The First Commandment – No Other Gods

The First Commandment

No other gods

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Ephesians 5:15-17; Colossians 4:6

We must endeavor to give the Law of God a defining role in shaping the culture of our homes and communities. This is the sense of “writing” the Law on the doorposts of the homes and the gates of the communities.

Everything about our homes should declare our love for God and devotion to His holiness and righteousness and goodness. The manner of our relating to one another (Eph. 5:22-6:4), all our décor and furnishings, the way we use our homes in hospitality–everything about where we live should reflect love for God and neighbors according to the teaching of the Law.

And to the extent that we can shape the culture of our communities–churches and the communities in which they exist–we should seek to do so, letting our own lights shine and acting as salt (to block decay and corruption) and leaven (to transform even what is most unpalatable) according to the teaching of God’s Law and Word.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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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.