Question 142. What are the sins forbidden in the eighth commandment?

 

Question 142. What are the sins forbidden in the eighth commandment?

Answer. The sins forbidden in the eighth commandment are, besides the neglect of the duties required, theft, robbery, kidnapping, taking stolen goods, fraudulent dealing, deceiving the balances, measuring, removing the landmarks of lands, injustice and infidelity in contracts or trusts between men, oppression, extortion, usury, bribery, vexatious lawsuits, unlawful appropriation of the common lands, and extermination of the inhabitants, the buying up of merchandise to raise the price, and the keeping away or withholding of that which belongs to our neighbors, or all other unjust or sinful methods for enriching ourselves. Again, greed, and excessive cherishing and love of worldly goods, and doubtful and distracting cares and efforts about obtaining, keeping, and using worldly goods, and jealousy of the prosperity of others, and likewise, sloth, dissipation, wasteful gambling, and an undue prejudice against our outward possessions, deceiving ourselves and preventing us from making the right use of the goods God has given us.

Joshua 7:1 "And the children of Israel sinned in the accursed thing: for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the LORD was angry with the children of Israel."

In Acts 4:32-37, all the people sold their possessions and laid them at the apostles' feet. Why did they do that? The land of the Israelites belongs to God. When the Jubilee came, everything had to be returned. At that time, the disciples of the early church thought that Jesus would "return soon," and since they thought that the end was near, they could be presumed to have sold all their land and given it to the apostles.

In the midst of all this, Ananias and Sapphira caused trouble. He said he would sell all his possessions and give them (Hebrew: Corban), but he felt sorry about the money. So he kept some of it. What he kept was embezzlement from God. Ananias and Sapphira died. They lied to God.

There are those today who steal church offerings, and the most representative of these are pastors who, because the end has come, induce their members to donate their property to the church community.

And they still deceive us by saying that the tithe is valid and must be offered to God. Offering a tenth to God is the concept of offering everything, and offering a tenth of it on behalf of others. Although offering material things to God, it is the concept of offering oneself. Since Christ came to this world, those who are in Christ have now offered everything to God. However, those who still say that they must offer a tenth of material things are the same as not believing in the coming of Christ. Those who still talk about a tenth of material things are those who have never offered a spiritual sacrifice to God. Church people are only talking about tithing in relation to material things without even understanding the spiritual meaning.

Jesus explains tithing again in Matthew 23:23: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy and faith. These ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone."

Looking at the Greek Bible in the part, “You ought to have done these and not left the other undone,” it is translated as ταῦτα [δὲ] ἔδει ποιῆσαι κἀκεῖνα μὴ ἀφιέναι. It is translated as, “You ought to have done these and not left the other undone.” Pastors say that since Jesus said to do this and that, they still tithe. This is referring to something from the past. Jesus is pointing out to the Jewish leaders that they should have done this and that, but they failed to do so.

Regarding the temple construction donation, the church community building is not the kingdom of God, nor is it a temple, but is merely a place where believers gather. However, it is true that there is a financial burden when using the church community building. Therefore, those who run the church community cover it with donations. It is for the maintenance cost of the church community building, pastoral expenses, etc. However, from the perspective of the pastor who runs the church, he or she will secretly hope that a lot of money will come in.

In church communities, pastors create various holidays and hold events to encourage people to dedicate them to God. This encourages believers to examine their own state of faith.