92. Q. What does the Lord say in His Law? A. [The Catechism quotes from Exodus 20:1-17, reciting the giving of the Ten Commandments.]93. Q. How are these commandments divided? A. Into two tables. The first has four commandments, teaching us what our relation to God should be. The second has six commandments, teaching us what we owe our neighbor.
94. Q. What does the Lord require in the first commandment? A. That I, not wanting to endanger my very salvation, avoid and shun all idolatry, magic, superstitious rites, and prayer to saints or to other creatures. That I sincerely acknowledge the only true God, trust Him alone, look to Him for every good thing humbly and patiently, love Him, fear Him, and honor Him with all my heart. In short, that I give up anything rather than go against His will in any way.
95. Q. What is idolatry? A. Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God, who has revealed Himself in His Word.
My reflections on the reading from the book...
This week's reading marks the commencement of a large "unit" dealing with the Ten Commandments. DeYoung makes several good points...
"The law doesn't just show us our sin so we might be drawn to Christ; it shows us how to live as those who belong to Christ... The law ought to follow the gospel just as the giving of the Decalogue followed salvation from Egypt." God's moral law, as summarized in the Ten Commandments is not something we can ignore or consider irrelevant. True, we can never live up to the holiness of God's law, but it is our calling and desire as His children to be holy even as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16-17; 2:9).
"The First Commandment ... can only be obeyed by worshiping Jesus. Jesus shows us what the true God is like." Without Christ, I cannot know or love God as I ought. What a privilege to have Christ as the perfect Mediator!
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