commandment is, "You shall not steal."
What is forbidden by God in the Eighth Commandment?
God forbids me to harm or violate his design for work by coveting or stealing anything that rightly belongs to someone else.
What is required by God in the Eighth Commandment?
God requires me to be content and do honest work so that I can share generously with others in need.
What is the Ninth Commandment?
The ninth commandment is, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
What is forbidden by God in the Ninth Commandment?
God forbids me to prejudice, distort, or compromise truth in all possible ways, especially when it will cause harm to someone’s reputation.
What is required by God in the Ninth Commandment?
God requires me to uphold, affirm, and defend truth in all possible ways, especially by protecting and upholding someone's reputation.
What is the Tenth Commandment?
The tenth commandment is, "You shall not covet anything that is your neighbors."
What is forbidden by God in the Tenth Commandment?
God forbids me to have improper desires for anything that he provides for others.
What is required by God in the Tenth Commandment?
God requires me to be content with everything he provides for me and thankful for everything he provides for others.
Footnotes:
[1] Jesus is explaining the Ten Commandments the same way Moses did to Israel: "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deut. 10:12–13, 11:13, 22, 30:20; Lev. 19:18).
[2] The Bible teaches that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone (Ex. 31:8, 34:1; Deut. 4:13; 5:22). However, the Bible does not reveal which specific commandments were on the two tablets. Views throughout history include: 1) an equal division of five commandments on each tablet, 2) all ten commandments on both tablets, and 3) the first four commandments (representing love for God) on the first tablet and the last six commandments on the second tablet (representing love for others). The first commandments (146 words) are three times longer than the second commandments (26 words), and the tablets may have had writing on both sides.
[3] Following the example of Jesus, the Apostle Paul also presents the Ten Commandments as descriptions of love for others when he writes, "For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Rom. 13:9).
[4] Jesus also taught this in the Sermon on the Mount: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matt. 7:12).