Q. 15. What is meant by the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me”?

We should know, fear, and trust the only true God above all things. We should not give to any other the worship and glory which is due to God alone.

For God sees all things, and is greatly displeased by the sin of having any other god.

Deuteronomy 6:4–5; Psalm 14:1; 44:20–21; Proverbs 9:10; Isaiah 43:10–13; 44:6–8, 24; 45:5–7, 18, 22; Matthew 4:10; 10:37–39; John 17:3; Revelation 22:8–9.

  • WSC 46–48
  • Heidelberg Catechism 94
  • Luther’s Small Catechism

Know. It is not enough to believe that the Lord is God; he must be our God. We must know him personally, as he has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ. The first commandment “includes a precept which is the foundation of the whole law, that we take the Lord for our God, accept him for ours, adore him with humble reverence, and set our affections entirely upon him” (Wesley, Notes on the Bible, Exodus 20:3).

Fear. The fear of the Lord is a reverent and submissive posture towards God. Augustine distinguished between servile fear (the fear of a servant) and filial fear (the fear of a son). As sons of God through Christ, we are set free from fear of God’s wrath and judgment (see 1 John 4:18), but continue to live in awe of God’s greatness, careful to honor his holy name in our words, thoughts, and actions. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10).

Trust. It is not enough to believe that God exists; we must believe in God, entrusting ourselves to him in faith. “Whatever you set your heart on and put your trust in is truly your god” (Luther, Large Catechism 3).

The only true God. Unlike their pagan neighbors, Israel acknowledged the Lord as the only true God: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:4–5). God required Israel to “entirely cleave to him, and no other, either of their own invention, or borrowed from their neighbors” (Wesley). Christians acknowledge no other God except the Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God alone. “The sin against this commandment, which we are most in danger of, is giving that glory to any creature which is due to God only. … Whatever is loved, feared, delighted in, or depended on, more than God, that we make a god of” (Wesley).

  1. Coming soon.