Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1749
September 27, 2026
Exodus 20.15 Click here for audio recording of worship.
Dr. Ed Pettus
(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)
“Eighth Commandment – What is Required”
“You shall not steal.”
We have arrived at Commandment number eight in our series on the Ten Commandments. For those who have not been with us through this series, we have taken two Sundays per Commandment to explore what each Commandment requires in the first sermon and what each forbids in the second. My hope is that with each Commandment we have grown to understand more deeply the extent of the steadfast love of God in each Commandment. By that I mean to connect the depth of meaning with each Commandment to the depth of love God gives and expects in and through His Commands. God has given us His Commandments because He loves us and wants the best for His people. When Jesus tells us to love God and neighbor, He summarizes all the Commandments into one attribute of love. It is love that leads us to worship God alone and not worship idols. It is love that fosters honoring God’s name and keeping Sabbath holy. It is in love that we do not murder or commit adultery or steal.
- Actions of Truth, Faith, and Justice
Today we come to the Eighth Commandment – You shall not steal. As with the other Commandments, there is an obvious first meaning here, do not take another person’s property. This Commandment is first about property. The Larger Catechism teaches that this Commandment requires us to “act truthfully, faithfully, and justly” in relationship to property and relationships in commerce. Theft can occur in many ways, not just in stealing someone’s personal property, but in breaking a contract or taking a bribe. We are stealing something of the person and, in that sense, it also considered a form of murder, killing something in another. If you have ever had something stolen from you, you probably had a sense of being violated. When someone once broke into my car, I was less concerned about what was stolen (8 track tapes!) and more upset with that sense of violation. More is taken from us when our property is stolen. Something is taken from us when that possession was a gift, or a family heirloom, or something we made. This was probably even more important to Bible times as most things were either handmade or valuable for survival. Today, our throw away society does not afford us as much attachment to things because nearly everything is disposable. It seems that most everything is designed to break or wear out prematurely, but even then, our things say something about who we are. That might cause us to step back and reevaluate our lives when we consider how our property may shape or reflect our own personality or values. Either way, we have that sense of violation when there is any kind of theft. We could easily connect the Eighth and Sixth Commandment in this violation.
In order to keep the Eighth Commandment, we are required to have a truthful disposition. We could quote many Bible verses here and one such passage is Psalm 15.1-5, O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 2He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; 3who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 4in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. Certainly, we are far less likely to steal anything when we walk blamelessly and do what is right and speak truth. We are to act with honor toward others and do no evil to another. Those who practice integrity with regard to money for the sake of themselves and others are more likely to keep the Commandment.
Secondly, we are required to be faithful, faithful to God and faithful in our dealings with others. Paul speaks to honoring debt and paying taxes in Romans 13.7, “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” Remember also Jesus’ words, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's” (Matthew 22.21). These are actions of faith to governments, businesses, elders, and ultimately to God.
Third, we are to do justice. One of the most quoted verses on justice is from Micah 6.8, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Justice in the Eighth Commandment is simply doing what is right. We do not cheat on taxes (ouch), or slight others in business transactions. Nor should we disrespect someone’s property or covet another person’s property. The Eighth and Tenth Commandments are also related!
In these attributes we are required to restore anything that we have stolen, to “give and lend freely, according to our ability and the needs of others”, and have a biblical attitude toward all worldly possessions.
The story of Zacchaeus captures how to practice restoration and a good perspective on worldly things. “[Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through. 2And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19.1-10).
Zacchaeus touches on both restoration of property and the proper disposition toward worldly things.
The goal of contentment is vital to keeping this Commandment and all Commandments. We have no need to steal anything when we are content with what the Lord has provided. 1 Timothy 6.6-9, “But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” Lack of contentment can lead us to break the Eighth Commandment, and the Ninth, Tenth, and 1-7!
One thing I come back to with these thoughts; it all comes down to Christian character. I remember when testing for spiritual gifts was the thing. There were all kinds of publications that sought to help us discover our gifts. And that is all find and dandy, but give me a person with solid Christian character and in that is found one who trusts God no matter what gifts are present, who is obedient no matter what is the latest craze in the “business” of Christianity. When it finally comes down to the basics of faith, character takes precedence, in my opinion, so that trust, faith, and justice are in abundance for keeping Commandment. This is not to say that spiritual gifts are not important, the Bible says they are, but character must be evident in those gifts as well.
Paul sums up how we can find contentment in Galatians 6.14, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world”. When we realize that we have been crucified to the world and the world has been crucified to us, we find that our only true life is with God.
- Good Stewardship
The second component in our outline today is good stewardship. We meet the requirements of the Eighth Commandment when we handle well God’s good gifts and resources. We are to practice prudence and good maintenance in order to provide what we need, what those in our care need, and what is good for our community. 1 Timothy 5.8, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” In the same letter to Timothy we find the wisdom of good stewardship and generosity, “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life” (1 Timothy 6.17-18). Good stewardship of God’s resources enables us to comprehend and experience what is truly life. It is not in the things of this world, but in the things of God.
Stewardship is a spiritual discipline just as prayer and worship are spiritual disciplines. When we practice good stewardship, God is pouring out blessings to the church, to others, and to us. And it is a blessing back to God when we seek Him in how we are to handle His perfect gifts. Good stewardship is also a joy and pleasure. Ecclesiastes 3.12-13, “I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.” Good work and good stewardship go hand in hand. As the Proverb notes, “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich” (Proverbs 10.4). Paul also exhorts good labor as the alternative to breaking the Eighth Commandment. Ephesians 4.28, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”
Unfaithful stewardship or no stewardship is breaking this Commandment against God. Malachi 3.8-9, “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.” We do not often think that we are robbing God when we fail to tithe or give generously, but the Bible warns us that there are truly more ways than one to break the Eighth Commandment.
- Well-Being for All
The Eighth Commandment promotes the well-being of all people and even all creation itself. We are required, as the Larger Catechism teaches, “to acquire, preserve, and increase our
own and others’ money and possessions”. The Bible is not against acquiring wealth, but opposes getting wealth by stealing, by fraud, by any evil ways. The Eighth Commandment seeks not only the restriction of stealing, but the promotion of the well-being for all people. Philippians 2.4, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2 is in the context of Christ’s humility, that He gave His life for the good of others. So too, we are called to be like Christ. We are not called to go to the cross in the same manner, or to even give our lives in the same manner, but we are called to die to ourselves that we might be more like Christ. When Jesus says there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend, He is certainly making reference to His own life but also making a general reference to our ability and willingness to lay down our lives in stewardship, in trust, faith, and justice. That is, we are to be willing to give generously for the sake of others. We are to look out for our interests, but not our interests alone. We are part of a community of faith that looks out for each other’s interests. This is one crucial meaning of Jesus’ summary of the Commandments to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22.39). We look out for others as well as ourselves and even sometimes at our own expense perhaps in the sense of finance, but also in the sense of time or effort or any kind of sacrifice of self.
When I first thought about a title for this outline point, I was going to use the term prosperity for all. But the term has been so abused by prosperity gospel folks that we have to be more careful in its use. Yes, God calls us to prosperity and blesses many with great prosperity, but all under the blanket of the Ten Commandments and other teachings in Scripture. We prosper without stealing, without coveting, without murdering, without bearing false witness. We prosper in so many ways when we love God by worshiping Him alone, by chopping down false idols, and by honoring the Name of the Lord.
The Eighth Commandment requires us to conduct ourselves in truth, faith, and justice. It requires our best stewardship of what God has given. It calls us to seek the well-being of all people, even our enemies. Let us look to God to strengthen us in keeping joyfully the Eighth Commandment. Amen.
