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A. Though father and mother only are expressed, we must understand all who are over us, as the reason is the same.

A. That the Lord has raised them to a high degree of honour; for there is no authority whether of parents, or princes, or rulers of any description, no power, no honour, but by the decree of God, because it so pleases him to order the world.

A. Thou shalt not kill.

A. Yes, indeed. For seeing it is God who speaks, he here gives law not only to outward works, but also to the affections of the mind, and indeed to them chiefly.

A. I do. For anger, and hatred, and any desire to hurt, is murder in the sight of God.

A. By no means. Since the Lord, by condemning hatred and restraining us from any harm by which our neighbour may be injured, shows at the same time that he requires us to love all men from the heart, and study faithfully to defend and preserve them.

A. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

A. That all kinds of fornication are cursed in the sight of God, and therefore as we would not provoke the anger of God against us we must carefully abstain from it.

A. Respect must always be had to the nature of the Law-giver, who, we have said, not only regards the outward act, but looks more to the affections of the mind.

A. Inasmuch as both our bodies and our souls are temples of the Holy Spirit, (1 Cor. iii. 16; vi. 19) we must observe a chaste purity with both, and accordingly be chaste not only by abstaining from outward flagitiousness, but also in heart, speech, bodily gesture, and action, (2 Cor. vi. 16;) in short, our body must be free from all lasciviousness, our mind from all lust, and no part of us be polluted by the defilements of unchastity.