Lord's Day 34

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.

"We obey the commandments, therefore, not in order to merit God's favor but out of gratitude for His favor. Don't forget that the Ten Commandments were given to Israel after God delivered them from Egypt. The law was a response to redemption, not the cause of it. We must never separate the law from the gospel. In one sense, the law shows us our sin and leads us to the gospel, but in another sense, the law ought to follow the gospel just as giving the Decalogue followed salvation from Egypt. Likewise, Ephesians 2 first explains salvation by grace and then instructs us to walk in the good deeds prepared for us (v. 10). Romans first explains justification and election and then tells us how to live in response to these mercies (Rom 12.1). We obey the law in gratitude to the gospel."

The Good News We Almost Forgot, Kevin DeYoung, Moody Publishers, 2010, pp. 162,164.