Feb 23
5
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 what the first commandment is: “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 handles each of the Ten Commandments with care. First, we are taught what each commandment is, and then with each one, we ask, what does this commandment require?, and finally, what does this commandment forbid?
It’s as if the authors of this catechism took each of the Ten Commandments, set them down on a table, and then walked around them to examine them from multiple vantage points. When you read our catechism you get the impression that those who wrote it considered the Ten Commandments to be very important and worthy of careful consideration. After all, of the 114 questions in our catechism, 41 are devoted to teaching about the Ten Commandments (questions 46-86). That’s almost 40%.
Brothers and sisters, the moral law of God is very important.
By considering it we come to see that we are sinners who need a Savior. In other words, the Spirit of God uses this law to convict us of sin and to drive us to faith in Jesus Christ through the preaching of the gospel.
Furthermore, this law – the moral law – functions as a light to our feet as we walk in a world filled with darkness. It is this law – the moral law – that is written on the hearts of God’s people by the Spirit. And it is this law, written also in Holy Scripture, that shows us the path we should take.
Also, we can also say that God uses this law – the moral (or natural) law – to restrain evil in the world generally. Though there is much evil in the world, men and women are not as evil as they could be, for God is restraining evil now. He restrains evil in many ways. One way is this: a sense of this moral law remains within the hearts even of the unregenerate, who continue to be image bearers of God even after the fall (see Genesis 9:6; Romans 2:12ff).
My point is this: God’s moral law is very important. It remains im[ressed upon the heart of man even after the fall. Though men and women in their sin twist, suppress, and rebel against it, it cannot be extinguished or erased entirely. This moral is written anew and afresh on the hearts of all who have faith in Christ. And those who receive the Holy Scriptures as God’s word have his law in writing. We had better pay attention to what God has said.
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Baptist Catechism 52 Explained
So then, 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 forbids us from denying 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. 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 to live well, we must live according to the truth. And here is the most important truth of all: God is. If we wish to be wise – if we wish to live according to the truth – we must start with the fear of the LORD. This means that we must acknowledge the LORD to be the one true God, and to honor him accordingly.
Two, the first commandment forbids us to not worship and glorify God, as God and our God.
I’m afraid that some assume they are keeping the first commandment, which is, “you shall have no other gods before me”, so long as they do not bow to another god besides the LORD. Do you see what I am saying? They assume that as long as they keep themselves from bowing down to another God, then they are guiltless as it pertains to the first commandment. But no, the first commandment does not only forbid us from worshipping other so-called gods, it also forbids us from 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 then, we sin against him when we fail to acknowledge him, worship him, and glorify him as he has prescribed in his word.
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 in a way that only God should be loved, 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.
We should remember that this is the human tendency described in the 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 – he exists, is powerful, and worthy of worship), 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 by his blood, you have been renewed by his Spirit, you have been reconciled to the Father by his finished work, 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, the temptation that comes from the world around us, and from the Evil One himself, 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 for the future.
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 to begin “giving that worship and glory… [other people and things], which is due unto [God] alone.”
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Baptist Catechism 53 Explained
I’d like to now briefly consider Baptist Catechism 53 with you, and I think it will also give me an opportunity unity to make some clarifying remarks about what I have just said.
Question 53 asks, “What are we especially taught by these words, ‘before me,’ in the first commandment?” This is a great question. The first commandment is, “you shall have no other god’s before me”, and here our catechism is asking, what is meant by the words “before me”.
The word “before” can be interpreted in two ways. First, it can mean “above” or in a “higher position or place”. If I say that Sally finished the race before Jimmy I mean that Sally finished in a higher place than Jimmy – maybe in first place! And if that were the meaning of the word “before”, then the first commandment would have this sense: you shall not have any gods above me or in a higher position than me. And if this were the meaning of the word “before” then some might think it is OK to have other gods besides the LORD, so long as they are placed under or beneath him somehow..
But the word “before” can also mean before my face, or, in front of me and within my view. If you go to a restaurant and order a meal, at some point the waiter or waitress will bring out your meal and set it before you. Used in this way, the word “before” does not mean above, or in a higher position, but in front of, or within your sight and presence.
Clearly, this second sense is the sense in which the word “before” is used in the first commandment. The Hebrew original is more clear than the English. Also, the rest of the scriptures make it quite clear that the LORD is not merely to be honored as the highest of many gods, but rather he is to be honored as the only true God, the Creator of all things seen and unseen. Isaiah 46:9 states the matter clearly. There the LORD says, “remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me…” (Isaiah 46:9, ESV).
Our catechism is right to answer the question, “What are we especially taught by these words, ‘before me,’ in the first commandment?” in this way: “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.” Deuteronomy 30:17-18, Psalm 44:20-21, and Psalm 90:8 are listed as proof texts, and they clarify that this is the sense of the word “before” in the first commandment.
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Conclusion
Now for a word of clarification. The first commandment forbids us from having any other gods except the one true God, the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth. We are to love him alone, as God. We are to worship and serve him alone, as God. We are to trust in him alone, as God. We are to delight in him and glorify him alone, as God.
But let me ask you this. Does the first commandment require us to love God only, to serve God only, to trust God only, and to enjoy God only? Answer: Clearly, no. We are to love one another, are we not? Husbands and wives are to love one another – the Scriptures are very clear about this. And the Scriptures also command us to serve one another. Are we not to trust one another? And are we not also permitted to enjoy the good things of this life – food and drink, family and friends, along with every other good thing in this world, within its proper bounds? Yes, we are.
So how then can we love our spouse, our children, and our brothers and sisters in Christ without slipping into idolatry? The answer is twofold: One, we must love them with the right kind of love – we must love them as creatures and not as if they were the Creator. God is to be loved as God. And things of this world are to be loved in an appropriate way, as creatures. Two, when we love the created things – our spouse, children, family, friends or any other things – we must love them to the glory of God. The same can be said about service, trust, and the enjoyment of earthly things. God is to be served, trusted, and enjoyed supremely as God, and the things of this earth are to be served, trusted, and enjoyed as creatures and to the glory of God.
I say this because I want you to know that loving God and loving other people and things are not in conflict with each other. God alone must be loved, worshipped, and served, and everything else must be loved in its proper way as creatures, and gifts from God, and to the glory of God.
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)
