Series

God gave the Ten Commandments as a way of helping people lead the life He intended for them. In their setting it lays out for Israel what it means to live as God’s “special possession.” It gave a profile of what a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation” looks like in everyday life.

Traditionally the first four commandments are distinguished from the last six. The first table of the law consists of the four commandments that govern our response to God. The second table consists of the six commandments that govern the way we treat one another. Obviously, our human relationships cannot be separated from our relationship to God, but there is a distinction: The first four commandments teach us to love God, while the last six teach us to love our neighbor.

Love for God must come first. We cannot truly love one another unless we love God. If we do not respect God, we will not respect one another. So, we can hardly begin to keep the last six commandments until we learn how to keep the first four.

With that in mind today we will look at this 8th commandment

"You shall not steal."

Stealing?

It may be fairly stated that without this Commandment no society could function. Unless there is a general agreement to respect the property of others and a generally-accepted prohibition against stealing, no society could long exist. If you feel free to claim what is mine, and if I feel free to claim what is yours, you and I will not be able to live together. We will be enemies, eyeing each other with suspicion, waiting for our chance to steal from one another. No family, no city, no country, no race can long survive where the Eighth Commandment is not widely respected.

This may be the most straight forward of all the commandments. While we have seen how many of the commandments have a deeper meaning than the surface meaning, this one has enough depth in the simple words of the text. The real question then, is what does the text simply say.

What The Command Calls For

On the surface this commandment seems very simple. All of us know what stealing is. Stealing is simply taking something which doesn't belong to us.

As bad as thievery is, to truly understand this commandment you have to go beyond that alone. There are several ways we can steal beyond the obvious idea of thievery, although that is bad enough.

Then there is stealing from God. Two ways we can do this:

"Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. Malachi 3:8 (NASB)

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NASB)

Significance of violating this commandment

Every theft is a failure to trust in God's provision. Whenever we take something that doesn't belong to us, we deny that God has given us or is able to give us everything we truly need.

Every theft is also an assault on God's provision for others. This is a second way that stealing is a sin against God: It robs what he has provided for someone else.

How to Obey this Commandment

In the midst of Paul’s description of what the new life in Christ looks like, he says this -- He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Ephesians 4:28 (NASB)

1. Stop Stealing – "He who steals must steal no longer"

At its root – stealing is something of an outgrowth of a feeing of dissatisfaction.

So, how do you overcome this?

Learn what Paul had learned – 11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11-13 (NASB)

We need to find our fulfillment and satisfaction in Jesus and what He has provided in my life.

2. Start Working – "but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good"

This is a statement about the value of work.

3. Start Giving – "so that he will have something to share with one who has need"

The opposite of stealing is not simply not stealing

The opposite of taking from others what you have not earned, is giving to others what you have earned.

Here is Paul’s thought – move from being a getter to a giver

Instead of stealing to get something, you work to earn it à but then you earn it not just for yourself, but to be able to give to those in need.

Christians are called to live generously.

What if you are a Thief?

One of the benefits of studying the Ten Commandments is that they confront us with our sin. When we explore their full implications, we discover we are not able to keep a single commandment in all its integrity.

So, the law condemns us. It declares, "You are the idolater. You are the foul-mouthed sinner. You are the Sabbath-breaker and the rebel. You are the murderer, the adulterer, and the thief." The law says all this to show that we are guilty sinners who need the gospel.

The gospel is the good news that Jesus died on the cross and rose again to give salvation to everyone who believes in him. Jesus died on the cross in the place of sinners—specifically, in the place of thieves.

This is a great comfort to everyone who has ever broken the eighth commandment. When Christ died on the cross he died for thieves, so that every thief who trusts in him will be saved.

PRAYER REQUESTS

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