‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’
This is the commandment that help the Apostle Paul understand that he was dead in his sin Romans 7:7-11. There are two words in the Greek which set forth the nature of covetousness. Pleonexia, which signifies an ‘insatiable desire of getting the world’. The other word is Philarguria, which signifies an ‘inordinate love of the world’. The Apostle John cautions us about loving the world or the things in the world 1 John 2:15-17. James understood that coveting is the first motions and risings of sin in the heart James 1:14,15. The laws of men take hold of actions, but the Law of God goes further, it forbids not only actions, but selfish desires. The Tenth Commandment forbids us to set our hearts on the property of others; to attempt the seduction of their wives; or to seek for gain at another’s loss and inconvenience. The point is to restrain all ungodly desires and unlawful appetite for gain. By peeling back the layers of God’s Commandments, we will see the inward purity of the heart, or lack thereof.
How can one know if he is covetous? A man may be said to be given to covetousness…
- When a man’s thoughts are wholly taken up with the world. He is always plotting and planning about the things in life.
- When a man takes more pains for getting earth than heaven. He hunts for the world, he wishes only for heaven. He neglects the things of eternity.
- When all a man’s discourse is all about the world. A covetous man’s speech betrays him. His words are a looking glass into his heart.
- When a man so sets his heart upon worldly things, that for the love of them, he will part with heavenly. He would rather part with Christ than with all his earthly possessions, just as the rich, young ruler.
- When a man overloads himself with worldly business. He takes so much business upon him, that he cannot find time to serve God.
- When a man’s heart is so set on the world, that, to get it, he cares not what unlawful means he uses. He will wrong and defraud, and raise his estate upon the ruins of another.
Our Lord apprised us of the deceitfulness of covetousness Luke 12:15. It is a moral vice. It infects and pollutes the whole soul. It a sin so subtle that many cannot so well discern in themselves. Covetousness hinders the efficacy of the word preached. In the Parable of the Sower, the thorns which Christ expounded to be the cares of this life, choked the good seed. Paul reminds Timothy that ‘the love of money is the root of all evil’ and that a lover of money is disqualified from certain leadership 1 Timothy 3:2,3; 6:10. Lastly, the Word of God encourages us to put to death covetousness, which is idolatry Colossians 3:3. And yet warns us that covetousness precipitates men to ruin and shuts them out of heaven Ephesians 5:5, 1 Corinthians 6:9,10, 1 Timothy 6:9.
The best remedy against covetousness is faith. The root of covetousness is distrust in God’s providence. Contentment is the antidote against coveting that which is another’s. Covet grace. Covet heaven. Our souls are made for a higher end; to aspire after the enjoyment of God in glory. Is Christ your treasure? ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness’. ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’.
So next time you have the privilege to witness to someone, take the time to show them how they personally have sinned against an infinite, holy God by breaking the Tenth Commandment. You will be doing them a service and will glorify God by preaching the whole council of God.
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. Psalm 19:8