10 Commandments as Perspectives

John Frame suggests that we might think of each of the 10 commandments perspectives on the whole law of God, each requiring love of God, such that any sin could be considered a breach of each of the commandments. Though it may be more obvious for some commandments than others and we may need to take the commandment broadly (Frame admits it may be a bit of a stretch), it seems to me a fruitful idea.

1. In the first commandment, the "other gods" include mammon (money, Matt. 6:24) and anything else that competes with God for our ultimate loyalty. Since all sin is disloyalty to God, the violation of any commandment is also violation of the first. Thus, all sin violates the first commandment; or, to put it differently, the commandment forbids all sins.

2. In the second commandment, similarly, the sin of worshiping a graven image is the sin of worshiping anything (or worshiping by means of anything) of human divising. "Worship" can be a broad ethical concept in Scripture as well as a narrowly cultic one (cf. Rom. 12:1-2). Any sin involves following our own purposes, purposes of our own devising, instead of God's, and that is false worship.

3. In the third commandment, "the name of the Lord" can refer to God's entire self-revelation, and any disobedience to that revelation can be described as "vanity." Thus, all sin violates the third commandment.

4. The Sabbath commandment demands godly use of our entire calendar - six days to carry out our own work to God's glory, and the seventh to worship and rest. So the whole week is given to us to do God's will. Any disobedient or ungodly use of time, on the six days or the seventh, may be seen as transgression of the fourth commandment.

5. "Father and mother" in the fifth commandment can be read broadly to refer to all authority and even to the authority of God himself (Mal 1:6) [who is after all our heavenly Father]. Thus, all disobedience to God violates the fifth commandment.

6. Jesus interprets the sixth commandment to prohibit unrighteous anger (Matt. 5:22) because of its disrespect for life. Genesis 9:6 relates this principle to respect for man as God's image. Since all sin manifests such disresoect for life and for God's image it violates the sixth commandment. [All sin is choosing the way of death. It shows a desire to murder God, others or perhaps self].

7. Adultery is frequently used in Scripture as a metaphor (indeed, more than a metaphor) for idolatry. Israel is pictured as the Lord's unfaithful wife. The marriage figure is a prominent biblical description of the covenant order. Breaking the covenant at any point is adultery.

8. Withholding tithes and offerings - God's due - is stealing (Mal. 3:8). Thus, to withhold any honour due to God falls under the same condemnation.

9. "Witnessing" in Scripture is something you are, more than something you do. It involves not only speech, but actions as well. It is comprehensive.

10. Coveting, like stealing, is involved in all sin. Sinful acts are the product of a selfish heart. This commandment speaks against the root of sin, and therefore against all sin.

So we have in the Decalogue ten perspectives on sin: as covenant disolyalty, as false worship, as misuse of God's revelation, as misuse of time, as disrespect for authority, and so on. And similarly, we have ten perspectives on love: covenant loyalty, true worship, and so on. To keep any one commandment, in its deepest meaning, is to keep all the others, and to love, as Scripture says, is to keep them all.

Doctrine of the Christian Life (P&R, 2008) p398f