A prompt for digging deeper into the Problem Movement from a "Two Tables" Perspective:

McKay asked me to post this. I hope it helps, it's not perfect but just wanted to give you a prompt I use in preparing a sermon and something I do in my own personal bible reading.

In the "Problem" section of the PPGR template, we rely on tools that help us diagnose the nature and implications of sin in a passage. To move past surface-level application, we must uncover the primary problem facing both the original audience and our contemporary listeners.

While pastorally identifying "little brother sins" versus "big brother sins" (moralism vs. licentiousness) is deeply helpful, we can dig even deeper into the human heart by asking the "Two Tables Question."

The "Two Tables" refer to the structural division of God’s Law:

Table 1 (Commandments 1–4): Our duties and sins directly against God.
Table 2 (Commandments 5–10): Our duties and sins directly against our neighbor.

According to 1 John 3:4, sin is lawlessness. Every single sin in human experience and every moral failure exposed in Scripture points back to a transgression or breach of God’s Law. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), He exposes the true depth and reach of these commands: God’s Law is not merely an external standard of behavioral compliance; it demands perfect internal conformity of the heart. To hate is to murder; to lust is to commit adultery.

God demands that His law be kept perfectly, personally, and perpetually (Leviticus 18:5; Galatians 3:10) a standard no fallen human can achieve, and a standard that points us directly to Jesus Christ, who came to fulfill the Law on our behalf (Matthew 5:17).

When we apply the "Two Tables Question" in sermon preparation, we examine a passage's problem not only through external manifestations, but through the hidden, internal sins that expose our heart's underlying idols.

Table 1: Sins Directly Against God:

Commandment 1: You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me

External Sins: Openly worshiping false deities, practicing pagan or occult rituals, vocal atheism or apostasy, and actively choosing worldliness over obedience to God.
Internal Sins: Secretly trusting in created things (wealth, reputation, intellect, relationships) for ultimate security, comfort, or identity; self-deification (wanting to be the sovereign lord of your own life); heart-atheism; failing to love, fear, and delight in God above all else.

Commandment 2: You Shall Not Make or Worship Graven Images

External Sins: Participating in false worship practices not prescribed by Scripture, using visual images or icons to represent the Trinity, or neglecting the public means of grace (Word, Sacraments, and Prayer).
Internal Sins: Constructing a "god of our own imagination" reimagining God to be more comfortable, tolerant, or like ourselves rather than as He has revealed Himself in Scripture; lukewarmness or distraction during worship; seeking emotional entertainment over true spiritual communion.

Commandment 3: You Shall Not Take the Name of the Lord Your God in Vain

External Sins: Profanity, blasphemy, light or superstitious repetition of God’s name, breaking solemn oaths/covenants, using Scripture or God's name to justify personal agendas, or bringing scandal upon Christ's name through hypocrisy.
Internal Sins: Irreverence and a lack of holy awe in our thoughts toward God; misinterpreting or complaining against God’s sovereign decrees and providences in our hearts; treating holy things with boredom, apathy, or secret contempt.

Commandment 4: Remember the Sabbath Day, to Keep It Holy

External Sins: Unnecessary worldly labor, recreational pursuits that draw us away from the Lord’s Day assembly, or neglecting public and private gatherings for worship.
Internal Sins: Harboring resentment toward the Lord’s Day rest; allowing worldly anxieties, business plans, or personal agendas to consume our mental focus during worship; treating spiritual duties as a burden rather than a holy delight.

Table 2: Sins Against Our Neighbor

Commandment 5: Honor Your Father and Your Mother

External Sins: Rebellion against legitimate authority (parents, church elders, civil government, employers); publicly defaming or gossiping about leaders; failing to care for aging parents or subordinates.
Internal Sins: Resenting rightful authority in our hearts; holding bitter, contemptuous, or proud attitudes toward those God has placed over us; misuse of power, harshness, or neglect by those who hold authority over others.

Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder

External Sins: Physical violence, murder, abortion, reckless endangering of life, abusive speech, or retaliatory harm.
Internal Sins: Heart-hatred, unrighteous anger, malice, envying another’s success, holding grudges, desiring revenge, or harboring cold indifference toward the suffering of others.

Commandment 7: You Shall Not Commit Adultery

External Sins: Fornication, adultery, exposure to pornography, sexually explicit speech, or engaging in any sexual behavior outside the covenant of biblical marriage.
Internal Sins: Lustful thoughts, lingering romantic or sexual fantasies about someone who is not your spouse, improper attachments, or failing to guard the eye-gate and mind against impurity.

Commandment 8: You Shall Not Steal

External Sins: Theft, fraud, wage theft, dishonesty in business transactions, failing to pay debts, extortion, or refusing to practice generosity toward those in need.
Internal Sins: Greed, covetousness of money, anxiety over worldly goods, secret discontentment with our financial state, or a selfish refusal to be a steward of God’s gifts.

Commandment 9: You Shall Not Bear False Witness

External Sins: Lying, slander, gossip, perjury, flattery, framing arguments dishonestly, or staying silent when an innocent person's reputation is being damaged.
Internal Sins: A readiness to believe the worst about others, secretly taking pleasure in another’s fall or bad reputation, prejudice, self-justifying deceit, or harboring insincere motives.

Commandment 10: You Shall Not Covet

External Sins: Complaining out loud about our lot in life, actively trying to maneuver or manipulate situations to strip others of their possessions, or living beyond our means to match others.
Internal Sins: Inordinate desire for what belongs to our neighbor, secret discontentment with God’s providential placement of our lives, envy at another's gifts, status, or blessings, and a restless spirit that demands more than God has given.

Using the "Two Tables Question" ensures that our diagnosis of sin never remains at the superficial level of mere behavioral modification. When we preach or teach through a text, mapping human brokenness against the full width and depth of the Ten Commandments forces us to confront both our external actions and our hidden heart idols.

Most importantly, when the Law is unfolded in its strict internal demands, it achieves its ultimate gospel purpose: it shuts every human mouth, leaves us without self-righteous excuses, and drives us directly to the foot of the Cross. There, in the shadow of our complete failure to keep either Table of the Law, we behold Jesus Christ—the One who kept the Law perfectly on our behalf and paid its penalty for our redemption.

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A prompt for digging deeper into the Problem Movement from a "Two Tables" Perspective: