Both And – A Kingdom Catechism

Both And

A Kingdom Catechism

All the commandments are negative and positive in thrust.

Q 93: What is the substance of the sixth commandment?

A 93: The substance of the sixth commandment is that men must neither hate nor harm their neighbors but rather do everything in their power to uphold their well-being. (Lev. 19:17, 18; Exod. 21:20, 21; Deut. 22:8)

As with all the commandments of the Lord, obedience to the sixth commandment begins in the heart. Wrong affections toward our neighbors may not only lead to our actually doing them harm, but they are harmful and wrong in and of themselves. At the same time, by nurturing positive affections of neighbor-love toward others we help to ensure that our actions will likewise be consistent with what the Law of God requires. Each of the commandments has a “negative” or prohibitive aspect, and each has a “positive” and prescriptive component. Together these form the substance of a proper approach to loving our neighbors as ourselves.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.