Notes on Large Catechism -- 9th & 10th Commandments

A Study of

Luther's Large Catechism

as found in Concordia: the Lutheran Confessions, A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord edited by Paul Timothy McCain, Second Edition, Concordia Publishing House, © 2006.

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife -- Genesis 39
Guido Reni 
Italian, about 1630 
Oil on canvas 

Lord of Glory, You Have Bought Us
By: Eliza S. Alderson

Lord of glory, you have bought us
With your lifeblood as the price,
Never grudging for the lost ones
That tremendous sacrifice;
And with that have freely given
Blessings countless as the sand
To the unthankful and the evil
With your own unsparing hand.

Grant us hearts, dear Lord, to give you
Gladly, freely of your own.
With the sunshine of our goodness
Melt our thankless hearts of stone
Till our cold and selfish natures,
Warmed by you, at length believe
That more happy and more blessed
‘Tis to give than to receive.

Wondrous honor you have given
To our humblest charity
In your own mysterious sentence,
"You have done it all to me."
Can it be, O gracious Master,
That you deign for alms to sue,
Saying by your poor and needy,
"Give as I have given to you"?

Read pages 392 to 395 the Ninth and Tenth Commandment  in the Large Catechism and answer the following questions:

1.  Why do we need to hear these commandments even though we were just told not to steal in the 7^th commandment? See also Luke 12:15. (#297)

2. Why would we say that this commandment applies to the most upright people, not those regarded as scoundrels?   (#300)

  

3.  Luther describes how the civil law, courts, and "good business" practices can be used to get what belongs to another. (#300-304) Napoleon went even further when he said, "The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest person."  Keep your eye opened in the days ahead for examples of this.  What examples have you noticed?  Have you been tempted to do anything like this?

4.  Luther thought that in his day it was rare for someone to use wiles and tricks to entice another=s spouse away. (#305) Do you think it is so uncommon today?

  

5. People work hard to put up a pretense of righteousness even while they cheat.  At what point does one begin to sin against his neighbor according to the 9^th and 10^th commandments and Micah 2:1-2?

  

6.  How then should we feel toward our neighbor and his possessions and material success in life?  (#309)

7.  What is the chief purpose of these and all the commandments? (#310 and the editor's introductory comments on page 392 and Romans 7:7).

  

Read in the Large Catechism the Conclusion to the 10 Commandments pages 395-398 and answer the following questions:

1.  What do the people of the world (and even some people who would seem to be quite religious) think of the works that the 10 Commandments teach us to carry out?  (#312)

  

2. How does the First Commandment operate as the chief commandment?  (#326)

  

3. Why were the Old Testament people supposed to display the Ten Commandments everywhere?  (#331)

  

4.  What practices could we have in our day to accomplish these same purposes?  (#332)