An Explanation of Luther's Small Catechism. Martin LutherЧитать онлайн книгу.
VERSES.—Matt. 22:37-40. Jesus said unto him, Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Rom. 3:20. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Gal. 3:24. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
John 14:15. If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Matt. 7:12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Reading.—The Giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai, Exod. 19 and 20.
CHAPTER IV.
THE LAWGIVER
I am the Lord thy God.
These introductory words show who is the Lawgiver. [Jas. 4:12] As earthly kings place their names at the beginning of their decrees to give them authority, so God places His name at the beginning of the commandments in order to make known who gives them, and whose displeasure we shall incur if we disobey them. These introductory words belong not only to the first but to all the commandments.
I AM. By these words God reminds us that He is a Person. He speaks to us. He is not an impersonal God who pervades and is a part of nature. He is above nature and has created it. [Gen 1:1]
THE LORD. The word here translated "Lord" means in the original Hebrew "I AM THAT I AM." [Exod 8:14+] God thereby declares that He is the One and Only Self-existent, [Isa 44:6+] Eternal, [Ps 90:1, 2+] and Unchangeable Being. [Mal 3:6+] He is the true and living God in contradistinction from all so-called gods. [Jer 10:10] The name Jehovah or "LORD" is used in the Old Testament Scriptures to designate God as the covenant God of Israel. It signified that He stood in a specially near relation to them as His chosen people. The name has the same comforting meaning for Christians; for they are the New Testament people of God. [Tit 2:14+, I Pet 2-9]
THY GOD. These words express God's good-will toward us. He is our God who loves [Jer 31:3+] us and cares for us. [I Pet 5:7] He said to Israel, "I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." He has delivered us from the still greater bondage of sin, death, and the devil through His Son Jesus Christ, [Col 1:13+] and has a right to expect our gratitude and love.
THE LORD THY GOD. He who gives us these commandments is a Spirit [John 4:24+] of infinite majesty and goodness. He is:
1. Eternal; He always was and always will be. [Ps 90:2]
2. Unchangeable; He always was and always will be the same. [Mal 3:6]
3. Omnipresent; He is present everywhere at the same time and all the time. [Ps 139:7-11]
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,
When God gave the commandments to Israel, He forbade them to make any graven images or likenesses. God being a Spirit, the making of an image of God would at that period necessarily have resulted in idolatry. But since Christ has come in the flesh and was visible among men, we are permitted to make pictures and images of Him. Luther preached very forcibly against those persons who, during his absence from Wittenberg, destroyed the pictures and images in the churches. He said that we make a picture of Christ in our heart whenever we think of Him, and put pictures of Him in the Bible and other books; and that therefore it is not wrong to place pictures or images of Him in our churches, so long as we do not worship them.