Training-Ground for Justice and Mercy – The Fifth Commandment

Training-Ground for Justice and Mercy

The Fifth Commandment

Blessing comes through honoring authorities.

Exodus 20:12

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

Deuteronomy 5:16

“‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.’”

God teaches us to gain the promises of His blessings through obedience to properly-constituted authorities. In this we see His great wisdom by making the home the training-ground for justice and mercy. Children who honor their parents will become adults who respect others, defer to God-ordained authorities, care for the Lord’s creation, and honor and obey the Lord Himself. The last six commandments issue from the first four: Love for our neighbors flows from learning to love God. And as the first commandment is to the first four—foundational in many ways—the fifth commandment is to the remaining six.

Hence, we must always seek ways of showing proper honor to those whom God has set in authority over us. Put another way, since, as Luther observed, the Christian is free in the Lord to be the servant of all men, we must nurture an attitude of deference and respect toward others if we would serve them faithfully, as Jesus taught (Mk. 10:42-45).

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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.