The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:14)

A few days ago, I began writing a piece on the topic of envy and it quickly became larger than I ever intended it to be. In light of the ten commandments, envy is a sin that is most plainly described by the sixth and tenth commandment, yet it does spread to offend all the other commandments. In that first writing, I aimed to lay out how envy does break each of the ten. No wonder it became a very long piece. In this writing I will focus on a particular way envy can be exposed in the ninth commandment, which is the commandment that reads, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour” (Exodus 20:16).

So how does a person speak falsely against his neighbour out of envy? There are a variety of ways. One can target the person’s conscience or target the person’s reputation, or a combination thereof. However, since envy starts with a person who covets (desires) what God has freely given to another, one’s envy might speak like this: “If I had what this person possesses, I would make a better work of it.”

Now there are occasions for rebuke if a person is using their gifts unlawfully. This would be a topic for another piece. What I am referring to is the freedom a person has to use their gifts under the law. The gifts I am referring to might be the possessions, physical characteristics and/or natural abilities God has given to a person. A person, for instance, may possess some acres of land. There may be a variety of lawful ways for that person to use that land. Yet that person is free to use that land at their heart’s delight to the glory of God. It is not necessary for that person to be bound by what another person would hypothetically do with it. If one should have a different preference, that preference should not serve to dampen the honour due unto the trustee of God’s good and gracious gift.

So far, it seems that it is not so grave a matter that an envying person should claim “I would make a better work of it.” But the reality of the matter is that such a conviction is a flat out lie. God knows us better than we know ourselves, and he has designed a special providence for each of his children. To look at another person’s providential goods and then make such lofty claims against it is contempt against God and slander against neighbour. To be so sure of the claim signifies one’s own entitlement for the gift. It is not then a gift.

Making such a lofty claim is not the same as saying, “Here’s an idea for you to consider.” A generous person may impart some knowledge to the person who possesses and may even feel obliged to do so. And this is good and well. A pastor may advise a carpenter of biblical principles that would help the carpenter’s business. But with no experience in the field, the pastor is not fit to advise on what saw blade should be used to cut a specific kind of wood. It is more fitting that a person who is similarly gifted and perhaps more experienced give that advice. But the one who has not the gift, who envies the person with the gift, who says, “I would surely make a better work of it,” desires not to bless. In fact, he might withhold any truth and/or speak many lies both to the person and to others because he is envious. He might even resort to suggesting unlawful behaviour so that the gifted person would stand accused to have their favour removed.

A few theologians have thought that Satan, who was created as a good angel, fell from grace out of envy, because he looked on the crown that God would bestow on man and desired it for himself. When Satan first appeared to the woman as a serpent, he suggested a way of which the woman could better her condition. God gave her never-ending blessings and only one command: to not eat of the one tree. She also knew that eating would result in death. But Satan said, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4). Satan lied, accusing God of withholding from her, saying there is a law above the law of God, a law that the woman could make for herself since she would attain a new intrinsic knowledge of good and evil. Yet Satan knew that his lie was given to hold the woman and her husband accused against God’s blessing. Satan’s name, after all, is “the accuser.”

However, through the ages, Satan was truly motivated to gain the crown that was reserved to man, because he thought he could make a better work of it as one free from a commanding God. It is the best lie he knows, and he tries to use that lie as a ploy so that men would also worship a work of their own; then Satan would hold man accused, and then also accuse God of contradicting his holy nature in upholding man. As long as he could hold man accused, Satan’s power was fathomable. God’s plan was not however foiled by man’s sin. He would raise up a King through sending his only begotten Son so that wretched man would receive grace through him. This King would uphold God’s law and yet bear every accusation of Satan against man. Satan would exhaust his accusations against the Christ who would be vindicated by God, rendering Satan powerless.

Accusations against Jesus Christ were many as he ministered. The Scripture does not cite direct accusations made by Satan himself against Christ. Satan did however tempt Jesus with lies that suggested how he could better his condition. But for making accusations, Satan commissioned men to act this on his behalf, for the fallen angel himself had no power over God’s Son. All of the accusations made by men too were lies. Some of them were made by his very disciples. Such accusations seemed quite mild. But they were in fact deadly. They too sprung from an envious heart. Especially in the one who betrayed him.

When the woman anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive ointment, Judas Iscariot thought he could make better use of the precious perfume, saying, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” (John 12:5). He was also lying about his intentions, for the Scripture says he was a thief who sought to cash in on the transaction. Judas, out of envy, exalted his own law, one he had no intention to keep, above Jesus, who was the supreme law-keeper. And, of course, Judas would eventually cash in to enable the biggest transaction of them all—the transaction of Jesus’ blood for the purchase of sinners. And yet it was the perfume, an anointing for his burial, that signified Jesus’ death, which was an event that would also prove to be a point of stumbling for the other disciples.

After Peter confesses that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:13-20), Jesus told his disciples that he must suffer, die, and on the third day be raised (v. 21). Peter, taking Jesus aside, rebukes him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you” (v. 22). Peter thought there was a better way for Jesus to take up his throne. Indeed, all of the disciples were anticipating that Jesus would take up his crown in Jerusalem. For he healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, casted out demons, raised the dead, spoke words to silence the authorities who envied him, all the while showing compassion to the people. His demonstrations could have given him every political advantage. He was favoured by God as his own Son so that twelve legions of angels would have rescued him from his pursuers. But this was not the will of God. God would do a better work.

Therefore Jesus told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (v. 23). Peter, humanly speaking, had “good intentions,” but Jesus’ crown was even more blessed as someone who would die to receive the nations, procuring a most glorious inheritance for all believers through his atoning death and resurrection. Peter accused Jesus of speaking vainly about the work that was to be accomplished through him. For no one would envy the cross. The disciples themselves felt abandoned by Jesus, but it was Jesus who was abandoned by them. All so that God’s glorious work would be finished by Christ. No one can tell God how to do his work. His work is as perfect as his law. For Jesus worked the commandments perfectly by his cross in order to uphold the commandments so that God’s commandments are named as the very words of Jesus.

Those who speak against God’s works of providence are therefore commanding a law of their own. Jesus made his law free to believers; not free as in optional, but free as in truly beatific. Just as there is a variety of gifts, there might be a variety of ways a person could make use of a gift. As long as one is commanded under Christ’s law of liberty, one is free from any accusation.

Since the commandments themselves are not optional, the saints are accountable to the gifts God has granted. For instance, an owner of a big house may use that house for the lawful production of goods, which would be a loving of neighbour. But if there is a greater and more immediate need for hospitality, the owner is obliged to consider the need out of love. If the owner turns a blind eye to the need, a production only policy would prove to be unlawful. For the apostle John says:

If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? (1 John 17)

If love to neighbour is neglected, God’s commandment is neglected. But in loving one another with the gifts God has given, we are in prime standing to ask and receive additional gifts from God. The apostle continues:

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. (1 John 21-23)

Indeed, we are free to ask for additional gifts to make good work of the gifts God has already given. And we have confidence to receive these from God. For God has given each his very best. How needless then is envy.

So let us not be embittered against one another with lies born of envy. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17) Although there is a variety of gifts, there is no variation or change in God. God gives. He gave his only begotten Son. The Son keeps God’s commandments to the very end. So the end of the matter is the same as the beginning, that we “fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”