CHRISTIAN LIVING HANDOUT

4th Quarter
Lesson 1
1 - 4 Commandments
st

th

God who is the Creator and foundation of all things acknowledges the need for rules.
It is for this reason He gave His commandments to men.
The bottomline: God gave these rules not entirely for Himself, but most especially for Men. It is for
our sake that God established these commandments.
The Ten Commandments or otherwise known as the Decalogue which literally means ten words, are
written with the finger of God and handed on to Moses on the holy mountain of Sinai. All these
accounts are recorded on the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy.
1. I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me.
2. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the LORD'S Day.
4. Honor your father and your mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.
Structure of the Ten Commandments
Most of us have a mental picture of the Ten Commandments, with the first three engraved on the first
stone tablet while the seven others on the second. This reflects the structure of the commandments.
Commandments 1 to 3 emphasize mans duty to love God, while commandments 4 to 10 highlight mans
duty to love his neighbor.
When someone asks him, "Which commandment in the Law is the greatest?" Jesus replies: "You shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the
greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On
these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets." The Decalogue must be interpreted in light
of this twofold yet single commandment of love, the fullness of the Law:
The commandments: "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not
covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence: "You shall love your neighbor as
yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (CCC # 2055)
Summarizing it further, the greatest commandment of God is simply to LOVE. We follow Gods
commands, not because of fear nor because we are obliged, but out of LOVE.
The 1st Commandment
I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me
This commandment is the most important, because from it all the other commandments are derived and
governed. This is the foundation of all Christian moral life. To love God is our first duty and privilege.
Our moral life has its source in faith in God who reveals his love to us. St. Paul speaks of the "obedience
of faith" as our first obligation. He shows that "ignorance of God" is the principle and explanation of all
moral deviations. Our duty toward God is to believe in him and to bear witness to him. (CCC # 2087)

Offenses Against the 1st Commandment

The first commandment forbids honoring gods other than the one Lord who has revealed himself to his
people. It proscribes superstition and irreligion. Superstition in some sense represents a perverse excess
of religion; irreligion is the vice contrary by defect to the virtue of religion. (CCC # 2110)
False Worship of the True God
Reliance on prescribed forms and formulas rather than on the person of God, for example, overemphasis
on postures, through chain letters, and a purely mechanical methods of prayer
Idolatry
The payment of divine honor to: (a) mere creatures, (b) fictitious gods and goddesses, (c) the devil.
Idolatry is also the perverted attachment or subjection which makes a created thing the supreme and final
good, for example, (a) pleasure idolatry or idolatry of media, sex and money, (b) popularity idolatry or
idolatry of fame or of a classless society, (c) idolatry of power.
Superstition
The confused and irrational attitude toward imaginary and impersonal powers or forces.
Divination
- attempt to foretell the future by means of certain signs regardless of the free decisions of man.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

astrology: through the stars

palmistry: through the lines of the palms
cartomancy: through the reading of cards
necromancy: through the spirits of the dead
omens: through portents like black cat, 666 or Friday the 13th

Sorcery
the attempt to use magic or other forces for power, manipulation and influence
a. white magic: the effort to influence the force of nature and the course of history by
totally insufficient and unrelated instruments (amulets, anting-anting, magic
crystals)
b.
black magic: the attempt to infict harm or to reap advantages for ones self through
the aid of the devil or evil means (kulam, voodoo)
Sacrilege
- A desecration of a person, place or thing that is holy (from the Hebrew qadosh, meaning set
apart for God.)
a. local sacrilege: locus = place, example: chapel or churches.
b. real sacrilege: res = thing, example: blessed Eucharistic vessels, Blessed Sacrament, vestments of
the priests, altar table, etc.
c. personal sacrilege: persona = persons, examples, priests, nuns, religious brothers, and other
consecrated persons.
Simony
- The criminal effort to turn holy thing to material gain, for example, bribery aimed at obtaining a
church office, selling prayers, blessed statues or religious objects, and even indulgences.
Ways of Honoring God
PRAYER: a dialogue with God
VOWS: are strictly binding promises of an offering to God and to his service. The three
religious vows are: chastity, poverty, and obedience. These three counteract the three great
temptations of man, as experienced by Christ himself in the desert pleasure, popularity and
power.
FASTING AND ABSTINENCE: They are practiced to gain self-discipline (ascetical value)
and to share in Christs atonement for sins.
The 2nd Commandment

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
The name of God was Gods gift to his people during the giving of the covenant on Mt. Sinai. To use
Gods name in vain, therefore, is to break that covenant. But this commandment is not concerned only
with forbidding using the name of God or of Christ in anger or vulgarity.
The whole commandment includes rejecting:
BLASPHEMY: speaking of God, Christ, and the saints with contempt;
CURSING: calling down punishment on others;
FASLE OATHS: using Gods name to confirm a false statement
The 3rd Commandment
Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
The third commandment enjoins us to set apart the Sabbath for WORSHIP and for RECREATION.
The twofold reasons for the observance of the Sabbath in the Old Testament are as follows:
GODS REST ON THE SEVENTH DAY: For in six days Yahweh made the heavens, and the
sea and all that is in the, but on the seventh day he rested. (Exodus 20:11)
LIBERATION FROM SLAVERY IN EGYPT: Remember that you were once enslaved in the
land of Egypt from where Yahweh, your God, brought you out with his powerful hand and
outstretched arm. For this reason, Yahweh, your God, commands you to observe the Sabbath.
(Deuteronomy 5:15)
Christians celebrate the Lords Day not on the seventh but on the first day of the week. Why on Sunday?
The RESURRECTION of Jesus happened on the day after Sabbath (Matthew 28:1 / Mark
16:9).
The early Christians gathered on the first day of the week for the BREAKING OF BREAD (Acts
20:7)
St. Paul pronounces the law of the Sabbath as NO LONGER BINDING on the Christian
(Colossian 2:16)
Every Catholic who has reached the age of 7 is obliged to attend the Eucharist and to avoid all servile
work. As members of the People of God, the Church, we have the duty to WORSHIP TOGETHER AS A
COMMUNITY.
Masses on television are meant only as devotional to the bedridden and the aged.
God has the right to demand that man dedicate one day of the week to worship Him, freed from material
preoccupations. Missing Mass on Sunday is a statement that God doesnt have a primary place in ones
life. God cannot simply serve as supporting actor when he is needed most. Man cannot just give what is
spare time for God. Sunday is a holy day precisely because it is set apart (Hebrew qadosh) for the
worship of God.
The 4th Commandment
Honor Your Father and Your Mother
The original meaning referred more to the obligation of grown children, now adults, to take care of their
aged parents
My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fails,
be considerate with him; revile him not in the fullness of your strength (Sir 3:12f)
In time, the meaning of the commandment was legitimately expanded to include young childrens duties
towards their parents. (CFC# 1003)
Both parents are to receive equal respect. The OT books of Exodus and Deuteronomy have Honor your
Father and Mother (Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16), whereas Leviticus has Revere your Mother and Father (Lv
19:3), showing a balance which unfortunately has not always been kept in the ensuing ages. What is
significant is that the 4th Commandment is not based on any either patriarchal or matriarchal
patterns of society.
According to CFC # 1006, there are three obstacles to honoring your father and mother:
First is that not all fathers and mothers act as loving parents.

Second obstacle arises from the particular stages of the childrens natural growth and
development which demand a certain distancing from parents. These periods of growing
up are painful and potentially destructive, unless handled well with parental patience and
understanding.
Third obstacle is the generation gap that cultural history has always created between parent
and children.

Filial respect for parents is demanded of children and adults by the Fourth Commandment. The Old
Testament advises: Observe, my son, your fathers bidding, and reject not your mothers teaching (Pr
6:20)
In the Letter to the Ephesians, we read: Children. Obey your parents in the Lord, for that is what is
expected of you. Honor your father and mother is the first Commandment to carry a promise with, that
it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on earth (Eph 6:1-3)
It is just such an attitude of filial reverence that Jesus showed Mary and Joseph in his hidden life when
he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them Jesus progressed steadily in
wisdom and age and grace before God and men (Lk 2:51-52)
It is important to understand that obedience here cannot mean automatic, unquestioning
submissiveness (blind obedience).
Blind obedience shows more servile fear than authentic filial respect.
True obedience arises from a willingness to listen to what is being asked and to respond in a fully
personal, conscientious manner
The Commandments to honor then means showing proper gratitude, affection, respect, obedience, and
care to parents.
In the Old Testament, extreme punishment was decreed for transgressors:
Whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death (Ex 21:17)
A Blasphemer is he who despises his father; accursed of his Creator, he who angers his mother (Sir
3:16)
This indicates how closely ones parents are linked with the Creator.
In honoring our parents we honor God Himself.
Parental respect and responsibility for children
Care and Respect for their children as persons in their own right are enjoined by the Fourth
Commandment.
Thus, we read in the Pauline Letters:
Fathers do not nag your children lest they lose heart (Col 3:21).
Fathers, do not anger your children, bring them up with the training and instruction befitting
the Lord (Eph 6:4)
In His teaching, Christ Himself offered a very positive picture of human parents:
What father among you will give his son a snake if he asks for a fish, or hand him a scorpion if
he asks for an egg? If you, with all your sins, know how to give your children good things, how
much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Lk 11:11-13).
Parents are procreators of human life, acting as Gods free, loving agents in bringing to birth new human
life. This commandment emphasizes the family as part of God's design, as well as an extended metaphor
that God uses for his relationship with his creation.
Prepared by: Mr. Gerald S. Cabrestante@DBTC2011