Jan 21
17
Baptist Catechism 52 & 53
Q. 52. What is forbidden in the first commandment?
A. The first commandment forbideth the denying, or not worshipping and glorifying the true God, as God and our God; and the giving that worship and glory to any other, which is due unto Him alone. (Joshua 24:27; Rom. 1:20,21; Ps. 14:1; Rom. 1:25)
Q. 53. What are we especially taught by these words, “before me,” in the first commandment?
A. These words, “before me”, in the first commandment, teach us, that God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with the sin of having any other god. (Deut.30:17,18; Ps. 44:20,21; Ps. 90:8)
Scripture Reading: Romans 1:18-25
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (Romans 1:18–25, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
We have already learned the first commandment: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” And we have learned what the first commandment requires. It requires us “to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify Him accordingly.” Now we ask, what does it forbid?
I do love how our catechism proceeds with care through the Ten Commandments. It asks what does it require? and what does it forbid? of each and every commandment. It’s as if the framers of this catechism took each commandment, set it down on the table, and then walked around to examine it from all angles. Of course catechisms are very brief. They cannot provide thorough answers, for they are meant to be memorized. But if well written they will set our minds off in the right direction. And I think our catechism is well written. These little answers do set our minds off in the right direction.
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Catechism Explained
So what does the first commandment forbid? In other words, what does it tell us not to do? Well, our catechism identifies three things:
One, the first commandment reveals that it is a sin to deny God. In fact, to deny, or to refuse to acknowledge him as God, is a very great sin.
The scriptures teach us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. As Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10, ESV). Wisdom is the art of living life well and according to truth. And if we wish to be wise we must start with the fear of the LORD. This means that we must acknowledge him to be the one true God, and to honor him accordingly. It is impossible to live a life of wisdom if you deny God’s existence or fail to honor him as God. And this is why the scriptures also say, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1, ESV). The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and the denial of God is the beginning of folly. To live as if there is no God is to live a misdirected life of sin. To deny God is to set off on the wrong path in a very bad way.
The first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”, warns against the sin and folly of denying God, for here in this commandment God does speak to us. He claims to be the only true God. And he warns us that it is a great sin — in fact it is the first sin, and the beginning of all sin — to deny him. We set off down the path of wisdom when we honor him as God. And we set off down the path of sin and folly when we deny him.
Here is something that you must keep in mind. Everyone has a god. Everyone worships something. There are no exceptions at all. Even the atheist worships. Though he may deny the existence of God in the most absolute of terms, he does still consider something to be of supreme worth. He trusts in something. He hopes in something, and lives for something. The atheist wakes up in the morning and, just like you and me, lives with purpose and does seek to honor and glorify something. And so do you see that when a person denies the one true God, they certainly do break the first commandment. They have put someone or something in God’s place, and this is the first and greatest of all sins.
Two, the first commandment reveals that it is sin to not worship and glorify God, as God and our God. This is true, and this is very helpful.
I’m afraid that some assume they are keeping the first commandment so long as they do not bow to another god besides the God who has revealed himself in creation, in redemption, and in the scriptures. Do you see what I am saying? They assume that so long as they keep themselves from bowing down to another God, they are in the clear as it pertains to first commandment.
But no, the first commandment does not only forbid worshipping other so-called gods, it also forbids failing to worship and glorify the one true God. When God says, “you shall have no other God before me”, he must also mean, you shall have me as your God. So we sin against him when we fail to acknowledge him, worship him, and glorify him.
I think you are beginning to see that it is not only the polythistic pagans, or the misdirected monotheists, who break the first commandment. No, it is the secularists too. And it is even the evangelicals who claim to believe in God, but fail to worship him and glorify him according to his word. Brothers and sisters, when we begin to understand the first commandment — what it forbids and what it requires — we come to the realization we also break it. For who among us does perfectly and perpetually worship and glorify God, as God and their God. We all fall short of this, friends. And this is why we all need a Savior, Christ Jesus the Lord! But those who have faith in Christ are to strive to keep this law with the strength that God provides, to the glory of his name, because we are grateful.
Thirdly, our catechism rightly teaches that the first commandment forbids us from “giving that worship and glory to any other, which is due unto [God] alone.”
Brothers and sisters, please consider how prone we are to do this very thing. It is very, very easy for us to love the things of this world more than God, to labor for the things of this world and not for God, and to trust in the things of this world instead of God. Think of how prone we are to give the “worship and glory… which is due to God alone” to created things rather than the Creator of all things seen and unseen.
You should remember that this is the human tendency described in that Romans 1 passage that was read earlier. Though God has revealed himself generally to all men, so that all know him (in this general sense), men in their sins do “not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts [are] darkened.” They live in sin. “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [exchanging] the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things…” And here is their fundamental error: the have “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and [worship] and [serve] the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
Friends, if you have faith in Christ you have been washed in his blood, you have been renewed by his Spirit, you have been reconciled to the Father, and you have been freed from this bondage to sin. But I think you would agree. We do still struggle with this propensity. Because of the corruptions that remain in us, and the temptation that comes from the world and from the Evil One, we are still prone to “[worship] and [serve] the creature rather than the Creator…”
Christians stumble when they love their children, their spouses, or their comfort supremely with the kind of love that should be reserved for God alone.
Christians stumble when they make money, possessions, a career, and good health their ultimate hope.
Christians stumble when they place trust, not in God supremely, but in government, in family, in investments, and in their own plans.
As I set these examples of misplaced faith, hope, and love before you I hope that you can see how easy it is for us to go astray and begin “giving that worship and glory… [other people and things], which is due unto [God] alone.”
Our emotions are very revealing.
Where do you run to alleviate your anxieties and fears? Is it to God in prayer? Or is it to some other thing?
And what is it that you cannot imagine living without? What moves you to anger or despair at the thought of it being taken from you? In other words, what is the source of your life? Is it God, or some other thing? Perhaps your children or grandchildren are the source of your life. Perhaps it is your money, or your health. Brothers and sisters, as precious and important as these things are, they must not be the source of our life. God must be.
Stated differently, if I were to ask you what would cause you to be undone and ruined if it were taken from you? What would you say? I hope that you would say, there is nothing in all the world that, if it were taken from me, would cause me to be undone. And I hope you would agree with the Psalmist who said, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” (Psalm 46:1–3, ESV)
Do you see that when God is your God, it effects your thoughts and your emotions.
The way that we spend our energy, time, and money is also very revealing?
These are limited resources, and we are to use them to the glory of God.
And in particular, what we do on Sundays, which is the Lord’s Day, and the Christian Sabbath is very revealing.
It is the one day out of the seven that is to be devoted to the worship of God. On it we are to cease from our labors and our ordinary recreactions to give him the glory that is due his name.
The point is this, the first commandment forbids us from “giving that worship and glory to any other, which is due unto [God] alone.” Do not assume, brothers and sisters, that it is only the pagan polytheists and the misdirected monotheists who violate this law. No, even the orthodox violate the first commandment in thought, word, and deed when we allow created things to sit down upon the throne of our hearts. That is the Creator’s thone, brothers and sisters. He alone is to occupy it. And every other created thing must set in its proper place, so that in all things God gets the glory.
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Conclusion
As we move now to a conclusion I wish to very briefly deal with Baptist Catechism question 53. It asks, “What are we especially taught by these words, ‘before me,’ in the first commandment?” “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”, the first commandment says. The question is, what is meant by the words “before me”? The answer is wonderfully helpful: “These words, ‘before me’, in the first commandment, teach us, that God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with the sin of having any other god.”
Polytheism is the belief in many god’s. And polytheists do also honor many god’s.
Henotheism is the belief in many god’s, but the honoring of only one God as supreme. As I understand it henotheism is gaining popularity even amongst some evangelicals (which is both surprising and not surprising at the same time). These henotheists imagine that all of the references to other god’s found in the scriptures mean that there really are other god’s, but that we are not to have them as our god’s. And they would interpret the words “before me” in the first commandment to mean above me. You shall have no other god’s above me, is the henotheist interpretation.
But they are badly mistaken. When the scriptures speak of other gods they do not mean that they are in fact god’s. No, these do not have the divine nature. As has already been established, the biblical view is that all that exists may be divided into two categories – -there is the Creator and there is the creation. These “gods” that scriptures refer to are not really gods, but are instead something from God’s creation when men have foolishly decided to honor as god. These so-called gods are not divine in nature, instead they are inanimate objects such as the sun, moon, and stars, rocks, and mountains, and trees. Or they angelic beings who have fallen from their proper place. Or they are merely human — kings and others made in God’s image to whom the divine nature is wrongly attributed.
When God’s law says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”, he means, you shall have no other gods before my face or in my sight. We are to have no other gods at all, even if they be placed underneath the authority of YHWH, for he alone is God. Besides him there is none other.
“Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.” (Isaiah 45:21, ESV)
