Exodus 20:17

Not covet. The tenth commandment is supplementary to the eighth, for covetousness is the root from which theft grows. In fact, the tenth commandment strikes at the roots of the other nine. It represents a decided advance beyond the morality of any other ancient code. Most codes went no further than the deed, and a few took speech into account, but none proposed to regulate the thoughts. This prohibition is fundamental to human experience in that it penetrates to the motive behind the outward act. It teaches us that God sees the heart (1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Kings 8:39; 1 Chron. 28:9; Heb. 4:13), and is concerned less with the outward act than with the thought from which the action springs. It establishes the principle that the very thoughts of our hearts come under the jurisdiction of God’s law, that we are as responsible for them as for our actions. The wrong thought entertained promotes a wrong desire, which in time gives birth to a wrong action (Prov. 4:23; James 1:13-15). A man may refrain from adultery because of the social and civil penalties that follow such transgressions, yet in Heaven’s sight he may be as guilty as if he actually committed the deed (Matt. 5:28).

This basic commandment reveals the profound truth that we are not the helpless slaves of our natural desires and passions. Within us is a force, the will, which, under the control of Christ, can submerge every unlawful desire and passion (Phil. 2:13). It sums up the Decalogue by affirming that man is essentially a free moral agent.