THOU SHALT
HAVE
NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME
You shall have no other gods before Me.
That is: You shall have Me
alone as your God. You shall not make
for yourself any graven 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 and serve them.
Briefly stated,
this means that we should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. If you
truly have faith in Christ, then you have the True God. On the other hand, if
you do not have faith in Christ, then you do not have the true God; for faith
and God go together. A god is that from which we are to expect all good and to
which we are to take refuge in all distress. For that reason, that in which you
place your trust is your god.
Therefore, the intent of this
commandment is to require true faith in Christ. Faith that clings to the Triune
God alone, looks to Him alone for every blessing, and trusts in Him alone for
help in every need.
Far too many people think God is
pleased with them just because everything is going well in their lives, or
because they have a lot of money and possessions. Earthly wealth gives men a
false sense of security. Such men have a false faith and, therefore, a false
god -- Mammon by name. Their trust is not in the True God, but in their money
and possessions. Those are the things on which they set their heart. This is
also the most common idol on earth. On the other hand, those who lack money
often have doubts about their salvation, or are despondent and bitter, as if
they had no God. This glorification of money and the things that it can buy
sticks and clings to our nature, even to the grave.
Whoever trusts and boasts that he
possesses great skill, prudence, power, favor, friendship, and honor also has a
god, but not the true and only God. This appears again when you notice how
presumptuous, secure, and proud people are because of such possessions, and how
despondent when they no longer exist or are withdrawn. Therefore I repeat that
the chief explanation of this point is that to have a god is to have something
in which the heart entirely trusts.
Since a person's god is that in whom
he trusts, devotion to the saints, as taught by the
Papacy, is false worship. Under the Papacy, if any one had a toothache he
fasted in honor of St Apollonia. If he was afraid of
fire he chose St. Lawrence as his helper in need. If he dreaded pestilence he
made a vow to St. Sebastian or Rochio. There were a
countless number of such abominations, where every one selected his own saint,
worshiped him, and called to him for help in distress. Such false worship
belongs in the same class as that of sorcerers and magicians, whose idolatry is
most gross, and who make a covenant with the devil in the hope that he will
give them money, help them in love-affairs, preserve their cattle, or restore
lost possessions, etc.. All such people fail to place
their trust in the true God. They neither seek His mercy nor expect anything
good from Him.
Thus this commandment requires us
to place our confidence in God alone and trust in no one else. We cannot take
God with our hands. We take Him with our heart by clinging to Him in faith,
trusting in Him, and looking to Him in every need. For this reason, He wishes
to turn us away from everything else that exists outside of Him, and to draw
nigh unto Him, for He is the only eternal good. He alone can give you heaven,
and pour out upon you all good things.
Only when we so
place our confidence in God, trusting in Christ and Christ alone for salvation
are we able to honor or worship God in a way that is pleasing to Him. He
commands such worship under penalty of eternal wrath. Rather than be torn from
Him, we should risk and be willing to disregard everything on earth. How far short the world falls on the matter. You can easily
see how the world practices only false worship and idolatry, for every one has
set up as his special god those things he looks to for blessings, help, and
comfort. We can see this illustrated in the lives of the heathen. Those who put
their trust in power and dominion elevated Jupiter as the supreme god. Those
who were bent upon riches, happiness, pleasure, and a life of ease worshiped
Hercules, Mercury, Venus or others. Women with child worshiped Diana or Lucina, and so on. They made a god of those things they
trusted in for comfort, so that in which they put their faith became their god.
They are often sincere, but they are misguided. They have a false faith, for
they have not trusted in the One True God. Their self-invented notions and
dreams of God became their idol, and they put their trust in that which is
altogether nothing. Likewise, those who trust in science deny God, or invent a
god who used evolution. All idolatry is the same, for idolatry does not consist
only of erecting an image and worshiping it, but of placing ones trust in
something other than God. The lost seek consolation from creatures, saints, or
devils, but they do not care for God, look to Him for help, or believe that all
good they experience comes from Him.
There is another type of false
worship prevalent in the world. It is a false worship that concerns the
conscience alone, a false worship that seeks help, consolation, and salvation
through works. Those who practice this false worship would wrest heaven from
God by their works. They seek to put God in their debt by tithing, praying,
fasting, and attending church. They trust in such things and are unwilling to
receive anything from God as a gift. They would have God serve them, as if He
were their debtor and they His landlord. Such devotion to works is just another
way in which men attempt to reduce God to an idol who
will do their bidding, while striving to make themselves His master.
The important thing to stress
when teaching this commandment is that we are to trust in God alone, look to
Him alone, and expect only good from Him as we would from a loving Father. We
should understand that it is He who gives us our body, our life, our food, our
drink, our nourishment, our health, our protection, our peace, and all
necessities both temporal and eternal. He also preserves us from misfortune,
and if any evil befalls us He delivers and rescues us. All the good that we
receive comes to us from Him alone, and it is by His
grace that we are delivered from evil. For that reason, it is fitting that our
word, "God" comes from the word, "good" -- elegantly
expressing the fact that He is the only and eternal source of all good; the
source of every blessing.
For even though we experience
much good from men, whatever we receive by God's command or arrangement is
received from God. For our parents, our rulers, and our neighbors have received
from God the command to do us good, therefore any good we receive at their
hands does not come from them but through them from God. Men are only the
hands, channels, and means whereby God gives all things. He gives to the
mother breasts and milk to offer to her child and corn and all manner of
produce from the earth for nourishment. All of those things are blessings of
God that no man could produce in and of himself.
Therefore, that all good might be
acknowledged as God's gift and thanks rendered to Him for it, we should never
presume to take or give anything except as God has commanded. For that reason,
we should never refuse what is given to us according to God's command, nor
should we seek to gain by ways and means other than those God has commanded. To
do so would not be receiving from God, but seeking of ourselves.
Everyone should realize the
importance of this commandment and take it seriously. Those who examine their
own heart, being honest with themselves, will know if their heart clings to God
alone or not. If you look to Him alone for salvation, believing, even in want
and distress, that He will make all things work together for your good, then you have the only true God. If, on the other hand, your
heart looks to Mary, the Saints, or any other thing for help while fearing that
God wants your harm, then you have an idol, a false god.
In order to make it clear that He
will not have this commandment thrown to the winds but will most strictly
enforce it, God has attached to it a terrible threat, and a beautiful,
comforting promise both of which are to be impressed upon young people,
that they may take it seriously and remember it.
[Exposition of the Appendix to the First
Commandment.]
For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of
them that love Me and keep My commandments.
Although these words relate to
all the commandments (as we shall hereafter learn), they are joined to this
chief commandment because it is vitally important for us to have the right
foundation. If our faith rests on the right foundation everything else will be
right. On the other hand, if it rests on a wrong foundation then everything
else will be wrong. These words impress upon us God's wrath against all who do
not trust in Him and His grace which is freely extended to all who trust in His
mercy. The fact that His anger does not cease until the fourth generation --
while His blessing and goodness extend to many
thousands -- should be a warning to all who lapse into a false security and
commit the final resting place of their soul to chance. It should likewise be a
warning to those brutes who think that their way of living does not make any
difference. If men turn from God, He will have vengeance and will not cease to
be angry until the fourth generation, even if that means their utter
extermination. Therefore, He is to be feared and not to be detested.
History is filled with demonstrations of this truth. The Bible and
everyday experience provide us with many examples. From the beginning God has
uprooted all idolatry. His judgment upon those who reject Him has fallen upon
both heathen and Jews, and false worship continues to fall before the power of
His Word. For that reason, all who remain therein must finally perish. The
rich, powerful, and proud worldlings who are secure
in their riches and care less if God is angry at them shall be destroyed with
all in which they trusted. They shall suffer the same fate as all others who
have thought themselves secure or powerful, yet died without Christ.
Since God does not always destroy such hardened souls immediately,
they often assume that God is ignorant or does not care about such matters. Yet
He will deal them a smashing blow that will extend even unto their children's
children; so that every one may take note and see that this is no joke to Him.
Those who persist in their defiance and pride are the ones He is speaking of
when He says, "Who hate Me". They will not
listen to what is preached or said to them. Nor will they amend their ways
before the punishment begins. When they are reproved they become angry and
hateful, making themselves even more deserving of God's wrath, as we see
demonstrated daily in the behavior of bishops and princes.
However, as terrible as these threatenings are, God's grace is greater. Those who cling
to God alone have the sure promise of His mercy in Christ. If the warning of
His wrath is powerful, the promise of His mercy is even more powerful. Those
who cling to God alone can be sure that He will show them mercy, and His
blessing will extend to their children and children's children even to the
thousandth generation and beyond. Such a great promise ought to impel us to
trust ourselves fully to God's mercy and grace. Who could reject His offer
knowing that in Christ we have all temporal and eternal good?
Everyone should take this promise seriously, and realize that it is
not merely the word of man but the sure Word of God. Every blessing of heaven
belongs to those who heed God's commandments, admit their sinfulness, and place
their trust in His promise of mercy. In contrast, those who refuse to hear
God's commandments shut out the truth and deny their need of His mercy. On the
day of judgement they will receive only wrath and
torment. Therefore, it is a question either of eternal blessing, happiness, and
salvation or of eternal wrath, misery, and woe. What great comfort it is to
know that God so kindly promises to be ours with every blessing, and to protect
and help us in all need.
But, alas! The world believes nothing of this, nor regards it as
God's Word, because it sees those who profess to trust in God suffer poverty or
find it difficult to make ends meet; while those who serve Mammon have power,
favor, honor, possessions, and every comfort in the eyes of the world. These
words teach us that we should not base our judgments on such outward
appearances. We must realize that God's Word does not lie or deceive, but must
come true.
What is gained in the long run by those who devote all of their
energy to amassing wealth? Can you tell me of any who have not wasted their
toil and labor? What have they finally attained? We often hear of men who have
gained great wealth yet have never found happiness. In the end all that they
have accumulated is dispersed and scattered, never reaching the third
generation. There are many examples of this in history. Older people are often
personally aware of such a situation. Ponder the folly of such people and put
God first in your life.
Saul was a great king who had everything going for him. He was a
godly man who had been chosen by God to rule
David, on the other hand, was a poor, despised man, hunted down and
chased so that he was in constant danger; yet he remained and became king in
spite of Saul -- for God's Word had to come true, since God cannot lie or
deceive. Therefore, do not allow the devil and the world to deceive you with
their show, which indeed remains for a time, but finally is nothing.
From the First Commandment we learn that our faith must be in God
alone because He will not tolerate those who put their faith in another. We
should commit our lives to Him and trust in Him for every blessing while using
the things which He has given us to provide for our needs, as a shoemaker might
use an awl, without allowing any of those things to become our idol. Let this
suffice with respect to the First Commandment, which we have had to explain at
length, since it is of chief importance because, as before said, where the
heart is rightly disposed toward God and this commandment is observed, all the
others follow.
[The above explanation is based upon and closely
follows Martin Luther's explanation of the First Commandment.]