The Large Catechism – part 52
Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Scripture Text: Joshua 7:13
Series: Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
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From the Confessions: The Large Catechism, The Ten Commandments
The First Commandment
You shall have no other gods before me.
Even though we experience much good from people, we receive everything by God’s command or plan. Our parents, all authorities, and all our neighbors, have received the directive from God that they should do us all sorts of good. Therefore, we do not receive these blessings from them, but from God through them. His creatures are the hands, conduits, and means by which God gives all blessings. As examples, he gives to the mother breasts and milk for her child, and grain and all kinds of produce from the earth for our nourishment, things that no one could produce by himself.
Pulling It Together: Lest we lose sight of our theme, we are considering how all good gifts come from God. We do not take them; we receive them. Some of the Israelites snatched blessings from Jericho’s dead. These were not given by the hand of God, but taken by the hands and from the hands of men. When we do not receive what God has provided, and have instead, taken what we want, we have failed to fear and trust God above all others. We have taken matters into our own hands. We have therefore, made ourselves above God.
We must return to our rightful place by consecrating ourselves. How else is one to do this sanctifying than by doing the very opposite of his previous defilement. Where you formerly put yourself over God, come under him again through confession and repentance. Believe that he forgives you, for this too is a way — perhaps the principal way — of honoring God above all others: expecting all good from him alone by expecting his pardon.
Prayer: Lord, walk me along the path of sanctification by always expecting your mercy and forgiveness. Amen.
Click here for resources to learn the Ten Commandments.
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Author
Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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