Love

The Tenth Commandment (1) You Shall Not Covet

This is an important part of the biblical teaching concerning desires. We are to desire some things more than other things. Some desirable things are more important than other desirable things. We are to desire some things with all our hearts, and we are to desire other things with less than all our hearts and there are yet other things that we are not to desire at all. How we order our desires is a moral question. The kinds of things that we prioritize in our lives is a reflection of the kind of people we are, and God is concerned with what kind of people we are.
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

The Sixth Commandment (3) Jesus and the Sixth Commandment

Clearly Jesus is passionate about relationships between people. Clearly relationships are a priority for God. The Sixth Commandment speaks directly about murder, but it addresses us long before it comes to murder. The Six Commandment is about living at peace with all men. What Paul wrote in Romans 12:8 summarizes what Jesus is teaching in these verses, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

Personal Greetings and Final Remarks

Read: Romans 16

The letter closes with a reminder of the strength that God gives to his people through the gospel. We are involved in the great struggle between God and Satan and good and evil. That great struggle is both inside of us and all around us. The good news is that God strengthens his people – he brings about the obedience of faith. The struggle is real. The struggle is hard. But God in Christ gives the strength to persevere and to overcome and he brings about the obedience of faith. That is the encouragement.
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra