Key Bible Passage(s):

Ps.73:25; Rom.7:7-19; Phil.4:11-13.

Tier 1:

The 10th Commandment tackles the question of desire. It prohibits our inordinately desiring anything or anyone that belongs to someone else. As such it runs through all the other commandments, tackling the question of what goes on in our hearts: What do we actually want? We will always desire. That is part of what it means to be human. What, or Who, do we desire is central to who we are. We are defined by our desires, and we will pursue what we most desire. The battle for discipleship is a battle for our heart.

Tier 2:

Our Catechism speaks of ‘disordered desire’ (see Qu.350).  Not all our desires as Christians are ‘disordered’; and as we grow in godliness we find we are more consistently conceiving healthy and holy desires too. But when we desire the wrong thing in the wrong way at the wrong time and for the wrong reason, we can be confident we have transgressed the limits of this last command.  Often our desires are contradictory. We desire Christ, but we also desire sin. This agonizing conflict of desire is the heart of temptation. Which desire will I follow? Which promise will I believe?

Tier 3:

As we reflect on Paul’s own experience in Romans 7, we may be tempted to give up hope. If such a mature disciple struggled, what chance do we have? Or to put the question another way: When my desires are so unstable and treacherous, is there any solid ground on which to build security and confidence?  Yes: our confidence in our relationship with Christ is built not on our desire for Him, but on His desire for us. And we couldn’t find a more sure and stable foundation for our assurance than that!

The opposite of covetousness is contentment in God. When contentment in God decreases, covetousness for gain increases. That’s why Paul says in Col.3:5 that covetousness is idolatry. It’s idolatry because the contentment that the heart should be getting from God, it starts to get from something else. So, covetousness is desiring something so much that you lose your contentment in God.

John Piper

Group Discussion

What is the difference between temptation and sinful desire? Is all desire for sin itself sinful?

How would you diagnose covetousness in your own heart? When is desire appropriate?

How can we fight against something that is a ‘sin of our nature’ (Thomas Watson)?

How has your view of the Law, and of its place in the Christian life changed over this last term?

Read I Tim.1:8-11. How do we use the Law ‘properly’? In the light of this passage, should Christians use the Law at all with reference to themselves?

and later in the session

Read Rom.7:7-13

Why would Paul (who was quite spiritually self-aware!) not have known what sin or coveting was if the Law had not said ‘Do not covet’ (v.7)? Is this the case for all of us? If it is, how can we use the Law to teach us about our own sin?

If sin is dead apart from the Law, why does God give the Law at all? Wouldn’t it have been better to leave sin as ‘dead’ and Paul ‘alive’ (vv.8-9)? When does Paul think he was ‘alive’? What does ‘apart from the Law’ mean here?

How was the Law intended to bring life? And if it is ‘holy, righteous and good’, then why did it actually bring death? What is the relationship between sin and the Law (v.10-12)?

If, when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and [Paul] died (v.9), then why does Paul later deny that the Law became death to him (v.13)?

and a closing question

Why does any of this matter to us? How would you respond to someone who said they really didn’t care what was going on in Rom.7:7-13, and that they were doing quite well as a Christian without having to think all this through?

Homework

Over this half-term we have been working to memorise Matthew 5:21-26. You will have to keep refreshing Matt.5:1-20, Matt.6:5-15 and Matt.7:7-12 whilst you do this.

(we’ll memorise the whole of the Sermon on the Mount over the 3 years of DTP)

To Be A Christian: Q&A 349-356

If you are planning to finish the term next week with a Bring & Share meal, part of this week’s homework is to prepare something for that!