The Basis for the Fifth Commandment – A Kingdom Catechism

The Basis for the Fifth Commandment

A Kingdom Catechism

The home is the foundational institution for social order.

Q 83: What is the basis for the fifth commandment?

A 83: The basis for the fifth commandment is that the family is the first institution of human social order, parents being responsible to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. (Gen. 2:18-25; Deut. 6:4-7; Eph. 6:1-4).

God created marriage and the family as the first and primary institution for carrying forward the good work He began at creation. We can imagine that, had Adam and Eve not fallen into sin, and as they continued to bear children, and their children bore children, the borders and bounty of the garden of Eden would eventually have expanded and improved to encompass the whole earth, so that the knowledge of God and His goodness would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. While the reality of sin has complicated this agenda, it has not canceled it. God intends to use the home as the primary launch point for advancing His Kingdom and restoring the world to Himself. The fifth commandment thus establishes important parameters for how, by love, this work must proceed.

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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.