Happy birthday, President Trump

Happy birthday to President Donald Trump!

I'm not a big fan of President Trump. But I believe that either God wanted him to be President, or God allowed him to be President.

Trump's biggest accomplishment? Getting the COVID vaccine produced in an amazingly short time. That was worth a Nobel Prize. (He didn't get one)

Why am I not a big fan? 

1. The Bible indicates that humans are to care for God's creation, The Trump administration, unfortunately, has treated the world around us as something to exploit, and has failed to protect non-human species, and the environment as a whole, with respect and care.

2. The Bible indicates that aliens and foreigners should be well treated. Trump has presided over treating them poorly.

3. Trump has supported racism in a number of ways.

4. Trump has done a lot of things that have been designed to glorify himself and his name. He's been proud. He has used his position to his own advantage. He has claimed expertise in areas where he is ignorant.

5. Trump keeps trying to erase history, for example of slavery, and of his lost election.

6. Trump told us, when running for the Presidency, that he would take vengeance on his perceived enemies. The Bible says that that is God's business.

7. Trump has ignored the Golden Rule, the heart of Christ's teaching.

All of what I see as Trump's failings have been supported by others, including many who claim they follow the Bible, but are going against Christ's teachings.

Thanks for reading.

Ten Commandments in classrooms?

A state legislature has required that the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public school classrooms.

Leaving aside questions of separation of church and state, another question arises. Why the enthusiasm for posting the Ten Commandments, rather than the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12a) “Therefore, whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them,”? or the two Greatest Commandments?: 

Matthew 22:35 One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him. 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ [Deuteronomy 6:5] 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ [Leviticus 19:18] The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (This episode is also reported in Mark 12:28-33)

Immigration and migration, what the Bible says (repost)

This was a fairly long post on what the Bible says about how to treat immigrants.

Thanks for reading, or re-reading.

Christianity is about doing more than it's about not doing

Christians, unfortunately, are too often known for what we are against, rather than what we are for. We are also unfortunately known for what we don't do, rather than what we do.

Both of these misconceptions have some validity, because of the behavior of some people who say that they are Christians. But that's not the emphasis of the Bible. The Bible tells us that we should be for some things, and that we are to do some things. (Sure, there are things we shouldn't do, like stealing or adultery, and things we should be against, like child abuse. But these sorts of positions shouldn't define us. Not according to the Bible.) And, the Bible teaches, our attitude, not just what we do, is critically important.

In James 4:17 the Bible explicitly condemns sins of omission: To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.
A sin of omission is about something we should do, but don’t; a sin of omission is when we don’t do the things we know we should.

But, some may say, the New Testament is about doing good. Not the Old Testament -- it's about not doing bad. And Christians are supposed to pay attention to the Old Testament, too. Yes, we should. It was the Bible for Jesus, and for the early church, and it was the foundation for the Gospel. But is the Old Testament just about not doing things? The Ten Commandments might seem to be that sort of rules: don't bear false witness, don't commit adultery, don't murder, etc. But, when Jesus was asked about which commandment was the greatest, here's what he said: Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37, and elsewhere, quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, which passages, of course, are in the Old Testament.) These two great commandments tell us what believers ought to do -- love God, and love other people. When Jesus was asked to specify who a neighbor is, he told the story of the Good Samaritan, a member of a despised ethnic/religious group, indicating that our neighbors aren't just people who live near us, and/or act and look like us.

Here's another “rule,” from an Old Testament prophet: Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah tells us what we ought to do, and what our attitude should be, just as the two great commandments do. Be just, be humble, be merciful.

Let's go to the New Testament for further guidance. In fact, let us go to the heart of Christ's teaching, the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 5:5“… Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
The Beatitudes are not mostly about not doing things, but about doing things, and about our attitude: being merciful, making peace, etc.

The Golden Rule is also part of the Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 7:12 Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

Back to the Old Testament. God wanted the Israelites to keep from worshiping idols, and, in order to do that, they were told to wipe out certain tribes that were already living in the Promised Land. But He also told them to treat aliens -- people who weren't Israelites -- respectfully and generously, and, in fact to love them:
Deuteronomy 10:19 Therefore love the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. In other words, treat them in the same way Jesus indicated in the Golden Rule. (These directions for dealing with aliens, foreigners and strangers are repeated elsewhere in the five books that begin the Old Testament.)

Let's look at another central Christian text: 
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23b gentleness, and self-control. The Fruit of the Spirit is about our attitudes, not about what we shouldn’t do. 

And another:
The heroes (and heroines) of faith in Hebrews 11 are named because of what they did, not because of what they didn’t do.

And there are the final instructions of Christ:
Matthew 28:18 Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19  Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20  teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.  
Go, make disciples, baptize and teach are all things to do.

Examples of sins of omission in the Bible:
•    Matthew 11:20-24. The Galilean cities did not repent.
•    Matthew 25:26 “But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter. 27 You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest. …”
•    The Judgment scene in Matt 25:41-46. Jesus used that scripture to condemn sins of omission.
•    One thief on the cross did not believe and repent. (Luke 23:39-43)
•    The rich man did nothing for Lazarus. (Luke 16:19-31).

What should we be doing? Believe; repent; forgive/ask forgiveness; be baptized; take communion; praise and witness; obey Christ’s commands; be a Christ-like example; give, including to the needy; meet with other Christians for worship, learning and mutual encouragement; pray for other Christians; love other people; absorb the Bible; find ways to serve. That's a lot of doing, but God can help us do these things.

We must not forget that salvation is not the result of what we do -- we can't earn it. It's the result of what Christ did, in dying and being resurrected.

Thanks for reading.

What scriptures to post in courtrooms, on lawns, etc.

"For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes (Matthew 5). But, often with tears in their eyes, [they] demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course, that's Moses, not Jesus. I haven't heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.
"Blessed are the merciful" in a courtroom? "Blessed are the peacemakers" in the Pentagon? Give me a break!”
― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country (source)

Vonnegut, probably not a believer himself, had a point.

Some people have deeply committed themselves toward placing the Ten Commandments in courtrooms, or in or next to other public buildings. See Roy Moore for a widely publicized example.

Why do people do this? I can only speculate. Some, no doubt, believe that the Ten Commandments are a foundation for our laws. Some want to honor God. Some are probably desiring to see the Commandments posted for their own political advantage. Some want the U. S. to be an explicitly Christian nation. There are probably other reasons. On the other hand, government often sees posting of the Ten Commandments as putting one religion ahead of another, and has banned the practice.

The Ten Commandments, with the exception of the Command to honor one's parents, are warnings against sins of commission -- don't commit adultery, don't give false testimony in court, don't worship idols, don't want other people's possessions, etc. Sins of commission are, generally, easy to spot. Either I have stolen from someone, or I haven't. So, laws against things are often easier to enforce than laws for things. But there are also sins of omission. Things that we should do, but don't. Let's look at some other possibilities for posting publicly, as Vonnegut suggested.

How about the Beatitudes?
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the gentle,
for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
(Text notes in the World English Bible indicate that the first three of these are based on the Old Testament: 5:3 on Isaiah 57:15 and 66:2, 5:4 on Isaiah 61:2 and 66:10,13, and 5:4 on Psalm 37:11. So Vonnegut isn't completely correct about the source of the Beatitudes. But, mostly, he is. It was Jesus.)

The Beatitudes are not mostly about not doing things, but about doing things, or about our attitude: being merciful, making peace, hungering after righteousness, etc. We may respect, honor, and try to follow the standard of the Beatitudes, but we don't make laws commanding people to be pure in heart, or to be gentle, and, if we did, they would be most difficult to enforce. But maybe it would be a good idea to post these in courtrooms, except that doing so would tend to violate them -- it might not be making peace, or being gentle.

There are some other candidates for such posting, if it were allowed.
One such is the Golden Rule, which, like the Beatitudes, comes from the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 7:12 Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

Here's another, from the Old Testament:
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good.
What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly,
to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
That doesn't come from Moses, but would presumably, not be offensive to Jews or Muslims, or Christians. But it's similar to the Beatitudes, in that it's about out attitudes, not about things we shouldn't do.

And then there's St. Paul, in Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. The Fruit of the Spirit is, again, about our attitudes. And, instead of outlawing various behaviors, it, as it were, inlaws them. The Fruit of the Spirit is not from the Law of Moses, but it is compatible with it. Read on:

In Matthew 22, Jesus stated the two most important commandments:
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (Deuteronomy 6:5) 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39  A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18) 40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
These two are also not so much about what we shouldn't do, but about what we should. And they are from the Mosaic Law, as quoted by Jesus. People who want to put signs in their front yard, or on their wall, or even in a courtroom, should consider these alternatives!

Thanks for reading!

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 38

What are Christ’s commandments?

Many of them are found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Some of the commands in that Sermon are to keep our motives pure – don’t even want to commit adultery or murder; be reconciled to others, and forgive them; turn the other cheek; love even your enemies; don’t draw attention to your good deeds; don’t be anxious about worldly possessions; judge yourselves before judging others; beware of false prophets.

The Golden Rule is found in Matthew 7:12 “Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.”

Christ also told us to live the summary of the Old Testament Law:

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Note – Here is the first of the two commandments, in context:

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one. 5 You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; 7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates. 10 It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities, which you didn’t build, 11 and houses full of all good things, which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out, which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full; 12 then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 13 You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name. 14 You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you; 15 for Yahweh your God among you is a jealous God; lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. 16 You shall not tempt Yahweh your God, as you tempted him in Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18 You shall do that which is right and good in Yahweh’s sight; that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, 19 to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken.

The second part of what Jesus said is taken from Leviticus, which is more inclusive than the part quoted in Matthew 22:39:

Leviticus 19:17 “‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.

18 “‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.

33 “‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.

In Mark 12:14-19, Jesus commanded His listeners to honor the government, including paying taxes. We should remember that this was an occupying government, and its head was a Roman pagan emperor.

There is an implied command, sometimes called The Great Compassion, to help unfortunate people:

Matthew 25:34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. 36 I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink? 38 When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’

40 “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

There are other commands, but one more, often called The Great Commission, is found in the last words of Matthew’s gospel:

Matthew 28:19 Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20a teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

The above material is an excerpt from my self-published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series, on the characteristics of a true Christian, is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue the topic of this post, discussing Christ's commandments. Thanks for reading.

Medical ethics: Introduction, and questions for Christians

Bioethics is a word derived from the Greek words for biology and ethics. Biology is the study of life. Ethics is concerned with right behavior. So bioethics is an academic, and applied, discipline, about to proper behavior related to living things. You might suppose that bioethics concerns such matters as protecting endangered species, and, from the origin of the word, it should, but that branch of ethics is usually called environmental ethics, and will not be considered further here. (For more on that subject, see this post on “Environmental Stewardship in the Bible.”)

Bioethics, for this post, considers what behavior is right, in relation to health care. It is also called medical ethics.

Christians should be concerned with bioethics. Why? Here are some questions on the subject to consider:

1) Should a Christian seek medical treatment, or never do so, but trust in God to heal, in answer to prayer? Should a Christian avoid paying for health insurance, but trust in God’s provisions for financial needs?
2) Abortion, for some Christians, is the most important issue in society. Is this type of medical “care” ethical? If not, why not? Does the Bible clearly indicate that abortion is murder? If it doesn’t (or even if it does), is abortion ever justifiable? Are any forms of birth control acceptable for Christians to use? Are various forms of apparent wrong-doing, from deceit in anti-abortion ad campaigns, through murdering doctors who work in abortion clinics, things that Christians can do without sin?
(Here’s a more extensive discussion of abortion.)
3) What is a person -- that is, someone who should be treated as if they had rights? Is an infant a person, in that sense? A fetus? An embryo? A fertilized egg? A sperm? An unfertilized egg? A child? A person in a persistent coma or persistent vegetative state? A person who is temporarily unconscious? A person who has died within the past few hours? An intelligent animal, such as a dolphin, whale, chimpanzee or bonobo? A really fast computer with lots of processing ability and memory? A computer program capable of interacting in English with a human being such that the human can’t be sure whether the interaction is with a computer or another human? An intelligent alien organism? (Note that these are not scientific questions, or at least not mostly scientific questions. They are moral, religious, legal, political and philosophical. There have been times when, to our shame, blacks or women were not considered persons, in many senses.)
4) Some types of procedures or treatments strike some Christians (and some others) as so unnatural that they shouldn’t be allowed. Human cloning is one such procedure. Other types of “enhancements,” such as the use of drugs by athletes, are more common. Are there limits to what should be done to “enhance” the human body, including the brain?
5) Christ taught justice and concern for the poor, and Psalm 72 indicates that the government (in that case, King David, who was the government) has some responsibility for care of the poor. Is it right that the relatively wealthy, and seniors, should have access to expensive medical care, when the poor don’t? If not, why not?
6) Should Christians oppose the current fee-based “system” of medical care in the U. S., as unfair and wasteful? That “system” has financial rewards for medical facilities that encourage expensive procedures, as opposed to more simple treatments like exercise and diet. It also has financial rewards for doctors who become specialists, as opposed to those who become family practice, physicians, or geriatric physicians. It gives insurance companies incentives for not paying for treatments, for delaying payment, or for not covering sick people, who need insurance most, at all. It makes it likely that patients who are unable to pay for care will go to emergency rooms, where care, which someone has to pay for, is more expensive, and where their care may be interfering with true emergencies. The “system” emphasizes treatment, rather than prevention, which would often be cheaper and more effective.
(As I understand it, so-called Obamacare would do little, or nothing, to fix most of these issues, or might make the problems worse.)
7) Many people in the US have no healthcare insurance. Currently (Obamacare may change this) such insurance is most often obtained through employment. This often results in employers hiring people on a part-time basis, so they don’t have to pay for part of the employee’s health insurance, when, otherwise, that same employee might have been hired on a full-time basis. Also, health insurance costs for companies are high enough that it is difficult for them to compete with firms from other countries where health insurance is not a benefit of employment. Should Christians work to change this way of doing things? Do Christians have any special duty to advocate particular modes of governing, or of economics? Is trying to spread the gospel of salvation, which is important for eternity, compatible with trying to change laws, or trying to change those who have political power? Why or why not?
8) Research to bring new medicines and treatments to usefulness is expensive, and should be compensated, especially since the majority of such new treatments and drugs don’t turn out to be useful, and it is usually impossible to know that without years of expensive testing. But drug companies charge considerably more to US customers, in many cases, than they do to others, and they keep patents on medications active by tweaking minor features, such as the color or shape of the pill, when otherwise such medications could be sold as generic. Is this fair? Should Christians oppose this?
9) Everyone, barring the second coming, is going to die. When should we “let them go,” and let someone die, if ever? Should everything possible be done to keep someone breathing? If not, why not? Is it ever all right to administer treatment which will hasten death? If not, why not? Does God ever allow Christians to take their own lives, or to engage in actions that will lead to their deaths? A lot of healthcare resources are spent in taking care of persons who are within a few days of dying. Is this legitimate?
10) Are psychoses, addictions, emotional illnesses and physical handicaps the result of sin in the person’s life, or are they diseases, like, say, chicken pox, and the result of living in a fallen world? Should addictions and emotional illnesses receive any specialized treatment, other than prayer and care?
11) How do we deal with aging, or otherwise incapacitated, relatives and friends? Must a Christian put her life on hold to help such people? Is it ever right to act against their wishes, or even to deceive them?
12) Should there be differences in how people get health care, based on sex, age, income, ethnicity, religion, disability, and the like? If so, why? If there are such differences, should Christians oppose this?
13) Are we, as a society, spending too much on healthcare, at the expense of, say, public school education, or infrastructure?
14) Each Christian should examine her own life. Does she exercise properly? Get enough sleep? Eat healthful foods? Avoid exposure to UV rays, from the sun or tanning beds? Avoid harmful foods and drinks?

Where can we get guidance on such issues, and others?
There are several candidates for such guidance, among those who claim expertise in bioethics. They include:
1) Deontological ethics. This type of ethics holds that some things are always wrong, or always right, no matter what the circumstances. For example, it could be argued that it is never right to deliberately deceive a patient. Following deontological ethics doesn’t answer the question of how to decide what’s always right and always wrong. The Ten Commandments, the Bible as a whole, or the Hippocratic Oath, might be taken as guides for this, but they don’t cover all questions in bioethics. (There have been many attempts to modify the Oath for our culture -- Hippocrates lived four centuries before Christ. Here is one such.)
2) Consequentialist ethics. This type of ethics holds that what is right and wrong depends on the consequences, so we should try to make as many people happy as possible, and as few unhappy. Perhaps the Golden Rule of Matthew 7:12 is a form of this type of decision-making. One problem with this approach is that we don’t always know what the consequences will be.  Another problem is that this approach seems to deny the possibility of absolute moral directives.
3) Be virtuous. (See Virtue Ethics in the Wikipedia.)
4) Establish principles, and work from them. The book that was, for many years, the most important text in biomedical ethics was built around four such principles, in order from the most important to less so: Autonomy, giving the patient power over decisions; Beneficence, doing good; Nonmaleficence, not doing harm; Justice, treating people fairly.

If principles are to be the touchstone for medical ethics for Christians, the following is a proposed set of Christian principles which are relevant:
A. Treat others with unselfish agape love (1 Corinthians 13, and the Golden Rule); 
B. Treat one’s body as if it were the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
C. Treat resources as if they came from God, (1 Chronicles 29:10-14) as responsible stewards.
D. Remember that life and death are ultimately in God's hands (Deuteronomy 32:39).

This was originally posted on August 16, 2013, but has since been tweaked a little. Thanks to anyone who may read this post.

Jesus and the Ten Commandments

A few weeks ago, I posted on the commandments of Jesus, especially those found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).

I wish to muse about what Jesus had to say about the Ten Commandments, which are found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. (There are no significant differences between the two statements.) See here for the Wikipedia article on the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments are these: (See the Wikipedia article -- there are variations in the ways people number them.)
1) Don't have any other gods.
2) Don't worship anything man-made.
3) Don't use God's name frivolously.
4) Rest on the Sabbath Day.
5) Honor your parents.
6) Don't commit murder.
7) Don't commit adultery.
8) Don't steal.
9) Don't offer false testimony*.
10) Don't lust after anything someone else has.

*Note that this is not "Don't lie." Lying is usually wrong, but the commandment is more specific, probably because of the significance of testifying falsely in court. There are examples of lies told, in the Old Testament, that were apparently approved by God. In no case were these told to give an advantage to the liar. Usually, they were to protect someone else. Also, the 7th commandment doesn't explicitly forbid fornication, not because fornication is not sinful, but because keeping a marriage covenant is so important.

Jesus mentioned some of the Ten Commandments. Here's what He had to say:
Matthew 19:16 Behold, one came to him and said, “Good teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”
17 He said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
18 He said to him, “Which ones?”
Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder.’ ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ‘You shall not steal.’ ‘You shall not offer false testimony.’ 19 ‘Honor your father and mother.’ And, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (All scripture quotations from the World English Bible, which is public domain.)

From the context, and what Jesus said  in Matthew 19, I conclude that Jesus affirmed Commandments 5 through 9. He not only affirmed the 6th and 7th commandments, but he expanded on them, in the Sermon on the Mount. The last part of verse 19, which Jesus quoted from Leviticus 19:18, would seem to cover the 10th commandment. So what about the first four? Jesus also spoke about the first and second commandment:

Matthew 22:35 One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him. 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (The quote in verse 37 is from Deuteronomy 6:5, and it is the relevant portion of the quotation. If we really love God, there won't be any other gods in our lives.)

He also said: Matthew 5:33 “Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,’ 34 but I tell you, don’t swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; 35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one. That affirms the 3rd commandment.

The 4th commandment wasn't exactly affirmed by Christ, or by the early church. Christ said that the Sabbath was made for us, not us for the Sabbath, in Mark 2:23-28. There were occasions when Jesus healed on the Sabbath. The early church began celebrating on Sunday, apparently, not on the Sabbath (which is between sundown on Friday and sundown on Saturday). Paul said that some people regarded certain days, and some did not, in Romans 14:6, and indicated that either could be a means of honoring God. The New Testament, however, does not set aside, but affirms, the main principles of the 4th commandment, namely that it's a good idea to take some regular rest from work, and it's also a good idea to worship with others on a regular basis. (See here for more on the 4th commandment.)

Thanks for reading! Honor God and love your neighbors.