Baptist Catechism 8 & 9

Q. 8. Are there more gods than one?

A. There is but one only, the living and true God. (Deut. 6:4; Jeremiah 10:10)

Q. 9. How many persons are there in the Godhead?

A. There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory. (1 Cor. 8:6; John 10:30; John 14:9; Acts 5:3,4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14)

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 6:1–9

“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 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. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:1–9, ESV)

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Introduction

If you were to consider questions 7, 8, and 9 of our catechism you would see that all three have to do with the question, what is God? 

What is he? Catechism 7 answers, God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. But now we ask, are there more gods than one? And finally, how many persons are there in the Godhead? All three of these questions, and the answers that are given, help us to think correctly about who or what God is.

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Are There More Gods Than One?

So, are there more Gods than one? 

Please allow me to make a philosophical observation before getting to the straightforward answer to the question. If what was said about God in Baptist Catechism 7 was true, then there cannot be more than one God. If God is indeed infinite, eternal, and unchangeable (which we confess that he is), then it is impossible for more than one of God to exist. I’ll leave that for you to ponder more thoroughly at a later time.

Now for the straightforward answer. Are there more Gods than one? We say, there is but one only, the living and true God.

That there is only one God is perhaps the most fundamental tenant of the Christian faith. 

Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4, ESV). This means that God is singular. There is only one God, and he is simple within himself.

In Isaiah 44:8 God says, “Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any” (Isaiah 44:8, ESV).

Are there more Gods than one? There is but one only. 

And notice that our catechism calls the one God, “the living and true God.” 

This is to distinguish the one true God from all false gods. 

The scriptures do speak of other gods. But they are called that, not because they are in fact Gods, but because men and women worship them as such. In reality, they are created things that men and women treat as if they are the Creator of all things.  They are called gods, but really they are not. 

God alone is God. And he, unlike idols which are carved from stone or wood, is living. The one true God is alive. The idols that men and women worship are lifeless. They have ears but cannot hear, eyes but cannot see, mouths but cannot breathe or speak. They are dumb, deaf, and lifeless, and those who worship them become like them, But God is living. 

He is alive because he has life in himself. As Christ said, “the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” (John 5:26, ESV). And it is God who gives life to all things. Paul charged Timothy “in the presence of God, who gives life to all things…” (1 Timothy 6:13, ESV)

Are there more Gods than one? Well, if by that you mean, do men and women worship other gods besides YHWH?, then yes, certainly. But if these gods are idols, they are not alive, and if they are creatures who are alive, they are not true gods – no, they are creatures who have been given life by the God who has life in himself. 

Brothers and sisters, we must worship God alone, and flee from idolatry.

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How Many Persons Are There In The Godhead?

Now we ask, How many persons are there in the Godhead? Answer: There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory.

Notice the order. First, we establish the oneness of God, and then we talk about his threeness. Whatever we say about God’s threeness must not violate his oneness. Both truths must coincide. 

Yes, God is one. This is true. But as we pay careful attention to the scriptures we also see that there is a kind of plurality in the Godhead. We find hints of it as early as Genesis 1 where we read, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26, ESV). These hints at the plurality in the Godhead are mysterious early in the scriptures, but as we move to the New Testament, the dim mystery gives way to clarity and to light. 

When all is considered, we see that there are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is in some way distinct from the Son and the Spirit. The Son is in some way distinct from the Father and the Spirit. And the Spirit is in some way distinct from Father and the Son. What distinguishes them? Nothing at all except the personal properties of paternity, filiation, and spiration. That is a fancy way of saying that for all eternity Father eternally begets the Son, the Son is eternally begotten of the Father. And the Spirit is eternally breathed forth by the Father and the Son. A key word is “eternally”. There was never a time when the Son and Spirit where not. The Son is eternally begotten, not made. And the Spirit is eternally spirated, not made. Remember what we have said about the one living and true God. He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable.

The end of the matter is this. There is one God, and in the one God there are three persons or subsistences, each with the fullness of the divine nature.  

The Father is fully God. Revelation 1:5-6 says, “and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:5–6, ESV)

The Son is fully God. John 1:1 and 14 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1,14, ESV)

And the Spirit is fully God. In Acts 5:3-4 we read, “But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?… You have not lied to man but to God.’” (Acts 5:3–4, ESV)

What unites them? The divine nature. 

What distinguishes them? Only the personal properties of Fatherhood, Sonship, and Spiration. The Father eternally begets the Son. And the Father and Son eternally breath forth the Spirit. And yet there are not three Gods, but one only. 

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4, ESV)

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Conclusion

As mindblowing as this doctrine is, did you know that our confession says that this “doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and comfortable dependence on him (Second London Confession, 2.3). We could spend a while talking about why this is. In brief, we have been reconciled to the Father, by the Son, through the Spirit. Our salvation is Trinitarian, brothers and sisters. The one God has determined to save us. And the one God has accomplished our salvation and does apply it to his elect in due time. Again, we have been reconciled to the Father, by the Son, through the Spirit. It is the Triune God who created us and has saved us, to the praise of his glorious grace. 

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 20:4-6

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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 or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:4–6, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Acts 2:37-42 

“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.’ And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this crooked generation.’ So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:37–42, 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 come now to the second of the Ten Commandments, which forbids idolatry. 

And by way of introduction, I think it would be good for me to remind you that the first four of the Ten Commandments teach us about how we are to relate to God, whereas the last six of the Ten Commandments teach us about how we are to relate to our fellow man. This can be easily observed in the Ten Commandments themselves, but it is also seen in the answer that Christ gave to the question, “which is the great commandment in the Law?” You will notice that Christ was asked to identify the single greatest commandment. But Christ picked two. He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:36–40, ESV). 

As I have said in previous sermons, the command from Deuteronomy 6:5, “love the Lord your God” with all you are, sums up the first four of the Ten Commandments. And the command from Leviticus 19:18,  “love your neighbor as yourself”, sums up the last six. 

I would like to spend just a moment with you thinking a little more carefully about the relationship between the Ten Commandments and the two which summarize them. 

What do the two commandments which Christ picked help us to understand about God’s law? Well, they get to the heart of the matter, don’t they? They help us to understand that, if we are going to keep God’s law truly, we must do so from the heart. God’s law is not to be obeyed merely in an external or superficial way. God is not interested in seeing his people go through the motions if you will. No, if we are going to keep God’s law truly and sincerely, we must do what God has said, and abstain from what he has forbidden, from a heart of love. To love God with all that we are, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, is to obey God’s law. 

So then, why didn’t God just say that? Why didn’t he just command us to love? If the command to love God with all we are, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, gets to the heart of the issue and sums it all up, why the Ten Commandments? The answer is this. The Ten Commandments teach us how we are to love. Yes, love is the essence of the moral law. To love God and neighbor is the summary of the law. The two which summarize the Ten are vitally important, for they get to the heart of the matter. But the Ten are vitally important too, for they bring clarity to the question, how are we to love God and neighbor?

It seems to me that we live in a day and age where men and women are more comfortable with the two commandments that Christ highlighted than with the Ten. And I suppose that some might say, well that’s a good thing, isn’t it? For the two commandments get to the heart of the issue! Love is what matters! Well, I don’t think that what’s going on. Instead, I’m afraid that men and women are more comfortable with the two than Ten because they do not want to be bothered or constrained by the specifics of God’s moral law. They would rather be free to decide for themselves what it means to love God and neighbor. Are you tracking with me?

Our culture loves to talk about love. Love is what makes the difference, they say. It’s all about love. Love is love. But what does that mean in concrete terms? What does this love look like as it pertains to our relationship with God and man? Pay careful attention to this, brothers and sisters, God has not left that question unanswered. “Love” is not merely a subjective emotion with questions of application left open to interpretation. No, God is love. He has commanded us to love. And he has given us the moral law so that we might know what it means to love, truly and in practice. 

The two commandments which summarize the Ten are vitally important because they get to the heart of the matter. To obey God’s law truly, we must love him with all that we are, and our neighbor as ourselves. But the Ten are vitally important too, for they provide us with something concrete as it pertains to the question, what does it mean to love God and neighbor? In other words, the Ten Commandments provide us with unchanging moral clarity. 

This relationship between the two and the Ten can be seen in the words of Jesus to his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15, ESV). And a bit later he says the opposite: “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” And lest anyone think that Christ’s moral law is different from the moral law which God revealed at Sinai, he adds, “And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me” (John 14:24, ESV).

So then, to love God with all that we are means obeying the moral law which is summarized in the Ten Commandments. And to obey the moral law (through faith in Christ and from the heart) is to love God with all that we are.  

Dear brothers and sisters, you must do away with this idea that love is merely an emotion. Furthermore, you must do away with the idea that what love is in action is for us to decide. No, morality is not determined by man. It comes from God. He has given us his moral law, and we must submit ourselves to it if we wish to do what is right and to love truly.

As I have said, the first four of the Ten Commandments have to do with man’s relationship to God. And the first commandment is the first for a reason. If we wish to have a right relationship with God then we must know that YHWH alone is God. We must have him as our God, and give to him the worship that is due to his name. This is what the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me”, requires. It forbids us from worshiping any created thing as if it were divine. It requires us to worship and serve God alone as God. 

So you can see that the first commandment tells us who the object of our worship must be: YHWH alone. And notice that the next three commandments have to do with the way of worship. YHWH alone is to be worshipped. The first commandment makes that clear. But how is he to worshipped? That is the question that the second commandment address when it says, in brief, not with idols. The third commandment addresses the attitude of worship, demanding reverence for God’s name. And the fourth commandment says something about the time of worship. One day in seven is to be set apart as holy, for rest and for worship. Again, the first commandment tells us who is to be worshipped. Commandments two, three, and four tell us how God is to be worshipped. 

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The Law

Let us now consider the second commandment itself. What is the law? “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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 or serve them… (Exodus 20:4–5, ESV). In brief, the second commandment forbids idolatry. So then, God alone is to be worshipped, and he is not to be worshipped through images. 

Take special notice of this. Though the first and second commandments are certainly related – they both have to do with the worship of God – they are not the same. No, they are two distinct commandments. The first commandment forbids the worship of any other so-called god. This would obviously include worshipping other gods in the form of idols. And if that was the only thing that God wished to address, then the second commandment would not be needed. Do you see what I mean? The command, “you shall have no other gods before me” certainly includes other “gods” in the form of idols. But the second commandment says more. Not only does it forbid making images of false gods, it also forbids making images of the one true God.

All of the nations that surrounded Israel in the ancient world worshipped their gods through idols. They carved or cast images of earthly material in the form of earthly things and they bowed before them, prayed to them, and offered up sacrifices to them, imagining that they could earn favor from the god that those idols represented. It is not hard to imagine that Israel was tempted to do the same thing. In other words, even if they were to keep the first commandment and have YHWH as their only God, they would still be tempted to make an image of him, for this is how all of the surrounding nations worshipped. This was the way that the Egyptians worshipped, and we know that Israel spent a long time there in that culture. This is why the LORD, after saying, “you shall have no other gods before me”, also said, “you shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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 or serve them…” If the LORD did not say this then Israel might think that could worship YHWH through an idol that represented him. 

Just a moment ago I said, it’s not hard to imagine that Israel was tempted to make idols given the influence of the nations around them. In fact, we do not have to imagine. We know they were tempted to do this. We will come to the story in Exodus 32, and so I will not spend much time on it. But do you remember what Moses returned to when he came down from Saini with the Ten Commandments written on stone? The people had convinced Aaron to make an image of a calf out of the gold they had taken from Egypt and they worshipped before it! Moses dropped the tablets and broke them, which was certainly symbolic. The covenant had barely been made and the people had already broken it by violating both the first and second commandments. I say that they violated both because the golden calf did not represent YHWH only, but other gods too, as we will see. But God was merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 

The first commandment forbids the worship of false gods. It requires the worship of YHWH alone. And the second commandment forbids the making of graven images or the likeness of anything in all of creation for use in worship, whether it be the worship of false gods or the worship of the one true God. In brief, all forms of idolatry are here forbidden. 

In just a moment we will go deeper as we attempt to get to the heart of the second commandment. But before we do, let us briefly consider the word of warning that is given starting in the middle of verse 5 with the word “for”. “You shall not bow down to [idols] or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5–6, ESV).

Some have been bothered by this idea that the LORD is a “jealous God”. But this is only because they have failed to distinguish between jealousy that is sinful and jealousy that is righteous. I’m sure you know that there is a kind of anger that is sinful, and there is a kind of anger that is righteous. Sinful anger is anger that is misdirected. Sinful anger is anger that is out of bounds. Anger that turns to bitterness is sinful. And so too is anger that turns to rage. But it is right for us to be angry at the right things (that which is truly sinful or unjust), and to be moved to do what is right in our anger in a wise and self-controlled way. And the same is true for jealousy. If your jealousy is motivated by envy, greed, and discontentment, it is sinful. And your jealousy is also sinful when it overflows its proper bounds leading you to be consumed by it and to think and do that which is evil. But there is also a righteous kind of jealousy. It is right for God, and for man, to be jealous (or zealous) for what is rightly theirs. 

In human experience nowhere is this more obvious than in the marriage relationship. It is perfectly right for a husband and wife to be “jealous” for each other. A husband ought to be jealous for his wife’s loyalty and love. And a wife is right to be jealous to have her husband’s loyalty and love. The thought of disloyalty and unfaithfulness will naturally produce a kind of righteous anger within them.

Jealousy that is evil longs to have things that rightly belong to others, but not to you. Jealousy that is out of control and all-consuming is also evil. Here I am simply observing that there is a kind of jealousy that is right. It is right for us to desire to have that which is rightly ours. It is right that we are angered when something that is rightly ours is taken from us and given to another. And this is that kind of jealousy that God has. Jealousy in God is not a flaw, but a perfection. When the scriptures say that God is jealous they do not mean that he is jealous in a sinful way. Nor do the scriptures mean that God is jealous in the way that humans are jealous. Humans experience fluctuation in emotions, but God does not change. Jealousy in God is an unchanging and untainted perfection. Here in Exodus 20 the human emotion of jealousy is attributed to God to tell us something that is true about him, namely, that God is worthy of all praise, he is holy, and just. And God’s perfect justice and anger will fall upon all who take what is rightly his and give it to another.  

We must not forget that here in Exodus 20 and following God is entering into a covenant with Israel. In other passages of scripture, this covenantal relationship between God and Israel is compared to a marriage. God is displeased with all who take the worship that is due to his name and give it to another. But we may say that God was especially displeased with his bride, Israel, when she worshipped idols. This is why Israel is often compared to a harlot or an unfaithful wife in the scriptures. Idolatry is sometimes likened to adultery. When Israel worshipped idols she did not merely violate the moral law of God, she was also unfaithful to the “marriage” covenant that God had entered into with her in the days of Moses. Read Hosea if you wish to see a vivid image of this reality.     

Is God a jealous God? Yes! But not in the way that men and women are jealous, for God does not change. He does not experience the ebb and flow of emotions as we do. And his “jealousy” is perfect and pure. 

Next, we have the remark about God visiting the “iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate [him], but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love [him] and keep [his] commandments” (Exodus 20:5–6, ESV).

Before I tell you what this means, let me tell you what this does not mean. This does not mean that children may be spiritually cursed because of the sins of their father or mother or previous generations. Have you ever encountered teaching like this? I have repeatedly over the years. It is the doctrine of generational curses, and I must say that it is garbage. Nowhere do the scriptures teach – not here or in any other place – that one generation is spiritually cursed by God because of the sins of the previous generation. It angers me to think that this nonsense is taught even to Christians. Some will say that even those in Christ may experience spiritual bondage after they repent and believe, or be under a curse somehow, because of the sins of their father or mother. In Christ, we are new creatures. In Christ, we are forgiven. In Christ, we have been delivered from the domain of darkness. In Christ, we have been graciously adopted as God’s beloved children. What a dark and damaging false teaching this is to say that some of God’s children are under God’s curse, or that they remain in bondage to the Evil One, even after being united to Christ by faith. 

What then does this passage mean? Well, I have emphasized over and over again that the covenant that God entered into with Israel in the days of Moses was earthly. Their redemption was earthly. The blessings for covenant faithfulness were earthly. And the curses for covenant unfaithfulness were earthly too. Israel would be blessed in the land that God would give to them if they obeyed, and they would be cursed in the land if they disobeyed the terms of the covenant. Everything about the Old Mosaic covenant itself was earthly. Granted, the promises entrusted to them were spiritual and eternal, but the Mosaic covenant itself was earthly. It would be hard for me to overstate how vitally important this point is. And it is important here as we seek to interpret Exodus 20:5-6. 

In what sense would God visit the “iniquity of the [idolotry of the] fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate [him]…” My goodness, if you wish to know, simply read the rest of the Old Testament and you will see! The fathers would sin, and the children would often suffer the consequences. Not only that, but the fathers would sin, and the children would learn to sin too! (I certainly don’t deny that this happens. The sins of fathers and mothers are often learned and adopted by the children. But that is different than so-called generational curses). This is true of all kinds of sin, but this warning is especially attached to the sin of idolatry. False worship, once it is introduced, is very difficult to root out. And we know that God is very displeased with false worship. He will not share the glory that is due to him with another. 

What I am saying is that this is how things go in nations. The fathers act foolishly, or the fathers sin, and the children of that nation suffer the consequences for it, sometimes for many generations. This was especially true with Old Covenant Israel given the terms of the covenant of works which God made with them in the days of Moses. Obedience would bring blessings to the nation. Disobedience would bring curses on the nation. When the fathers sinned, the curses of the covenant would be felt by the children. Think of all of the children who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because their fathers were faithless and would not take the land. Think of all of the Israelite children who were born and raised in Babylonian captivity and exiled from Israel. Why were they there? It was because of the great and persistent sin of their forefathers. But the opposite was also true. Covenant loyalty would bring covenant blessings upon future generations, and that is what the LORD was calling Israel to.  Notice how he says that he will show “steadfast love” [some translations say, “covenant faithfulness”] to thousands of those who love [him] and keep [his] commandments.”  

To sum it up, we must understand that this remark about sins of the fathers being visited on the children to the third and fourth generation was made in the context of the making of a national covenant with early blessing and curses being promised to the obedient and disobedient nation. That is something very different from the idea that individual souls may be spiritually cursed because of the sins of their forefathers. That wasn’t true under the Old Covenant, and it certainly isn’t true under the New. Listen to Ezekiel 18:1-4: “The word of the LORD came to me: ‘What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:1–4, ESV)

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The Heart Of The Matter

So we know what the second commandment is. In brief, no carved or graven images – no idols of any kind – are to be used in the worship of God. Warnings are added to that command. But the command itself forbids idolatry. So let us go now to the heart of the matter. 

Question 55 and 56 of our catechism are very helpful. 

Question 55 asks, “What is required in the second commandment?” Answer: “The second commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances, as God has appointed in His Word.” 

And question 56 asks, “What is forbidden in the second commandment?” Answer: “The second commandment forbideth the worshipping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in His Word.”

So the simple and obvious answer to the question, what does the second commandment forbid”, is “the second commandment forbideth the worshipping of God by images.”

So the simple and obvious answer to the question, what does the second commandment forbid”, is “the second commandment forbideth the worshipping of God by images.” Have you ever wondered why idolatry is forbidden? I suppose a case could be made that idols could help facilitate worship by engaging the senses of sight and of touch. Idols can also help to unify a people by giving them something to rally around. But the problem is this: idols misrepresent God, who is infinite, eternal, and unchanging. Idols would tell a lie about God, for God is invisible, a most pure spirit. Idols, no matter how big and impressive, would make God small in the mind of the worshiper. They would blur the distinction between Creator and creature. YHWH cannot be represented by idols.

What does the second commandment forbid? Idols. But did you notice that our catechism picks up on something else that is very, very important? It is a general observation that is sadly often overlooked, and it is this: according to the Ten Commandments, not only is God alone to be worshipped, but he is to be worshipped in the way that he has prescribed, ordained, or appointed in his word. In other words, the second commandment does not only forbid idolatry, it requires (by way of strong and clear implication) that God’s people receive, submit to, and obey God’s word as it pertains to the way of worship. Quoting our catechism again, they are to keep “pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances, as God has appointed in His Word.” True, the second commandment simply forbids the use of images in the worship of God. But there is obviously something bigger going on here, for God commands that we worship him alone, and he also commands that we worship him in a particular way – not with images, with reverence for his name, observing one day out of every seven as holy wherein we rest from our normal labors and worship. All of this is to be done with love for God in our hearts. The LORD alone is to be worshipped, and he is to be worshiped in the way he has prescribed, not according to the inventions and of man. What I am saying is this: The second commandment is violated, not only when God’s people use images to worship him, but when God’s people ignore what God has said regarding the way they are to worship. 

What are the most fundamental principles that God has revealed to us concerning the way of worship? One, no images (form). Two, we are to have reverence for the name of God (attitude). Three, one day in seven is to be observed as holy (time). 

Now I ask you, did these principles apply only to Israel under the Old Covenant? Certainly not! These laws are ever abiding. They applied to Adam and to us. They apply to all men at all times and places. Remember, they are three of the Ten Commandments which summarize God’s moral law!

But did God have more to say to Israel concerning the way of worship under the Old Covenant? Yes. As I have said many times before. These Ten Commandments functioned as the foundation or core of all of the laws that God would give to Israel. God would add other laws to these Ten. And those other laws were in fact unique to Israel under the Old Mosaic Covenant. We call these other laws “positive laws” because God added them to his moral law. 

Think of it. The natural law (or moral law) was written on Adam’s heart at creation, but positive laws were also added to him under that covenant. He was to abstain from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as he expended and kept God’s garden temple.

Here in Exodus, we see that the moral law was spoken to Israel by God on Sinai. Later it would be written by his hand on tablets of stone. Clearly, this moral law was special. It was revealed differently than all of the other laws. But to this moral law, positive laws were added. In fact, through Moses, many positive were added. Some were civil or judicial. Other were ceremonial, having to do with the way of worship under the Old Covenant. Under the Old Mosaic Covenant Israel was to be led by priests. They were offered very specific sacrifices at the tabernacle and later the temple. That tabernacle was to be constructed in a very particular way according to the pattern revealed by God. Israel was to abstain from certain foods. They were to engage in ceremonial washings. They were to observe many holy days in addition to the weekly seventh-day Sabbath, etc, etc.  These positive laws were added to the moral law. The positive laws were for Old Covenant Israel. They revealed the specific way of worship for Israel under the Old Mosaic covenant. 

But the Old Covenant has passed away, and the New has come. This is why the positive laws of the Old Covenant have passed away, for they were attached to the Old. Why are we not commanded to eat of the tree of life and to abstain from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Doesn’t the Bible teach that? Well, no. Adam was commanded to do that, but those positive laws are not for us. And why are we not required to circumcise, to abstain from pork to ceremonially wash, and to offer up animal sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem? Answer: those were all positive laws added to Old Covenant.  

But tell me, brothers and sisters. Has God’s moral law changed? No, it remains the same. God alone is to be worshipped. And how is he to be worshipped? Not with images. His name is to be revered. And one day in seven is to be honored as holy as a day for rest and worship. The moral law does not change. But the New Covenant, like the Adamic, Abrahamic, and Mosaic covenants, does have positive laws of its own. The New Covenant people of God are to baptize those who profess faith in Christ. We are to read, preach, and teach the word of God. We are to pray and sing. We are to observe the Lord’s Supper. These are the elements of New Covenant worship. As it pertains to the government of the New Covenant people of God, elders and deacons are to lead, and the church is to be disciplined according to the scriptures. 

So you can see that the moral law remains. God alone is to be worshipped. And how are we to worship? Not with idols, with reverence, and by observing the Sabbath day. And to this moral law, positive laws have been added for the New Covenant people of God. As you can see, it is as true for us today as it was for Adam, Abraham, and Moses –  the way of worship has been revealed to us. It has not been left for man to determine. No, “the second commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances, as God has appointed in His Word”, and this with love in our hearts for God. 

Brothers and sisters, have you kept this law perfectly? Answer: No, we have violated this law in thought, word, and deed. 

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The Gospel

So you have heard the law, now hear the gospel. 

Unlike Adam, and unlike Israel, Jesus the Messiah kept the law of God perfectly.

He worshipped God alone. Never did he bow down to or serve idols. He had perfect reverence for the name of God. He honored the Sabbath day and kept it holy.  

And not only did Jesus obey the moral law with perfection, he also kept the positive laws of the Old Covenant too, for he was a Hebrew, born under the Old Covenant and law of Moses which governed it. 

Jesus kept the Ten Words. He kept all of the positive laws of the Old Covenant which were added to them. And he kept them from the heart. In his human nature, and upheld by his divine nature, his love for God and neighbor was perfect and without flaw. 

Jesus Christ was righteous, therefore. He was guiltless and without sin. Death, which is the price that must be paid for sin, was not owed by him. But he died for sin. Not for his own, but for the sins of those given to him by the Father in eternity (see John 17), in obedience to the terms of the eternal covenant.

Christ has his righteousness to give, therefore, along with the forgiveness of sins, as a free gift to all who will believe in him. As Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23, ESV). This salvation has been made available because “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV).

These indeed are the greatest blessings of salvation – the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. But these are not the only blessings of the New Covenant. In Christ, we are made new. In Christ, the law of God is written anew and afresh upon our hearts. In Christ, we are filled with the promised Holy Spirit. And God, by his word and Spirit, not only makes us willing and able to believe upon Christ, he sanctifies us too. Those in Christ will learn God’s law, they will love God’s law, and will be empowered to keep God’s more and more with the passing of time. All of this is by the grace of God. But it is also something that we must choose to do, not in our strength, but in the strength which God provides. 

Brothers and sisters, the gospel is this. Though it is true that we have violated God’s law in thought, word, and deed. And though it is true that we, by nature, are under God’s wrath and curse. It is also true that God has provided a Savior, Christ the Lord. The forgiveness of sins and the life eternal is available through faith in him. And we know that all who come to him have been renewed by the Spirit, have been freed from bondage to sin, and have been born again to walk in newness of life as God’s beloved children.   

Let us pursue holiness, brothers and sisters, being moved by our love God out of gratitude for all that he has graciously bestowed upon us in Christ. Let us pursue holiness being empowered by the Helper, the Holy Spirit of Promise. In particular, let us be careful to worship God alone in the way that God has prescribed in his word so that we might do what the second commandment requires, and avoid what it forbids.    

Baptist Catechism 7

Q. 7. What is God?

A. God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. (John 4:24; Ps. 147:5; Ps. 90:2; James 1:17; Rev. 4:8; Ps. 89:14; Exod. 34:6,7; 1 Tim. 1:17)

Scripture Reading: Psalm 147

“Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground. Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre! He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry. His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you. He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat. He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold? He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his rules. Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 147, ESV)

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Introduction

Have you noticed that it is difficult to imagine God? In fact, it is not only difficult, it is impossible. Stop trying! Think about the word “imagine” (i-m-a-g-i-n-e). You can see (and hear) the word image in it, can’t you? When we imagine something we see a picture or image of that thing in our mind. Imagine a dog. Imagine and tree. Do you see how easy that is? But if I were to tell you to imagine God as he really is, you cannot. The reason for this is not that there is something wrong with your intellect or your imagination. No, the reason you cannot imagine God is because God cannot be imaged.   

God is a most pure spirit, remember? He does not have a physical body. Yes, God has revealed himself to man in physical form. He has appeared as radiant light, as a cloud, as fire, and as precious jewels. But it woud be a mistake to think that God is composed of light, cloud, fire, or precious stones.  No, God is not physical. He is a most pure spirit. A most pure spirit cannot be imagined because a spirit has no image. 

And there is another reason that we cannot imagine God, and that has to do with his transcendence. God is wholly other. He is not like anything in the created world. Though we can know God truly (through his self-revelation) we cannot comprehend him exhaustively, for he is with limits. Everything in this cerated world has limits. Time has limits. Physical objects, no matter how big or small, have limits. Energy has limits. We can imagine created things because created things have borders and boundaries. I can imagine a snail, a snake, and a whale. I can even imagine the sun, though that is more challenging. I can imagine ten years and a thousand years. I can even imagine a million years, though that is more difficult. I can imagine these things because, even if they are very big, they all have limits and boundaries. But God transcends everything in this created world. He is without limits of any kind. This is why our finite minds will never be able to fully comprehend him, for he is infinite. 

This is what our catechism teaches in question 7. 

What is God? Answer: God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. 

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Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable

Infinite means not finite. To be finite is to have limits or boundaries. You and I are finite. We possess a limited amount of strength. Our intellect is limited. And we are spatially limited too. You and I only tackle up so much space, and we can only be in one place at a time. We are finite in so many ways, but God is infinite. He does not have boundaries or limitations of any kind. 

By the way, it is common for people to say that God is big. I understand what people mean by this, and I do not think they need to be corrected in casual conversation. But really, God is not big.  To say that God is “big” implies that God has a size. He does not. God is not big. He is infinite. 

When we say that God is eternal we mean that God is without beginning or end, and is, in fact, not bound by time. You and I had a beginning. There was a time when we were not. God did not have a beginning. There was never a time when God was not. You and I will never come to an end, but this is only because God has made us to live forever. He will sustain us. But God will never come to an end because he has life in himself. And furthermore, you and I experience the passing of time. One moment gives way to the next in infinite succession. God does not experience this. He is eternal. He had no beginning, he will have no end, and he is not bound by time. He created time in the beginning when he made the heavens and the earth. But he does not experience the succession of moments as we do. Therefore, he sees the future as clearly as he sees the past and the present. He is eternal. 

And God is also unchangeable. This is what James 1:17 says. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” You and I change continuously. We grow stronger and weaker. We learn. Our emotions fluctuate. Everything in the created world moves and changes. But God is different. He never changes. Indeed, he cannot change. Can God improve? Can he grow stronger or wiser? Then that would mean he was less than God before. Or can he grow weak or foolish? No, that would mean that God would cease to be God. God is unchangeable. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

So you can see that God is different from us. He is transcendent. 

  *****

In His Being, Wisdom, Power, Holiness, Justice, Goodness And Truth

And notice that our catechism says that God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.

I love the way this is stated. The three qualities of infinity, eternality, and immutability (God’s unchangeableness), are applied first to God’s being, then to his attributes.

First, our catechism rightly teaches that God is “ infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being.” God is. He is the I AM, the self-existent One. No one gives him life. He has life in himself, and is the giver of all life. God, in his being, is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable.

Next, our catechism mentions six attributes, or perfections, of God. 

God is wise. Proverbs 8:14 says, “I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength.” And in Psalm 147:5 we read, “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.” God is wise, but he is not wise in the way that men and women are wise. God’s understanding and wisdom is beyond measure. God’s wisdom is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. God is wise, and perfectly so. 

God is powerful. In Jeremiah 32:17 we read, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” God is powerful, but he is not powerful in the way that men and women are powerful. God’s power unbounded. Nothing is too hard for him. God’s power is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. God is powerful, and perfectly so. 

God is holy. This means that he is set apart from us and without corruption of any kind. In Revelation 4:8 we find a vision of the heavenly throne of God. There we read, “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” And in 1 John 1:5 we read, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” God is holy, but he is not holy in the way that men and women are holy. If men and women are holy, it is because God has made them holy by his grace through faith in Christ. But God is holy in himself. God’s holiness is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. God is holy, and perfectly so. 

God is just. This means that God always does what is right. He judges with perfect equity. In Romans 9:14 we read, “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!” God is just, and perfectly so. His justice is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable.

The same may be said of the goodness of God. Psalm 106:1 says, “Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” And 1 John 4:16 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

And the same may also be said of God’s truthfulness. “Let God be true though everyone were a liar”, Romans 3:4 says. And Psalm 117:2 speaks of God’s truthfulness in terms of his faithfulness, saying, “For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” 

These fundamental attributes of wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth are better-called perfections in God, for God does not only possess a lot of wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth, but is wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth and perfectly so. In other words, these qualities are found in him infinitely, eternally, and unchangeably.  

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Conclusion

As we have considered the question, what is God?, I have tried to stress that God is not like us. We are like him in some respects, for we are made in his image. 

God is spirit, and we are like him in that we too are spiritual — we have souls. But God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, whereas we are finite, created, and mutable. 

And yes, we have the capacity for wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. But we possess these qualities in a limited way. We may grow in these qualities, and even diminish. In God, these qualities are perfections. 

Brothers and sisters, while it is true that we cannot imagine God, it is possible for us to think thoughts that are true about him, for he has revealed himself to us truly in his word. And here is a god place for us to start. What is God? God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. 

Baptist Catechism 7

Q. 7. What is God?

A. God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. (John 4:24; Ps. 147:5; Ps. 90:2; James 1:17; Rev. 4:8; Ps. 89:14; Exod. 34:6,7; 1 Tim. 1:17)

Scripture Reading: John 4:1-26

“Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am he.’” (John 4:1–26, ESV)

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Introduction

What is God? This question, and that answer that is provided by our catechism,  is so incredibly important that I wish to take two sermons to address it. This will be part 1, and next Sunday, Lord willing, will be part 2. 

We should remember that we were created to know God, to glorify him, and to enjoy him forever and ever. And we should also recognize that Christ has redeemed us from sin so that we might be reconciled to God, to know him, to glorify him, and to enjoy him forever. The point is this: when we ask the question, “what is God?”, we are not merely doing heady theology, but are addressing matters that should be very near and dear to hearts. In Christ, we have been reconciled to God. We love God because he first loved us. And if you love someone, you will certainly want to know who they are. So then, this question, what is God? Is not only a vital question theologically speaking, it is also a vital question religiously speaking, and by that I mean, it is vital as it pertains to our love for God and our devotion to him. 

And let me also remind you of how our catechism has led us to this question. Our catechism begins with God, and I love that it does.  The scriptures begin with God, don’t they? “In the beginning, God…” And all things have God as their beginning! “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” And so our catechism beings in a most appropriate way when it is asks, “Who is the first and chiefest being?” The answer: “God is the first and chiefest being.” That is a good place for us to start, isnt it. Question and answer 2 then says what the scriptures say regarding what man should think about God. It states, “Everyone ought to believe there is a God, and it is their great sin and folly who do not.“

So then, our catechism begins by talking about God and establishing that he exists and that man is to live in this world being mindful of his existence. 

Questions 3 through 6 then deal with the question of “knowing”. How can this God be known? The answer is that “The light of nature in man and the works of God plainly declare that there is a God; but His Word and Spirit only do it fully and effectively for the salvation of sinners.” So then, the things that God has made tell us something about his existence. But God revealed himself much more clearly to us in his Word. 

 What is the Word of God? The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, and the only certain rule of faith and obedience. 

May all men make use of the Holy Scriptures? All men are not only permitted, but commanded and exhorted, to read, hear, and understand the Holy Scriptures. (John 5:39; Luke 16:29; Acts 8:28-30; 17:11)

And what things are chiefly contained in the Holy Scriptures? The Holy Scriptures chiefly contain what man ought to believe concerning God, and what duty God requireth of man.

So you can see that question 7 begins to address the first thing that the scriptures are said to contain. The chiefly contain what man ought to believe concerning God… And here in question 7 we ask, “What is God?” The answer that is given here is truly marvelous. But you should know that our catechism will deal with the broader question, what should man believe concerning God?, all the way through to question 43. In these questions, we are taught about God, his nature, his attributes, his plans and purposes, and his actions. 

Question 7 is about the nature of God. Notice, it asks what is God?  When we ask about the whatness of a thing, we are asking questions about the nature of a thing. If I were to ask you what is a rock? You would probably tell me about its makeup or composition and its characteristics. Rocks are made up of minerals, and they are hard. And if I were to ask you what is man? You would need to tell me about the nature of man. What makes a man a man? We would need to say that men and women are composed of body and soul. The body has certain parts, and so too does the soul. Man has a mind, a will, and affections. Man is autonomous but limited.  Man is a creature with a beginning, etc., etc. My point is this: when we ask the question, what is this thing or that?, we are asking questions about the nature or being of a thing. 

And that is what question 7 of our catechism is doing with God. What is he? That is the question. And if I could the matter in a different way, the answer is this: God is not like us! He is different. Yes, he has made us in his image. We are like him in some ways. We have been made in such a way that we can know him, relate to him, and mimic him. But we must not make the mistake of assuming that he is like us – a bigger, better, and more powerful version of us! He is not. God is different from us on the level of whatness. In other words, he has a different nature. We are human. He is Divine.  

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God Is A Spirit

I only wish to focus upon the first four words of the answer to question 7 today.  What is God? God is a spirit, our catechism says. What is man? Man is body and soul. What is God? God is a spirit.

Just a moment ago I read from John 4 which tells us about an encounter that Jesus has with a woman from Samaria who came to draw water at a well. That passage is important for a number of reasons. One reason it is important is because of what Jesus says concerning what God is. Jesus said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” It’s not as if this was a new revelation concerning God. From the days of Adam, God’s people have known that he is a spirit. But this passage is helpful because Jesus says it directly. 

“God is spirit”, Jesus says. To state the matter negatively, God is not physical. He does not have a body. He is invisible.

You know, it is not uncommon for men and women to be confused about this. Many will think of something physical when they try to imagine God. Some will think of God as a big, powerful, grey haired grandpa in the sky. Others will image him as radiant light. But neither of these things is true. God is spirit. 

Our catechism summarized our confession. Listen to what our confession says about what God is. “The Lord our God is but one only living and true God; whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being and perfection; whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself; a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; who is immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, every way infinite, most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute…” (LBC 2.1).

So why do men think of God as a physical being? One, we are prone to idolatry. We have this tendency to think of God as if he were a creature – a bigger and better version of us, perhaps. Two, the scriptures do sometimes use the langue of created things and apply them to God to help us understand what he is like, and men sometimes miss the fact that the langue is functioning in an anological way.  

Christ taught us to pray to God as Father. We have earthly fathers. And there are things about earthly fathers that help us to understand things that are true about God. He is our source. He love us. He is our protector and provider. Through Christ, he is our heavenly Father and we are his children. All of that is true. But we must remember that God is our father in an analogical way, not in an univicol, or one to one, way. We would be wrong to think of him as a big, great, and powerful version of an earthly father in the sky. 

Sometimes the scriptures speak of God’s hand, his arm, his face, or back. These are human things. These are creaturely things. When the scriptures use this langue to tell us something about God, do we learn things that are true of him? Yes! But again, we must remember that the langue is analogical. 

Sometimes the scriptures will speak of God using the langue of human emotion. Humans experience changes in emotion. God does not. But we learn something true about God’s relationship with the world he has made when the scriptures speak of God repenting, grieving, longing, etc. 

All of these passages that attribute human and creaturely characteristics to God are important. We learn true things about God through them. But if we wish to know what God is, then we ought to give priority to those passages that are dealing with the whatness of God. “God is spirit”, Jesus said. The LORD revealed himself to Moses as the great I AM – the self-existent, eternal, and unchanging one.  James calls God “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17, ESV).

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Conclusion

What is God? Our catechism is right to say that “God is a spirit”. And next week we will consider what it means for God to be “ infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.”

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 20:1-21

“And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ‘You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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 or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 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. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. ‘You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’ Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’ The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” (Exodus 20:1–21, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Romans 13:8–14

“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:8–14, 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

Most Christians are familiar with the Ten Commandments (or at least they should be). And I think it is safe to say that Christians are much more familiar with the Ten Commandments than with the other laws that the LORD gave to Israel through Moses after he redeemed them from Egyptian bondage. There is a good reason for this. The Ten Commandments are much more familiar to us because Christians (and many others) have rightly recognized that they contain a summary of the moral law of God.

When we speak of the moral law we are speaking of those moral principles which apply to all people in all times and places. The moral law comes from God. It reflects his Holy nature. We confess that it was written on Adam’s heart at the time of creation, that it is present even still in the heart of man after the fall (though it is constantly distorted and suppressed by sinful men). And at regeneration, it is this law – the moral law of God – which is written anew and afresh upon the heart of man, so that those in Christ love God’s law and desire to keep it, by the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

There is no one passage of scriptures that we can turn to where all of this is neatly summed up for us. But when we pay careful attention to the way in which the scriptures speak of God’s law from Genesis to Revelation, we see that it is true. When God created man he made him a moral creature. Adam knew the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, for this moral law was on his heart. Man still has this capacity after the fall. Man has a conscience, though it is now perverse and often seared. And when God saves a man – when God draws a man to himself through faith in Jesus Christ – he gives him a new heart. He removes the heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh. There the moral law is freshly written, as it were, so that the man does begin to hate that which is evil and love what is good. It will be by this law – the moral law which is for all people – that all will be judged on the last day, if not in Christ. As I have said, there is no one text of scripture that says all of this, but this section of the book of Exodus, along with Jerimiah 31 and the first seven chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans, are especially important. 

Here I am simply observing that Christians (and others) have rightly observed that the Ten Commandments, or Ten Words, which God gave to Israel do in fact contain a summary of God’s moral law. 

And as you know, these Ten Commandments can be summarized by two commandments. This is what Jesus taught when he was asked to identify the most important law in the law of Moses. He quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 which says, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” And then he cited Leviticus 19:18, which says, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” So the whole law that God gave to Israel through Moses comes down to these two commandments: “love the LORD your God…” and “love your neighbor…”. 

As I have said, these two commandments summarize the Ten. The first four commandments of the Ten have to do with our love for God. They teach us about how he is to be honored and worshiped. And the last six of the Ten have to do with our love for neighbor. They teach us about how we are to honor our fellow man. Furthermore, these two commandments, and the Ten Commandments which they summarize,  function as the moral foundation, or core, of the other 601 commandments that are found in the law of Moses. In the law of Moses, we will encounter many other commandments besides these two and these Ten, and I am saying that the two and the Ten function as the moral core of all the others.

As we continue on in our study of Exodus, and as we, Lord willing, come to study Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy someday, we will find many other laws. Some of them we call civil or judicial, for they had to do with the governance of the nation of Old Covenant Israel. We will also find ceremonial laws in the law of Moses. These ceremonial laws had to do with the worship of God under the Old Covenant. The way of worshipping God under the Old Covenant was revealed to them by God. Neither the judicial laws nor the ceremonial laws are binding today now that Christ has come and the Old Covenant has passed away with the arrival of the New. But the moral law, upon which these civil and ceremonial laws were established, remains today.  

It is no wonder, then, that Christians are much more familiar with the Ten Commandments, and the two commandments which summarize them, than with the other 601 laws found within the law of Moses. 

But as we encounter the Ten Commandments in the context of our study of the book of Exodus, I want for you to see that they did not only summarize the moral law for Israel. They also functioned as the foundation of all of Israel’s laws, both civil and ceremonial. The Ten Commandments are the first laws given to Israel. And to these laws, God added judicial laws (having to do with government), and ceremonial laws (having to do with worship). All of these laws have the Ten Commandments as their foundation or core. 

We will move rather slowly through the Ten Commandments in the weeks to come. They were so very important to Old Covenant Israel, and they are very important to the New Covenant people of God too. Today, we will only be considering the introduction to the Ten Commandments, which is found in verses 1 and 2. 

I will make two simple but very significant observations. One, it was the LORD who was the source of the law that was given to Israel in the days of Moses. And two, Israel was obligated to obey these laws because the LORD redeemed them. 

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The LORD Was The Source Of This Law

First, let us see that it was the LORD who was the source of this law that was given to Israel. 

In verse 1 we read, “And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ‘You shall have no other gods before me.’”, etc. 

The point is this: the law that was given to Israel in the days of Moses was from God. It was the product, not of man, but of God. This law was revealed by God and it was received by the people. Certainly, it was not the other way around.  

Now, this observation might seem too obvious to be worthy of mention, but in fact, many have stumbled at this very point. In our day and age, it is not at all uncommon for men and women to think of the religion of Old Covenant Israel, and the Christian religion, the law of Moses in particular, and the Scriptures in general, as the product of man. If you were to ask people on the streets, where did the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments come from? or, where did the laws of Moses come from? I would not be surprised at all if the majority said, from man – they were the inventions of man. 

I suppose we should not be terribly surprised to find this opinion on the streets and among the non-believing world. But sadly this opinion has even crept into the church. There are, in fact, many who claim to be Christians who believe that the Scriptures, in general, and the law of Moses, in particular, are from man. They deny that the Scriptures have been supernaturally revealed from above, and think instead that they have arisen, quite naturally, from below. Those who have studied the history of protestant liberal theology and its effects upon the modern church will know what I mean.  

But what do we believe concerning the Scriptures? In brief, we believe that they are the words of God. The Scriptures, though they were certainly written by men, do not originate with men, but with God. They are divinely inspired. To quote Peter, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21, ESV). To quote Paul, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16, NKJV).

As we study the Scriptures we see that it has please the Lord, at different times and in different ways, to reveal himself to man, and to make his will known to his people. Think of how the LORD spoke to Adam, to Abraham, and to Moses. Think of how he revealed himself to and through the prophets of Old. Think of how he spoke to the world through Christ. The Lord has, at different times and in different ways, revealed himself to man, and has made his will known to his people. And after doing so, the record of these revelatory acts was committed to writing. The Scriptures were written so that God’s truth might be better preserved and shared, leading to the more sure establishment and comfort of the church.

The Scriptures are necessary, therefore. These former ways of God revealing his will to his people have ceased. And by this, we mean that God does not reveal himself as he did in the days Adam, Abraham, and Moses, for God has spoken to the world supremely through Christ, for he was the eternal Word of God come in the flesh. He was the Final Word, if you will. So what do we have now? We have the Scriptures. And this is why we confess that “the Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.” 

The Scriptures are supremely authoritative for us. Why? Because they are the Word of God. Listen to our confession, chapter 1, paragraph 4: “The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.”

God has spoken in history at different times and ways. He has spoken supremely through Christ, his Son. And God has inspired the writing of Holy Scripture so that we might know the truth and the implications of what God has said and done in history. Here in Exodus, we find a supreme example of this. God acted to redeem Israel. God spoke his word to Israel. And the Scriptures we now have are a divinely inspired record of that activity. 

The LORD was the source of this law that was given to Israel. And notice a few things about the giving of this law. 

One, it was God who spoke these words to Israel directly. Up to this point in the narrative, God had spoken to Israel through Moses. He will do so again later in the narrative. But here at Sinai the LORD spoke directly to Israel, the end result being that they begged no further word be spoken to them.

That God spoke directly to Israel is evident from what is said in verse 1: “And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.’“

It is also evident when we consider the response of Israel after the Ten Commandments were uttered. In Exodus 20:18 we read, “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’ The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” (Exodus 20:18–21, ESV)

So why did God speak these Ten Words to Israel directly with the sound of thunder, flashes of lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking? Why did he not do as he had done before, and would do again afterward, and speak to Israel through Moses? Why did speak these words directly to them? 

One, so that Israel would know for certain that it was the LORD who was giving them this law. In this way, Israel would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the law originated with the LORD, and not the man, Moses. 

Two, he spoke in this way so that Israel would have a reverential fear of the LORD, and respect for his servant Moses. 

Three, he spoke in this way so that Israel would have respect for all of the laws that God would give to them, but especially these Ten Commandments. 

Isn’t interesting how the LORD stressed the importance of these Ten Commandments? All of the other laws that were given to Israel were given to them through Moses. The source is the same. They are all from God. But the method of delivery is different. Here in Exodus 20, the Ten Commandments are spoken directly to Israel. Israel heard the voice of the LORD, and they trembled. And when we finally come to the end of Exodus 31 we will learn that the LORD wrote these Ten Commandments on stone tablets with his own finger, if you will, and gave the tablets to Moses. 

It is not difficult to see that, of all of the laws that God gave to Israel, the Ten Commandments were set apart as especially important. The LORD spoke them to Israel, and he wrote them with his own hand. The reason for this has already been stated. These Ten Words contain a summary of God’s moral law. And God’s moral law functions as the core of all of the other laws given to Israel, civil and ceremonial.  

So we have observed that it was God who spoke these words directly to Israel. Two, let us recognize that when the LORD introduced himself to Israel on Sinai he did so as a powerful King who was initiating a covenant with his subjects.

I will not spend too much time on this, but it should to be said that there is something going on in this episode that would have been far more obvious to the original audience than it is to us. 

In the ancient near eastern world, this is how kings would enter into covenants, or treaties, with other kings. The greater king – perhaps the conquering king, or the more powerful king in an alliance – would enter into a covenant or treaty with a lesser king in this way. One, he would identify the parties involved. Two, he would state the relationship between the parties. Three, he would state the stipulations of the relationship, listing laws or obligations to be followed. Four, witnesses would be mentioned. Five, a commitment would be made to write the document down so that it could be referenced and periodically read. And six, sanctions would be stated which clarify the blessing for obedience and the curses that would befall the kings and their kingdoms in the case of disobedience.  

Those familiar with the books of Exodus and Leviticus will likely recognize that all of these features are present within the story of God entering into covenant with Israel. In other words, God made his covenant with Israel in a way that was familiar to them and to the nations around them. 

Not all of the six features that I mentioned are present here in Exodus 20, but four of them are. In verse 2 we find the preamble wherein the giver and the recipients are identified. YHWH, who is God Almighty is the giver, and the nation of Israel is the recipient. Next, we find the prologue, wherein there is a reminder of the relationship between the two parties. YHWH is the great and mighty King, and he is entering into a covenant with Israel, whom he rescued from slavery in Egypt. After this, the stipulations are listed. They begin at 20:3 and run through to 23:19. They pick up again in 25:1 and continue through 31:18. These are the laws or obligations that YHWH, the great King, set upon Israel, his redeemed. Lastly, sanctions are found in the book of Exodus. These are the blessings promised for obedience and the curses that are warned in the case of disobedience. These sanctions are peppered throughout Exodus, but they are found even in chapter 20 in verses 5-6, 12, and 24. For example, verses 5 and 6 say, “You shall not bow down to them or serve them [refering to idols], for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5–6, ESV). This remark about blessings and curses is to be interpreted as a part of the sanctions of the Old Mosaic Covenant.  

The point is this: when the LORD introduced himself to Israel on Sinai in these introductory words to the Ten Commandments, he did so as a powerful King who was entering into a covenant with a nation whom he had rescued.

So then, it was the LORD who was the source of this law that was given to Israel. And we have made these two observations: One, the LORD spoke to Israel directly. Two, he introduced himself to Israel as a powerful King who was initiating a covenant with his subjects. Our third observation is this: the LORD introduced himself to Israel as “the LORD your God.”

Israel had heard about the LORD from Moses. They had witnessed his great power in the outpouring of the ten plagues and in the parting of the Red Sea. They saw his glory in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. And they enjoyed his constant provision as they wandered in the wilderness. But now the LORD spoke to them from the mountain in a glorious and powerful way, and he introduced himself to them, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2, ESV).

Of course, YHWH is the God of all people, for he is the one true God, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things seen and unseen. But here the LORD is emphasizing his special relationship to Israel, and their special relationship with. 

The LORD had rescued Israel “out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” And this he did because he had determined to make them his treasured possession of all the peoples of the earth, though all the earth is his (see Exodus 19:5). The LORD God was Israel’s LORD God in a special way, therefore. He redeemed them and was making a covenant with them. And this covenant which was made in the days of Moses was the fulfillment of the promises of a previous covenant made with father Abraham. It is no wonder, then, that the LORD introduced himself to Israel, not merely as God, or the LORD God, but as “the LORD your God”, for though the LORD is the one true God, and the Lord of all the earth, Old Covenant Israel belonged to him, and he to them, in a special way. This special relationship was formalized in a covenant and established through the act of redemption. The message for Israel was quite clear. There at Sinai, they were being brought into a special covenantal relationship with YHWH. 

You know, in Deuteronomy, the laws of this covenant are restated in preparation for the conquest of Cannan. It’s interesting to hear how Moses stated things as he looked back upon this event at Sinai which is recorded for us in Exodus 20. About 40 years had passed – 40 years of wilderness wanderings. Listen to the way that Moses describes the events that took place at Sinia which we are considering now. 

In Deuteronomy 5:1 we read, “And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb [another name for Mt. Sinai]. Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said: ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.’ ‘You shall have no other gods before me.’”, etc., etc. 

So it is as I have said. The LORD was the source of this law that was given to Israel. When he gave this law to them, the LORD spoke to Israel directly, he introduced himself to Israel as a powerful King who was initiating a covenant with his subjects, and he introduced himself to Israel as “the LORD your God.” This is all about the making of a covenant, brothers and sisters. 

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Israel Was Obligated To Obey These Laws And To Keep This Covenant Because The LORD Had Redeemed Them

The second (and last) major point of the sermon today is this: Israel was obligated to obey these laws and to keep the terms of this covenant because the LORD had redeemed them. 

If a great king conquers a lesser king and mercifully offers to enter into a treaty with him, what can the lesser king do except agree to the gracious offer? If a great king offers to free or protect a nation from an enemy more powerful than them, they would be fools to reject the offer, provided that the terms are reasonable. Similarly, when the LORD rescued Israel from Egyptian slavery, Israel was obligated to obey these laws and to keep the terms of this covenant because the LORD had redeemed them. This was the nature of their relationship. The LORD was the Redeemer, and Israel was the redeemed.  Again, listen to the preamble and prologue: “And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.’” 

It was said in the previous sermon (and rightly so) that covenant that God made with Israel in the days of Moses was a covenant of works. We call it a covenant of works because the people were called to keep the covenant through their obedience to the stipulations or laws that were given. In other words, the covenant depended upon the works or obedience of the people. The Covenant of Grace is different. The blessings of that covenant are not earned by us,  but received as a gift that is freely given. This is possible because Jesus Christ kept the terms of the Covenant of Redemption for us. He lived in perfect obedience to God’s law. He also suffered and died in the place of sinners, so that through faith in him, we might have his righteousness as our own, and the gilt of our sin removed because he paid the price. Substantially (when we consider the terms), the Old Mosaic Covenant, and the New Covenant of Grace, could not be more different. 

But in the previous sermon I did also acknowledge that, in sense, all of the covenants that God has made with man are gracious. I do not mean that they are substantially covenants of grace, but that God was gracious and kind to make these covenants with man. I suppose this could even be said of the covenant that God made with Adam in the garden, though the covenant itself was most certainly a covenant of works (eternal life in glory had to be earned by him!).  But this is especially true of all of the redemptive covenants that God entered into with man after the fall – the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic. God could not make these covenants with Israel unless he was merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Those words should sound familiar to you, for this is how the LORD spoke of himself when he revealed himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6: “The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…’” (Exodus 34:6, ESV)

This covenant that God made with Israel in the days of Moses was a covenant of works in substance, but the grace of God was certainly present. If God were not “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”, Israel would not have made it a day. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would not have been used by the LORD to bring this nation into existence. Moses himself would not have been used by God were not for God’s grace. 

And we know where God’s grace is shown supremely. We know where it is made available. Not through the Old Covenant and its terms of obedience, but through the New Covenant, and through the cross of Christ where the blood of the promised Messiah was poured out. God was “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” from the days of Adam to the days of Christ so that he might keep his promises to defeat the Evil One and atone for the sins of his elect through the blood of Christ (see Romans 3). 

Was God’s grace present in the days of Moses? Was his grace available to Old Covenant Israel? Yes, of course, it was. But through the terms or substance of the Old Covenant? No, through faith in the promised Messiah, who is the mediator of the New Covenant, which is the Covenant of Grace in Christ’s blood. 

Here is the point: The LORD graciously redeemed Old Covenant Israel from Egyptian bondage. So them, they were obligated to obey his laws and to keep his covenant out of gratitude for what he had done for them. 

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Suggestions For Application

So what does this text mean for us? 

As I have said before, we must be very careful when applying these passages from the book of Exodus to ourselves, for we do not live under the Old Covenant, but the New. We cannot simply take what the LORD said to Israel as if he has said it to us. That would be a grave mistake. 

The LORD spoke to Israel, and no to us, when he said, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” And when the LORD gave Israel the Ten Commandments, he gave them to them as the first and most foundational laws of that Old Covenant of works. We should not be surprised, therefore, to find some things in the Ten Commandments that were unique to Old Covenant Israel. We have already noted that the introduction was unique to Old Covenant Israel. And in due time we will see that the seventh-day Sabbath was for them, whereas we are to rest and worship on the first day. And what are we to make of the remarks about the children enjoying long life in the land should they obey their parents, or the children paying for the sinful idolatry of their fathers to the third and fourth generation? These are examples of things that were unique to Old Covenant Israel even within the Ten Commandments. 

But I have said that in the Ten Commandments we find God’s moral law summarized, and that is certainly true. That law – the moral law – is still for us, brothers and sisters. It is not a covenant of works for us. But it shows us the way we should go. It also reveals our sin to us so that we might run to Christ for forgiveness. Christians should care deeply about the Ten Commandments, therefore.  We should know them and love them, along with the two that summarize them: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39, ESV).

 Listen to our confession on this point. Chapter 19 paragraph 6 says, “Although true believers be not under the law as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned, yet it is of great use to them as well as to others, in that as a rule of life, informing them of the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their natures, hearts, and lives, so as examining themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against, sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ and the perfection of his obedience; it is likewise of use to the regenerate to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to show what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse and unalloyed rigour thereof. The promises of it likewise show them God’s approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof, though not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works; so as man’s doing good and refraining from evil, for the law encourageth to the one and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law and not under grace.”

And if we do not earn God’s blessing through law-keeping, what should motivate us to live in obedience to God’s moral law? Answer: gratitude. The New Covenant people of God are to obey the LORD from a renewed heart and mind out of a sense of gratitude for what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. 

To Old Covenant Israel the LORD said,” I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ‘You shall have no other gods before me’”, etc. 

But to New Covenant Isarel he says, I have delivered you from the domain of darkness and transferred you to the kingdom of my beloved Son, in whom you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (see Colossians 1:13–14), and “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15, ESV).