An Explanation of Luther's Small Catechism. Martin Luther

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      4. Omniscient; He knows all the past, present, and future, and is acquainted with every thought, desire, and purpose of our hearts. [Ps 139:2]

      5. Omnipotent, or Almighty; He is able to do all things which He wills to do. [Luke 1:37]

      6. Holy; He is perfectly pure, and separate from all that is evil. [Isa. 6:3]

      7. Just; He will bless those who keep His law, and punish those who break it. [Rom. 2:6]

      8. All-wise; He always knows what is the best thing to do, and the best way to do it. [Col. 2:3]

      9. Good; He is Love itself. [I John 4:8] He is kind even to the unthankful, [Matt. 5:45] merciful to the penitent soul for Jesus' sake, [John 3:16] and longsuffering toward the impenitent in order to lead them to repentance by His goodness. [II Pet. 3:9, Rom. 2:4]

      10. Faithful and True; He can be absolutely relied upon to do all that He has promised or threatened. [Numb. 23:19]

      Because of the Majesty and Goodness of the Lord our God, we should FEAR and LOVE HIM, and KEEP His commandments.

      QUESTIONS—1. What do the introductory words show? 2. Of what do the words "I am" remind us? 3. What is the meaning of the Hebrew word translated "Lord"? 4. What do the words "thy God" express? 5. From what bondage has God delivered us? 6. Name and define God's attributes? 7. Why should we fear and love God?

      SCRIPTURE VERSES.—Exod. 3:14. And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM.

      Isa. 44:6. Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

      Ps. 90:1, 2. LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

      Mal. 3:6. For I am the LORD. I change not.

      Tit. 2:14. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

      Jer. 31:3. I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

      Col. 1:13, 14. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

      John 4:24. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

      READING.—Ps. 14: Ps. 121.

      THE FIRST TABLE OF THE LAW

      "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul." [Matt. 22:37]

       CHAPTER V.

      THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

      Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

      What is meant by this commandment?

      We should fear, love and trust in God above all things.

      THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. This is the great commandment of the Law, because it includes all the rest. [Matt. 22:37,38] Obedience to all the commandments must proceed from the love of God which the first commandment requires. [Rom. 13:9,10] Hence the explanation of the other nine begins with the words, "We should so fear and love God."

      This Commandment forbids us to worship false gods, and commands us to worship the true God by fearing, loving and trusting in Him above all things.

      1. ALL IDOLATRY. "Thou shalt have no other gods." Idolatry is committed by all who put anything in God's place, the highest place in the heart. "Whatever we set our heart upon is our god."

      Open Idolatry [Exod. 32:1-9, Ps. 135:15-17, Isa. 42:8, Rom. 1:22-23] is committed by those who worship imaginary beings, the sun, moon, or stars, animals, dead ancestors, idols made with hands, images,3 pictures, the Virgin Mary, saints, angels, the devil, or any other creature.

      Secret Idolatry is committed by all who put (a) Self, [Prov. 3:6, 6.+, Jer. 9:23, 24] (b) Fellow-men [Acts 5:29+, Matt. 10:28+, Matt. 10:37+, Ps. 146:3-5] or (c) Objects of this world [I John 2:15-17+] (money, fame, business, pleasure, etc.) above God, by fearing, loving, or trusting in them more than in God.

      2. Godlessness. [Sam. 2:30, Ps. 10:4] Neglect to worship the true God, unbelief, scepticism, superstition, Infidelity, and atheism are a transgression of this commandment.

      3. Double service. [Matt. 6:24+] God forbids us to have other gods before or besides Him, He demands our whole heart.

      We should give God the highest place in our hearts, and "fear, love and trust in. Him above all things." [Matt. 4:10+]

      1. WE SHOULD FEAR GOD ABOVE ALL THINGS. We should be more afraid of His anger than of anything else in the whole world. [Gen. 39:9+, Ps. 33:8, 9.] Rather than disobey Him, we should be willing to suffer ridicule, persecution, loss of money, property, position, or friends, and even death itself. [Matt. 10:28+, Acts 5:29]

      Why. We should fear God above all things, 1. Because He is omniscient, and we cannot hide anything from Him, not even our thoughts. [Ps. 139:1, 2+] 2. Because He is holy, and hates everything that is evil. [Lev. 19:2] 3. Because He is just, and will punish every sin. [Ps. 5:4]

      How. As Christians, our fear of God should be a child-like and not a slavish fear. Child-like fear is fear mingled with love. We should refrain from evil not simply from fear of punishment, but from fear of offending the God whom we love. [Rom. 8:15+] "Slavish fear Is afraid God will come; child-like fear is afraid He will go away."

      2. WE SHOULD LOVE GOD ABOVE ALL THINGS, "with all our heart, and with all our mind and with all our soul." [Matt. 22:37] Our first aim and our highest delight should always be to do God's will. [I John 5:3+] We should be far more anxious to please Him than to please ourselves or any of our fellow-men. We should love Him far more than we love any one else [Matt. 10:37+] (parents, brothers, sisters, friends, etc.), or any earthly objects [I John 2:15+] (money, pleasure, business and the like).

      Why. We should love God above all things 1. Because He is most worthy of our love. [Ps. 73:25, 26+] 2. Because He first loved us, [I John 4:19+, I John 4:9+] and gave His Son to die for us. 3. Because our highest happiness is found in loving Him.

      How we should show our Love. We should show that we love God above all things 1. By leading a godly life. [II John 6] 2. By loving the things of God, especially the Church and the Gospel. [John 8:47] 3. By loving our fellow-men for His sake. [I John 4:20+]

      3. WE SHOULD TRUST IN GOD ABOVE ALL THINGS. We should rely with all our heart upon His love and care, [Prov. 3:5+] placing our chief dependence on Him, and not on our own wisdom, skill, or strength, or upon men, money etc.

      Why. We should trust in God with all our heart because 1. He loves us. [Rom. 8:32] 2. He knows all our wants. [Matt. 6:32] 3. He knows what is best for us. 4. He is able to do all things. 5. He has promised to care for us. [Heb. 13:5, Isa. 54:10, Isa. 41:10]

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