LORD’S DAY 34
92. What is the Law of God?
God spoke all these words, saying:
I. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.
II. You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of those who hate me; and showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
III. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
IV. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
V. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
VI. You shall not murder.
VII. You shall not commit adultery.
VIII. You shall not steal.
IX. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
X. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.1Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5; Matthew 5:17-19; Romans 10:5; Romans 3:31; Psalm 119:9
93. How are these commandments divided?
Into two tables:2Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13 the first of which teaches, in four commandments, what duties we owe to God; the second, in six, what duties we owe to our neighbor.3Matthew 22:37-40
First Commandment: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.
94. What does God require in the first commandment?
That, on peril of my soul’s salvation, I avoid and flee all idolatry,41 Corinthians 10:7,14 sorcery, enchantments,5Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:10-12; invocation of saints or of other creatures;6Matthew 4:10; Revelation 19:10; 22:8-9 and that I rightly acknowledge the only true God,7John 17:3 trust in Him alone,8Jeremiah 17:5 with all humility91 Peter 5:5-6 and patience10Hebrews 10:36; Colossians 1:10-11; Romans 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 10:10 expect all good from Him only,11Psalm 104:27-30; Isaiah 45:6-7; James 1:17 and love,12Deuteronomy 6:5 fear,13Deuteronomy 6:2; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10; Matthew 10:28 and honor14Deuteronomy 10:20 Him with my whole heart; so as rather to renounce all creatures than to do the least thing against His will.15Matthew 5:29-30; 10:37; Acts 5:29
95. What is idolatry?
Idolatry is to conceive or have something else in which to place our trust instead of, or besides, the one true God who has revealed Himself in His Word.16Ephesians 5:5; Philippians 3:19; Ephesians 2:12; John 2:23; 2 John 1:9; John 5:23; Psalm 81:8-9; Matthew 6:24; Psalm 62:5-7; Psalm 73:25-26