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Thy Will Be Done: The Ten Commandments and the Christian Life
This short, accessible, but theologically substantive volume unfolds the significance of the Ten Commandments for the Christian life. Gilbert Meilaender, one of today's leading Christian ethicists, places the commandments in the larger context of the biblical history of redemption and invites readers to wrestle with how human loves should relate to the first commandment: to love God above all else. As he approaches the Decalogue from this perspective, Meilaender helps Christians learn what it means to say, "Thy will be done."
- GenresReligion
144 pages, Hardcover
Published May 19, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 5, 2020
An excellent and pretty accessible book on the Ten Commandments.
Meilaender starts with a shrewd chapter, "The Law of Christ," in which he tries to explain the relationship of the Christian to the law of God. Basically he adopts the traditional threefold use of the law: civil, pedagogical, normative. He helpfully describes the "third and primary" use (Calvin) as "instructional prophecy," by which he means that the law teaches Christians how to live as redeemed people and also points forward to God's ultimate purposes.
This understanding of the law as "instructional prophecy" for Christians is carried forward throughout Meilaender's book in his emphasis on "the promise buried in the commands" (35, 51, 78, 93, 110, 125). His reflection on that idea comes to fruition in his closing words:
In that day, in the promised new creation, the tension between the two great commandments will be no more. We will hear again the ten words, but now clearly as promise. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. You shall be a bride eager to greet her bridegroom, a child who loves the Father, a creature who honors the life of every fellow human being, a creature whose Lord is rich enough to meet every need, a lover of God whose first and last word is, 'Thy will be done.'
His reflection on the Ten Commandments themselves comes as reflection on five bonds: marriage (7), family (5), life (6), possessions (8 and 10 and 4), and speech (3 and 9). There is profound wisdom in his reflections! They are wonderfully concise but also somehow of remarkable depth and fecundity--on the goods of marriage, on the character of singleness, on the good but "unchosen burdens" of family (41), on abortion, on government, on capital punishment, on suicide, on war, on death and funerals, on ownership and generosity, on trust, on time, on truthfulness (especially incisive is his pairing of the third and ninth commandments), and on much else.
You may have noticed that none of the "bonds" chapters address the beginning of the Decalogue. Meilaender concludes his book with reflection on the foundational and ultimate commands (1-2). He includes rich reflection in this chapter on the relation of the Ten Commandments to the Sermon on the Mount and to the Greatest Commandment (Matt. 22:37-39).
The area where I was most challenged in my understanding of the Ten Commandments has to do with the command to "Honor your Father and your Mother." As a good confessional Presbyterian, I subscribe to the Westminster Standards, which extend this commandment to address basically all human relationships--between "inferiors, superiors, and equals." Meilaender argues pretty compellingly that we over-extend the command when we follow Westminster. I'll have to wrestle with this question moving forward.
A last formal comment is that Meilaender, a Luther, follows the Lutheran/Roman ordering of the Ten Commandments, but that doesn't have any material consequences.
Very highly recommended! It's short, accessible, morally penetrating, and theologically rich. What more could you ask for?
Meilaender starts with a shrewd chapter, "The Law of Christ," in which he tries to explain the relationship of the Christian to the law of God. Basically he adopts the traditional threefold use of the law: civil, pedagogical, normative. He helpfully describes the "third and primary" use (Calvin) as "instructional prophecy," by which he means that the law teaches Christians how to live as redeemed people and also points forward to God's ultimate purposes.
This understanding of the law as "instructional prophecy" for Christians is carried forward throughout Meilaender's book in his emphasis on "the promise buried in the commands" (35, 51, 78, 93, 110, 125). His reflection on that idea comes to fruition in his closing words:
In that day, in the promised new creation, the tension between the two great commandments will be no more. We will hear again the ten words, but now clearly as promise. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. You shall be a bride eager to greet her bridegroom, a child who loves the Father, a creature who honors the life of every fellow human being, a creature whose Lord is rich enough to meet every need, a lover of God whose first and last word is, 'Thy will be done.'
His reflection on the Ten Commandments themselves comes as reflection on five bonds: marriage (7), family (5), life (6), possessions (8 and 10 and 4), and speech (3 and 9). There is profound wisdom in his reflections! They are wonderfully concise but also somehow of remarkable depth and fecundity--on the goods of marriage, on the character of singleness, on the good but "unchosen burdens" of family (41), on abortion, on government, on capital punishment, on suicide, on war, on death and funerals, on ownership and generosity, on trust, on time, on truthfulness (especially incisive is his pairing of the third and ninth commandments), and on much else.
You may have noticed that none of the "bonds" chapters address the beginning of the Decalogue. Meilaender concludes his book with reflection on the foundational and ultimate commands (1-2). He includes rich reflection in this chapter on the relation of the Ten Commandments to the Sermon on the Mount and to the Greatest Commandment (Matt. 22:37-39).
The area where I was most challenged in my understanding of the Ten Commandments has to do with the command to "Honor your Father and your Mother." As a good confessional Presbyterian, I subscribe to the Westminster Standards, which extend this commandment to address basically all human relationships--between "inferiors, superiors, and equals." Meilaender argues pretty compellingly that we over-extend the command when we follow Westminster. I'll have to wrestle with this question moving forward.
A last formal comment is that Meilaender, a Luther, follows the Lutheran/Roman ordering of the Ten Commandments, but that doesn't have any material consequences.
Very highly recommended! It's short, accessible, morally penetrating, and theologically rich. What more could you ask for?
September 25, 2025
One of the most thought-provoking books I’ve encountered in seminary.
September 25, 2025
Pretty solid read for class
December 1, 2021
Very well written examination on the five bonds of human life based on their respective commandments in the Decalogue. Marriage, Family, Life, Possessions, and Speach. Great way to further one's depth of application of the catechism to the daily life of faith and love.
Want to read
December 30, 2020Meilaender is Lutheran, fwiw.
October 29, 2021
This short book is a wonderful read, engaging and thoughtful, worth lingering over and returning to. Meilaender never wastes words but chooses and deploys them wisely and sensitively.
November 22, 2020
By delineating the Decalogue in terms of life-giving social bonds, Meilander is able to draw out the creaturely goods and sanctifying ethics promoted by the covenant prohibitions. These are intensified by, yet relativized to, the lordship of Christ, and framed in a conservatively open-ended manner, making this a helpful little book for church people.
August 23, 2020
Really good read! Definitely challenging as it gave me a different way to look at all the commandments. It gave me a lot of insight as to how I should consider each and every commandment and begin to live in a way that is more aligned to the Bible. I love how the different verses used were explained in detail which made it more applicable and not far out of reach. Overall, I will be keeping this book close and recommend it to my friends who are looking to challenge themselves in their faith and understanding of the Bible and it's commandments.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews