Holding forth the Word of Life
— Philippians 2:16a (KJV)
God spoke all these words:
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 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 labour, 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.
Honour 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 neighbour.
You shall not covet your neighbour’s house;
you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife,
or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s.1
Into two parts.
The first
teaches us how to live in relation to God;
the second,
what duties we owe our neighbour.1
That for the sake of my very salvation
I avoid and flee all idolatry,1 witchcraft, superstition,2 and prayer to saints or to other creatures.3
Further,
that I rightly come to know
the only true God,4
trust in him alone,5 submit to him
with all humility6 and patience,7
expect all good from him only,8 and love,9 fear,10 and honour him11
with all my heart.
In short,
that I forsake all creatures rather than do the least thing against his will.12
Idolatry is
having or inventing something
in which to put our trust
instead of, or in addition to,
the only true God
who has revealed himself in his Word.1
FERC