Loving God – A Kingdom Catechism

Loving God

A Kingdom Catechism

The first four commandments summarize our duty to love God.

Q 44: Which parts of the Law of God teach us to love God?

A 44: While all the Law teaches love for God, the first four commandments, together with their precepts, statutes, and rules, most especially teach us how we must love Him. (Exod. 20:1-11; Deut. 5:6-15)

The first four commandments spell out our duties toward God: That we must acknowledge and worship only Him, allow nothing else to capture our devotion and hope besides Him, bear His Name in ways that honor Him, and observe His day of rest, so as to renew our covenant relationship with Him. By obeying the last six commandments we also show love for God, for we acknowledge His sovereignty in all matters of justice and love and conform to His moral prescriptions. Yet without sincere and constant practice of the first four commandments, obedience to the second will not express the pure and perfect love God intends, but will be motivated more by love of self than true love of neighbor.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.