045. Of the first commandment
QUESTION 45. Which is the First Commandment?
ANSWER:The First Commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
QUESTION 46. What is required in the First Commandment?
ANSWER:The First Commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly.
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Q. 1. Why are most part of the commands of the law delivered in negative terms?
A. Because negative precepts are of the strictest obligation, binding always, and at all times.
Q. 2. Why is the First Commandment, in particular, so expressed?
A. Because of the perpetual propensity of our nature, since the fall, to depart from the living God, “through an evil heart of unbelief,” Hebrews 3:12.
Q. 3. Why is this commandment set in front of all the rest?
A. To teach us, that the having JEHOVAH to be our God, is the leading and fundamental duty of the law, Exodus 15:2, which sweetly and powerfully influences obedience to all the other commands of it, Psalms 118:28.
Q. 4. What influence has obedience to the first, upon obedience to the other precepts of the law?
A. As obedience to the First Commandment, is to believe that God is our God, upon the gift of himself to us, in these words, I am the Lord thy God; so, without believing this it is impossible we can do any thing else that will please him, Hebrews 11:6; for “whatsoever is not of faith is sin,” Romans 14:23.
Q. 5. Why do this, and other commands, run in the second person singular, THOU, and not in the plural, YOU, or YE?
A. To signify, that God would have us to take his commandments, as spoken to each of us in particular, as if we were mentioned by name.
Q. 6. What is the connexion between the preface and the First Commandment?
A. The preface reveals and exhibits the object of faith, and the First Commandment enjoins the duty of believing on that object: the one makes a grant of grace, and the other warrants us to lay hold on it.
Q. 7. Are the preface and First Commandment of equal extent?
A. Yes; every one to whom the promise in the preface is revealed, is obliged, by the command, to believe it, with application, John 3:18.
Q. 8. Can the obligation of the law be in the least weakened by the grace of the gospel, published in the preface?
A. So far from it, that it is impossible for any man to share of the grace of the gospel, published in the preface, but in a way of believing, enjoined in the first command of the law, Romans 3:31 - “Do we make void the law through faith? God forbid.”
Q. 9. What are the chief duties required in the First Commandment, as thus connected with the preface A.To know and acknowledge God, to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly.
Q. 10. What KNOWLEDGE of God does the First Commandment require?
A. It requires us to know that God is; and that he is such a God as he has manifested himself to be in his word, Hebrews 11:6.
Q. 11. What has God manifested himself to be in his word?
A. He has manifested himself to be, “The Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty;” namely, without a satisfaction, Exodus 34:6-7; or, he has manifested himself to be in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, 2 Corinthians 5:19.
Q. 12. What is it to know God as he is in Christ?
A. It is to know that he is well pleased for Christ’s righteousness’ sake, because he has magnified the law, and made it honourable, Isaiah 42:21.
Q. 13. How is the knowledge of God usually distinguished?
A. Into speculative or common, and practical or saving knowledge.
Q. 14 What is the speculative or common knowledge of God?
A. It is only a floating knowledge of him in the head, without any saving influence or efficacy upon the heart and practice; as is to be found in ungodly persons or hypocrites, who may “profess that they know God, but in works they deny him,” Titus 1:16.
Q. 15. What is it to have a saving and practical knowledge of God?
A. It is to have such a lively apprehension of his relation to us as our God in Christ, as is accompanied with an habitual conformity to his will, in heart and life, 1 John 2:3-4.
Q. 16. What are the evidences of true saving knowledge?
A. It is an experimental, Colossians 1:6, interesting, Psalms 41:11, sanctifying, 2 Peter 1:8, and humbling knowledge, Job 40:4-5 ew:4-5 ew:4-5.
Q. 17. What is it to acknowledge God?
A. It is to own, avouch, and confess him, both in secret, and before the world, Romans 10:10, - “With the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Q. 18. Why are the knowing and acknowledging of God joined together?
A. Because wherever the saving knowledge of God is implanted in the heart, there will be always some evidences of it, either to ourselves, or others, discovered in the life, Daniel 11:32 - “The people that do know their God, shall be strong, and do exploits.”
Q. 19. What should we know and acknowledge God to be?
A. We should know and acknowledge him to be the only true God, and our God.
Q. 20. What is it to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God?
A. It is to believe and profess, that he alone, and none else, is possessed of all infinite perfection, and that the perfections of the divine nature are most eminently displayed and manifested in the person of Christ, our only Saviour and Redeemer, Hosea 13:4 - “Thou shalt know no God but me: for there is no Saviour besides me.”
Q. 21. What is it to know and acknowledge God to be our God?
A. It is to profess our relation to him, as his people, upon the faith of the grant that he makes of himself to us as ours, in the word; Deuteronomy 26:17-18; Psalms 48:14.
Q. 22. Can we know and acknowledge God to be our God, (as required in this commandment) unless we believe in Christ?
A. No; for “no man cometh unto the Father but by me,” says Christ - “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father,” John 14:6, John 14:9.
Q. 23. Is not faith, or believing in Christ, a gospel precept only, and not required in the law?
A. By no means; for, in the gospel, strictly and properly taken, as it is contra-distinct from the law, there can be no precept; because the gospel in this strict sense, is nothing else than a PROMISE, or glad tidings of a Saviour, with grace, mercy, and salvation in him, for lost sinners of Adam’s family; according to the following scriptures, Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 2:10-11.
Q. 24. Since faith and repentance are duties consequently to the entrance of sin, and the revelation of the gospel, must they not therefore be new precepts, not given to Adam in innocence?
A. Though there was no occasion for the exercise of these duties in an innocent state; yet Adam being bound by the law of creation, (particularly the Ten Commandments, given him in the form of a covenant of works,) to believe whatever God should reveal, and obey whatever he should command; no sooner was the gospel revelation made, than the very same law, which bound him, while in innocence, to believe in God as his Creator, obliged him, when fallen, to believe in God as his Redeemer, now revealed and made known to him; and likewise to turn from sin to God, Romans 3:31.
Q. 25. Whence is it that the obligation of the law is so extensive, as to bind to the belief of whatever God shall reveal?
A. This arises from the absolute perfection of the law, which being a complete rule of all obedience, cannot but fasten the duty, the same moment that the object is revealed, Psalms 119:96 - “Thy commandment is exceeding broad.”
Q. 26. What is the absurdity of making faith and repentance new gospel precepts?
A. The absurdity is, that by this another righteousness is introduced in our own persons, than the righteousness of Christ, as the immediate ground of our pardon and acceptance before God.
Q. 27. How does this absurdity necessarily follow from the aforesaid doctrine?
A. If Christ, as our surety, has fulfilled the precept, and endured the penalty of the moral law, according to Galatians 4:4-5, then it cannot but follow, that this law of faith and repentance, not being fulfilled by him, must be fulfilled by ourselves, in our own persons, as our righteousness before God: and thus another ground of justification is established, besides the Surety righteousness, contrary to Galatians 2:16, and Galatians 3:21.
Q. 28. What is the doctrine of our Larger Catechism on this head?
A. That believing and trusting in God (which is the same with faith,) “being careful in all things to please him,” and “sorrowful when in any thing he is offended,” (which is the same with repentance,) are among “the duties required in the First Commandment:” and that “unbelief - distrust - incorrigibleness - and hardness of heart, or impenitency, (according to Romans 2:5, there quoted,) are among the sins forbidden in it.” 1 1 See Larger Catechism, Quest. 104, 105
Q. 29. What does God require of us in this commandment, as the evidence of our knowing and acknowledging him to be the only true God, and our God?
A. That we worship and glorify him accordingly,Matthew 4:10 - “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
Q. 30. What is it to worship God?
A. It is to make him the supreme object of our esteem, Psalms 71:19, desire, Psalms 73:25, and delight, Psalms 142:5, and that not only in our secret devotions, but likewise when joining with others in any religious exercise, Psalms 111:1.
Q. 31. What is it to glorify him?
A. It is to ascribe all possible glory and perfection to him, Exodus 15:11, and, in all our actions, to aim at the advancement of his honour and glory in the world, 1 Corinthians 10:31.
Q. 32. What is imported in our being required to worship and glorify him accordingly?
A. It imports, that since God commands us to know and acknowledge him, not only to be the true God, but our own God, in virtue of the covenant grant he makes of himself in the word; it becomes us, in all our actions, religious and civil to behave towards him, as standing in such a near and intimate relation to us, Psalms 45:11; 1 Corinthians 6:20.
Q. 33. Can we glorify God aright, unless we acknowledge him to be our God in Christ?
A. No; for, unless we acknowledge a God in Christ, as our God, we make him a liar, in saying, I am the Lord thy God, and rebel against his authority in the First Commandment, which is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
Q. 34. Is believing the promise, then, the foundation of all acceptable worship and obedience?
A. Yes; for all true obedience, is “the obedience of faith,” Romans 16:26, and “without faith it is impossible to please God,” Hebrews 11:6.
Q. 35. In what manner are we required to worship and glorify God?
A. Both inwardly in our hearts, John 4:24, and outwardly in our lives, Matthew 5:16.
Q. 36. How are we to worship God inwardly in our hearts?
A. By trusting, Isaiah 26:4; hoping, Psalms 130:5, and delighting in him, Psalms 37:4; by thinking and meditating upon him, Malachi 3:16, Psalms 63:1-11; devoting ourselves to him, Isaiah 44:5; and by being filled with grief, when he is offended by ourselves or others, Psalms 38:18; Psalms 119:136.
Q. 37. How are we to worship and glorify him outwardly in our lives?
A. By praying to him, and praising him with our lips, Psalms 142:1, and Psalms 145:21; by being zealous for his glory, Psalms 69:9; careful to please him, Colossians 1:10; and by walking humbly before him, Micah 6:8.
Q. 38. What improvement ought we to make of the covenant grant in the preface, I am the Lord thy God; and the precept enjoining the belief of this, Thou shalt have no other gods before me?
A. That it is the duty of every one of us, without waiting till we find gracious qualifications wrought in us, instantly to lay claim to a God in Christ, as our God, Psalms 95:7; this being what he requires in the first place, as the foundation of all other acts of obedience, 2 Chronicles 20:20.
Q. 39. If it is an external federal relation to the visible church, which God asserts in the preface, when he says, I am the Lord thy God, how can the First Commandment warrant the faith of a special relation?
A. As the command always warrants a particular application of every general promise, so the external federal relation which God bears to the visible church, becomes a special one, the moment that the promise is believed with a particular applicatory faith, Jeremiah 3:22.
QUESTION 47. What is forbidden in the First Commandment?
ANSWER:The First Commandment forbiddeth the denying, or not worshipping and glorifying the true God, as God and our God; and the giving that worship and glory to any other which is due to him alone.
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Q. 1. To what general heads may the sins forbidden, in the First Commandment, be reduced?
A. To these two: atheism and idolatry.
Q. 2. What is ATHEISM?
A. It is the denying, or not having a God.
Q. 3. How is atheism commonly distinguished?
A. Into speculative and practical.
Q. 4. How is speculative atheism again subdivided?
A. Into that which is directly, and that which is interpretatively such.
Q. 5. What is direct speculative atheism?
A. It is a fixed persuasion in the heart, and an open profession with the mouth, that there is no God.
Q. 6. What is speculative atheism, interpretatively, or by necessary consequence?
A. It is the rejection of any of those truths which are necessarily connected with the being of a God; such as the denial of providence, or any of the essential perfections of God: because from thence it would necessarily follow, that there is no God.
Q. 7. Why would it necessarily follow, from the denial of providence, or any of the divine perfections, that there is no God?
A. Because it is impossible to conceive that there is a God, without conceiving, at the same time, that he preserves and governs the world, Isaiah 41:1-29; and it is impossible to conceive his being or existence, without conceiving him to be possessed of all infinite perfection, 1 John 1:5.
Q. 8. Can there be such a person among men, as a direct speculative atheist?
A. No; there can be none of mankind, who has, at all times, such a fixed and constant persuasion that there is no God, as at no time whatsoever to have the least fear or doubt of the contrary, Daniel 5:6, Daniel 5:9.
Q. 9. How does it appear that there can be no such person as a downright speculative atheist?
A. From universal experience, which attests, that the knowledge and impression of the being of a God, is so natural to man, that he can no more divest himself of it at all times, than he can strip himself of his reason, or shake off his own existence, Romans 1:19 - “That which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them:” that is, ingrained it in their natures.
Q. 10. Would it not seem, that there may be a downright speculative atheist, from Psalms 14:1 - “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God?”
A. The words do not import a fixed and permanent persuasion, but rather a secret wish: accordingly, the expression is not, The fool hath believed, or is persuaded in his heart, but hath said: that is, would fain have harboured such a secret desire.
Q. 11. Why do wicked men wish there were no God?
A. To be free of any check or restraint upon their lusts, and that they may “work all uncleanness with greediness,” Ephesians 4:19.
Q. 12. Who are they that are interpretatively atheists?
A. Not only they who deny the providence of God, or any essential attribute of his nature, but likewise all deists, who reject supernatural revelation; and all openly wicked and profane persons, who live as if there was no God, Psalms 10:4, Psalms 10:11, Psalms 10:13.
Q. 13. Is it speculative or practical atheism, that chiefly levelled against, in this commandment?
A. Both: but especially practical atheism, as being universally prevalent, Romans 3:11.
Q. 14. What is practical atheism?
A. It is a denial of God, in our practice, Titus 1:16 - “They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him.”
Q. 15. How does practical atheism evidence itself?
A. In omitting the duties required in this commandment; namely, not knowing and acknowledging God to be what he really is, and neglecting to worship and glorify him accordingly.
Q. 16. Who are guilty of not knowing God?
A. Not only heathens, who walk contrary to nature’s light, Romans 1:21; but likewise Christians, who being privileged with the means of knowing God, as in Christ, yet slight and neglect the same; John 15:22 - “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin.”
Q. 17. Who are they that are guilty of not acknowledging God?
A. They who rush upon the actions of life, without asking his counsel about them, Joshua 9:14 - “The men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.”
Q. 18. Who are guilty of not worshipping God?
A. They who live in the habitual neglect of the public, private, and secret exercises of his worship, Isaiah 43:22 - “Thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.”
Q. 19. Who are guilty of not glorifying God?
A. They who set up themselves as their own rule, Psalms 12:4, and make themselves their own end and happiness, in opposition to God, Php 2:21.
Q. 20. When are men chargeable with this piece of practical atheism; namely, of setting themselves up as their own rule?
A. When they perform any action, religious or civil, more because it is agreeable to self, than as it is pleasing to God, Zechariah 7:5-6; when they envy the gifts and prosperity of others, Psalms 73:3, and when they would model or frame God himself according to their own fancy, imagining him to be “altogether such a one as themselves,” Psalms 50:21.
Q. 21. When do men make themselves their own end and happiness in opposition to God?
A. When they ascribe the glory of what they have or do, to themselves, and not to God, Daniel 4:30; when they are more troubled for what disgraces themselves, than for what dishonours God, 1 Samuel 15:30; and when they prefer the pleasures and profits of this world, to the glorifying and enjoying of God, Matthew 19:22.
Q. 22. When may we be said to worship the true God, and yet not as God?
A. When we draw nigh to him with the mouth, and honour him with our lips, but our hearts are far from him, Matthew 15:8.
Q. 23. When are we guilty of not worshipping and glorifying him, as our God?
A. When, in the course or tenor of our behaviour and deportment towards him, we want the habitual exercise of the faith of our federal relation to him, Psalms 81:10, Psalms 81:11.
Q. 24. May not the saints themselves be chargeable with some degree of practical atheism?
A. No doubt they may; when they entertain unbecoming thoughts of God in their mind, or speak unadvisedly to him with their lips. Thus Job is censured by Elihu, for charging God with injustice, chap. 33:10, 11 [Job 33:10-11]; and Jonah speaks most rashly to God, when he says, “I do well to be angry, even unto death,” chap. 4:9 [Jonah 4:9].
Q. 25. How may a person know when blasphemous thoughts, and atheistical expressions, are not inconsistent with a state of grace?
A. When a blasphemous thought is so far from being indulged, that it is treated with abhorrence; and when an atheistical expression (uttered through surprise, and the hurry and violence of temptation) is deeply regretted and lamented, Psalms 73:21-22.
Q. 26. What is the other general and comprehensive sin forbidden in this commandment?
A. IDOLATRY.
Q.27. What is idolatry?
A. It is the giving that worship and glory to any other, which is due to God alone.
Q. 28. How is idolatry commonly distinguished?
A. Into that which is gross and external, and that which is more refined and internal.
Q. 29. What is the idolatry which is gross and external?
A. It is an ascription of the ordinary signs of worship, or religious homage, to any person or thing, besides the true God, Leviticus 26:1.
Q. 30. Who are they that are guilty of this grosser kind of idolatry?
A. HEATHENS and PAPISTS.
Q. 31. What was the nature of the idolatry of the Heathens?
A. They made gods of the sun, moon, and stars, and of almost every other creature; yea, of devils themselves, as the apostle witnesses, 1 Corinthians 10:20. But that which was most frequent among them, was their making images or idols in the shape of some sort of living creatures, or of a mixture of them, and then worshipping them as if they were gods, Psalms 135:15-19.
Q. 32. How did Heathenish Idolatry take its rise in the world?
A. By men becoming “vain in their imaginations, whereby they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things,” Romans 1:21, Romans 1:23.
Q. 33. How does it appear that the Papists are guilty of this grosser kind of idolatry?
A. By their bowing to images and altars; giving divine honour to the consecrated bread in the sacrament; adoring the crucifix; praying to angels; invoking the saints, especially the virgin Mary, whom they supplicate much more frequently than they do Christ himself. By all which it appears, that Popish idolatry succeeds in the room of the Heathenish; and is more inexcusable than theirs, because those who practise it have the benefit of divine revelation which the heathens have not.
Q. 34. How do you prove, that the paying religious homage to such things is gross idolatry?
A. From the nature of idolatry itself; the very essence of which consists in giving divine worship and honour to any creature whatsoever, whether in heaven or earth; for it is written, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve,” Matthew 4:10.
Q. 35. What is the idolatry which is more refined and internal?
A. It is a setting up of idols in the heart, Ezekiel 14:4; or giving that room in our esteem and affection to any thing else, which God alone ought to possess, Luke 14:26.
Q. 36. To whom is this kind of idolatry incident?
A. To all mankind naturally; and even believers themselves are cautioned and warned against it, 1 John 5:21 - “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
Q. 37. What are these idols which have a seat in every man’s and woman’s heart by nature?
A. Among many others, there are these two; which are worshipped and served by the generality, even of the visible church, namely, SELF and the WORLD.
Q. 38. How does it appear that SELF is an idol which naturally reigns in the heart of every one?
A. From the very first lesson in the school of Christianity, which is, to deny self, Matthew 16:24 - “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself.”
Q. 39. What is it for a man to deny himself?
A. It is to give up with his self-wisdom, his self-will, and his self-righteousness.
Q. . When do we give up with the idol of self-wisdom?
A. When we are made to see our own depraved reason to be but folly, when compared with the wisdom of God revealed in his word; “for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” 1 Corinthians 3:19.
Q. 41. When is the idol of self-will dethroned?
A. When God’s will of precept becomes the sole rule of our heart and life, Psalms 119:105; and his will of providence is cheerfully acquiesced in as the best for us, Romans 8:28.
Q. 42. When do we part with the idol of self-righteousness?
A. When we submit to the righteousness of God, or found our plea, for eternal life wholly and entirely upon the meritorious obedience and satisfaction of Christ, as our Surety, in our room and stead, Php 3:8-9.
Q. 43. How does it appear that the WORLD is an idol seated in every man’s heart by nature?
A. From the habitual turn of our thoughts and affections to things temporal, Matthew 6:31; the eager pursuit of them, and ardent desire after them, in preference to those that are spiritual and eternal, chap. 16:26 [Matthew 16:26].
Q. 44. What are the things of this world which we naturally incline to idolise?
A. Some make an idol of their worldly riches; making gold their hope, and saying to the fine gold, “Thou art my confidence,” Job 31:24; some, of their worldly pleasures, being “lovers of pleasures, more than lovers of God,” 2 Timothy 3:4; some make an idol of their worldly credit and reputation, receiving “honour one of another,” and not seeking “the honour that cometh from God only,” John 5:44; some, of their worldly relations bestowing more of their love upon them, than upon God, Matthew 10:37; and some make an idol of their worldly helps and confidences, trusting more to these than to God, Isaiah 31:1; Jeremiah 17:5.
Q. 45. What is the verdict of the Spirit of God concerning those who make the world their idol?
A. It is this, that “if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him,” 1 John 2:15.
Q. 46. How may Satan be said to be even idolised by those who profess to bear him an implacable hatred?
A. When his suggestions are regarded more than the dictates of the Spirit of God in his word, Isaiah 40:27 hew:27 hew:27; Isaiah 49:14.
Q. 47. How may the suggestions of Satan be distinguished from the dictates of the Spirit of God?
A. The tendency of all Satan’s suggestions is to set up in the soul some one thing or other in Christ’s room, 2 Corinthians 4:4; but the dictates of the Spirit of God are wholly calculated for giving Christ in all things the pre-eminence, John 16:14.
Q. 48. Why is Satan called the God of this world? 2 Corinthians 4:4.
A. Because he is “the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience,” Ephesians 2:2, till “the prey be taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered,” Isaiah 49:24-25.
Q. 49. Who are they that explicitly acknowledge the devil as their God?
A. They are such as use sorcery, divination, witchcraft, charms, and other diabolical arts and practices, condemned in Deuteronomy 18:10-12.
Q. 50. Was Joseph’s cup an instrument of divination, or did he himself use this unlawful art, when he says, Genesis 44:15 - “Wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?”
A. By no means; for the word translated DIVINE is, on the margin, rendered make trial, or inquiry; and so the meaning is, Know ye not that such a man as I, who am so diligent and industrious in other matters, would soon miss the cup in which I usually drink, and make inquiry after the person who had stolen it?
Q. 51. What improvement ought we to make of the First Commandment, as it stands connected with the preface?
A. That as God warrants and commands us to believe in him, as our God and Redeemer, Psalms 45:11; so it is our duty to carry along with us the faith of this relation, in all our approaches to his presence, Hebrews 11:6.
QUESTION 48. What are we especially taught by these wordsBEFORE MEin the First Commandment?
ANSWER:These words before me in the First Commandment, teach us, That God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other god.
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Q. 1. What is the strength of the argument implied in these words before me?
A. That the sin of having any other god, is committed in the presence of him, who seeth all things, Hebrews 4:13.
Q. 2. What is it for God to see all things?
A. It is to have a most intimate, perfect, and comprehensive knowledge of them, Psalms 147:5 - “His understanding is infinite.”
Q. 3. In what consists the infinity of God’s knowledge?
A. Not so much in the perfect and comprehensive knowledge of the creatures, which are finite; as in the perfect and comprehensive knowledge of himself, and his own excellencies and perfections, which are infinite, 1 Corinthians 2:11.
Q. 4. How is it that God sees, or knows all things?
A. He sees all things at once in his own essence, distinctly, infallibly, and immutably, 1 John 1:5.
Q. 5. How do you prove that God has such a comprehensive sight and knowledge of all things?
A. Because otherwise he could not be the Creator, Governor, and Judge of the world, 1 Corinthians 4:5.
Q. 6. In what light does God see or know evil actions?
A. As they are opposite to his nature, Jeremiah 44:4, and contrary to his law, 1 John 3:4, which is the sole and unerring standard of all rectitude, Romans 7:12.
Q. 7. What is that sin which strikes more immediately and directly against the authority of God in this commandment?
A. It is the sin of having any other god.
Q. 8. What is it to have another god?
A. It is to have our minds, wills, and affections carried out after other objects, as much, or more than after God himself, Isaiah 46:9, compared with Ezekiel 14:4.
Q. 9. What notice does God take of this sin?
A. He threatens to resent it with the highest marks of displeasure, and that even in this life, as well as in the world to come, Deuteronomy 29:24-29.
Q. 10. Why is God so much displeased with the sin of having any other God?
A. Because it sets up a rival or competitor in his room, and that in his very sight and presence, Jeremiah 32:30.
Q. 11. What influence ought the presence of an all-seeing God to have upon us in all our actions?
A. The consideration of this ought to quicken and animate us to every duty, Genesis 5:22, Genesis 5:24; and affright and deter us from every sin, as being an affronting of him to his face, who is our witness, and ere long will be our judge, Genesis 39:9.