Thou shalt have no other gods before Me / Thou shalt not make for thyself an idol.
In this portion of study we will examine both of these commands together because they are so closely related. Keep in mind that all of the commandments concerning worship and obedience are based on the greatest commandment identified by Jesus in Matthew 22:35-40
35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 Jesus said to him, " ’You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 39 "And the second is like it: ’You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
The Ten Commandments were first given in Exodus 20 but the foundation of these commandments was given in chapter 19. Before giving the law, the command to love God was the foundation the law was laid upon. The command to love God was given six times between Exodus 6 and the teaching of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. If you examine the Ten Commandments you can clearly see that they are all fulfilled through the two greatest commandments – love God with all your being and love people as yourself. The command to abstain from idolatry is based on loving God and putting Him before all. Anything that comes in your life before God is idolatry. It is hard to put God first because it takes faith. Consider Psalm 36:7-8
7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. 8 They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
It is not possible to be abundantly satisfied in God and experience His fullness until after you have put your trust under the shadow of His wings. The promises of God are all fulfilled through obedience. Without obedience, don’t bother claiming the promises of God for they are not given to those in rebellion against Him.
Idolatry of Pride.
Pride is one of the greatest threats against the heart of man. Pride takes credit for what God has done, refuses to acknowledge what God has done, lifts our hearts against the Lord and exalts ourselves in our own eyes. Pride makes you into your own idol. Pride worships self and exalts self against God. Consider Psalm 12:3-4
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, And the tongue that speaks proud things, 4 Who have said, "With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over us?"
How many times have we heard preachers claim that their own words are the power in their own lives? Some of the most popular religious leaders today claim that they are their own gods and through the power of their own spoken word they believe they can be like God. Pride is idolatry and taking the work of God and crediting it to your own tongue or your own actions is sin against the Lord. Every success you have is because God has opened the door for you, empowered you, or given you the abilities that benefit you. God created you while you were in the womb and fashioned the days for you before you had a breath on this earth (Psalm 139), so there is nothing you can do without the hand of the Lord. In fact, if you submit to God, He uses you for His good and gives you blessings and if you rebel, He still uses you to accomplish His will. Throughout the Bible God has used wicked men to accomplish His work. God uses people to judge His people or accomplish good. Wicked men crucified Jesus. This was the plan of God and while the wicked thought they were fighting against God, they were in fact fulfilling His word. God uses sinners to chastise the righteous, close doors to hinder us from going the wrong direction or making the wrong decision and God uses wicked people to test us and shape our character through trials and hardships. Consider Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:
7 "Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!
Not only are the wicked used by God through offenses, but God also judges those who cause the offense. When the Pharisees conspired to crucify Jesus, it was the plan of God but it was still rebellion and sin and they were judged severely for it and will be judged in the life to come. The proud heart is an abomination to the Lord as stated in Proverbs 16:
5 Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.
Pride is an abomination because it is idolatry. The proud have made themselves into gods and pride will be judged. Look now at Isaiah 41:21-24
21 " Present your case," says the LORD. "Bring forth your strong reasons," says the King of Jacob. 22 "Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the former things, what they were, That we may consider them, And know the latter end of them; Or declare to us things to come. 23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, That we may be dismayed and see it together. 24 Indeed you are nothing, And your work is nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination.
In this case, God is judging the leaders who had lifted themselves up with pride. In their own eyes they were gods and the Lord challenged them to show their wisdom by making the plan of God known. They did not understand the plan of God revealed in the past nor did they understand the future. In the end God declared that they are nothing and that they, along with those who idolize them, are an abomination to God. Pride is idolatry and it puts self before the Lord.
Idolatry of Money.
Wealth can be an idol. The Bible does not condemn having possessions nor does it condemn money itself. The Bible condemns those who love money and those who live for pleasure. The Bible does not say that money itself is evil but it does say that the love of money is the root of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). If the focus of the Christian life is money, we are guilty of idolatry. Throughout the Bible we are told not to set our heart on money (Psalm 62:10, Proverbs 23:5), not to set our hearts on building treasures on earth (Matthew 6:19), and we are commanded not to labor to be rich (Proverbs 23:4). It is not money that causes the problem, but setting our affections on money. Money should serve us; it is not for us to serve money. Look at Luke 16:10-14
10 "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. 11 "Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 "And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own? 13 "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." 14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.
According to Jesus, it is not possible to serve God while serving money. Mammon means wealth or riches. Anyone who sets their heart to labor for wealth has made riches into an idol for they are giving their life to and serving money. The Bible does not condemn labor – in fact, the Bible condemns those who refuse to labor. The Bible praises those who labor and earn their living to provide for themselves and their families. The problem arises when we set our hearts on getting rich, for when money becomes the focus of our lives we are serving mammon and no longer serving our Lord. Money will pass away so why forfeit serving an eternal God in order to serve money that will soon pass.
Idolatry of presumptuous sins.
The Bible has much to say about presumptuous sins. Since there is so little understanding on this topic and what I will be sharing here goes against the common thought, I am going to use a lot of scripture for this portion of study. After all, it does not matter what I think or what anyone teaches – the Lord instructs us about truth through His word. So to make it clear that this is not an issue of opinions, we will let the scripture do the speaking. Let’s now look at Psalm 19:
13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
Presumptuous sins is one of the great dangers in the Christian life. There is a false and very dangerous doctrine being taught today that Christians are not accountable for any of their sins. I listened to a pastor boldly proclaim, “You will never be held accountable for anything you do because of the cross”. Does the Bible teach this? The great transgression is to presume upon God’s grace. There is a difference between the sins we commit as we struggle to establish holiness in our lives and the sins we willingly commit with the assumption (or presumption) that God will forgive us even if we reject His Spirit’s work in our lives. Consider this passage from Proverbs 1:23-33
23 Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. 24 Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, 25 Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, 27 When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. 28 "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. 29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD, 30 They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke. 31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies. 32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them; 33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil."
People indeed despise God’s counsel of wisdom for when you share scriptures that rebukes their sins or challenges them to turn from the flesh, they get angry. People want a passive God that forgives everything, requires nothing, and turns a blind eye to a lifestyle that continues in sin. God does indeed forgive, but when the Spirit of God is given to the believer, everything changes. No longer are we blindly groping in the darkness but we have the light of God to show our way and the counselor of the Holy Spirit to direct our steps. How can we expect to have the Spirit but reject His counsel? The Bible is very pointed in declaring God’s warning against those who reject the instructions of the Holy Spirit in our life. In both the Old and New Testaments the Bible says that being stubborn and sinning willingly against God is indeed idolatry. Look at these two passages:
1 Samuel 15: 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king."
Colossians 3: 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Everyone has times when they sin. In a moment we find ourselves expressing anger through hurtful words. We say things we shouldn’t and act without thinking through our actions. The Bible says that to know to do good and not do it is sin (James 4:17) and that anything we do that is not out of faith is sin (Romans 14:23). When we neglect to do what is right or if we do what is wrong we fall into sin. Everyone struggles to become an overcomer and this challenge is indeed great. If it were easy to overcome, the Bible would not promise such great rewards to those who overcome. There is a difference between our sins of weakness and sins of presumption.
Presumptuous sins are sins that we knowingly and willfully commit even though we know God’s Spirit is instructing us to forsake it. To willfully sin by saying, “God will forgive me anyway” is what is meant by presumptuous sins. God does not promise to overlook presumptuous sins but will hold us accountable (as we will shortly see); however, God does indeed promise to forgive us as we sin as we learn to walk in the light of the gospel. Look at 1 John 1:6-9
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
You will sin and you will struggle to live a Christ-like life. If you are walking in the light of an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ and you sin, you have the promise that you will be forgiven and He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. However, this promise is only to those who are walking in the light by living and walking in the Spirit. If you are not walking with Christ in your daily lifestyle, you do not have this promise. If you are lifted up with pride and think you are above sin, you are deceiving yourself. You must acknowledge your sin, confess your sins and walk in Christ to have this promise. The Bible promises that once God forgives our sins, He will never again call them into remembrance. Keep in mind that two chapters later in 1 John 3 we are warned that whoever abides in Him does not sin because the seed of the Holy Spirit abides within us. The promise of forgiveness is to those who walk with Christ in obedience but there is a stern warning given to those who willfully sin after receiving the truth of the gospel. Look now at Hebrews 10:26-31
26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge His people." 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
I have heard many explanations that try to water down this passage and persuade God’s people that this scripture does not mean what it is saying. Either we believe God’s word or we don’t. This scripture is directed to those who are Christians for no lost man or woman has received the knowledge of the truth. To receive means just that. Those who reject Christ have not received the knowledge of the truth. If that is not persuasive enough to you, look at verse 30, “The LORD will judge His people”. That is you and I. We are His people – not those who have refused the gospel. The individual who has rejected Christ will be judged but this passage is written specifically to the church.
The key to this warning of judgment is ‘willingly’. When I find myself fighting against God in my heart because I want to sin, I am rejecting the call of wisdom, trampling the Son of God and insulting the Spirit of grace that has redeemed my life and transformed my heart. The Bible does not promise me that I can sin willingly and do as I please and then ask for forgiveness and then expect God to wink at my sin. The Bible says just the opposite. I am warned that there is no sacrifice for my willful sins when I reject the work of God’s Spirit in my heart. This doctrine is re-affirmed in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Each time this is taught, people will get upset because we want to believe that we can live according to the flesh and still have the favor of God. Just because we don’t like something does not nullify the word God has spoken. This doctrine is affirmed throughout the scripture. Look now at 2 Corinthians 5:10-11
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
This is not written to those who do not know Christ; this is written directly to the church. This is also why the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When I know that I will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account, it should make me afraid to sin. My kids obey because they know that they will be held into account. If they disobey and they know I am going to hold them accountable, it creates fear of punishment. That fear causes them to re-evaluate their decision to disobey. Knowing the terror of the Lord and that we will stand before His judgment causes us to re-evaluate our desire to sin when we are tempted. Knowing that we will be held in account creates fear and that fear changes our behavior so that we may act according to the wisdom given to us by God rather than the temptation of the flesh. In time as we mature, we hopefully will value the wisdom but until we reach that level of spiritual maturity, fear of the consequences keeps our behavior in check. If God did not care about our sins, this would mean that God did not love us for our holiness conforms us to God’s character. Look at this very important passage in Hebrews 12:6-11
6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives." 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
If God winked at our sins and did not hold us accountable, that would mean that either He did not love us or it would indicate that He is not our Heavenly Father. God does not give details as to how we will be judged after this life for our sins, but we do know that God judges us in this life so that He may have mercy on us in the world to come. When someone was practicing sexual immorality in the Corinthian church, the apostles addressed this issue with severity. The elders of the church were instructed to cast this person out of the church until he repented (2 Corinthians 2:6-8). While he was in sin, his physical body was turned over to Satan until judgment was accomplished in this life with the hope that he would repent and mercy would be granted at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Look at 1 Corinthians 5:
5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Everyone has times when they find themselves in a position that stirs up wrath and we often give in. Everyone will have times when they find themselves in the presence of lust and we often struggle in this world of sensuality and temptation. While giving into sin does indeed require repentance, this is not what is meant by presumptuous sins. If we take the wrath or lust and deal with it according to the direction of the Holy Spirit’s wisdom in our heart, sin is brought under subjection to Christ, we are led away from sin and remain in a right relationship with our God. Since the Holy Spirit abides within us, we have been given the power to overcome temptation when it enters our minds and before it becomes an action. Consider 2 Corinthians 10:5
casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
We have the power by the Holy Spirit to bring our thoughts under subjection to Christ. The Bible also testifies that we are more than conquerors through Christ and that the Holy Spirit within us is greater than anything that is in the world. Even so, if we begin to entertain those thoughts and willfully subject ourselves to sin, we become a slave of sin as we take control away from the Spirit led life and return it to the domination of the flesh. This is explained in Romans 6:12-16
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
We have been set free from the bondage of sin through the flesh but if we submit ourselves again to sin, we return to bondage and the Bible warns that if we live according to the flesh we will die but if we put to death the flesh by the Spirit, we will live (Romans 8:13). When temptation arises, if we belong to Christ and the Holy Spirit is within us, He gives us the power to overcome and bring our lives and thoughts of temptation under subjection to righteousness. So if we take wrath and entertain this in our minds and take it into our heart as we plot revenge or craft our anger into hatred, we are no longer seeking God but we are rejecting the Spirit of grace and choosing instead to obey and submit ourselves to the flesh. If we see something that stirs us to lust and we entertain the lust in our mind and take it into our heart, we are now guilty of presuming upon God’s grace as we make excuses to fill our craving of the flesh and lie to ourselves that we can live according to the flesh and just ask for forgiveness afterward. This is the difference between presumptuous sins and the sins that we strive to overcome throughout our lives. Anytime we excuse sin or try to justify our lusts, we have rejected the voice of wisdom.
The church has done a grievous disservice to the people of God by teaching them not to fear the Lord but to act as they please believing that forgiveness is freely given even when we sin willfully. Search the scriptures and see if there is one time when God affirms this terrible doctrine. You and I will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of everything we have done in our body – good and bad. This is not an opinion – this is clearly stated in the scripture. We will not receive salvation at the judgment seat of Christ – we will either be rewarded or punish for our deeds. No one is saved by deeds but we are judged by our deeds.
This is the same message that God delivered from the beginning. During the Old Testament law, when someone sinned in error, they had to offer a sin offering and seek forgiveness for their transgression; however, if they sinned presumptuously, they were not offered mercy but were judged by the law without the option of making an offering for sin (Deuteronomy 17:12-13). Jesus also affirmed our accountability in Luke 12:47-48
47 "And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 "But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
So you can see that throughout the Bible we are warned again and again that we will be held in account for our actions. We will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and answer for everything done in our bodies while on earth. We have been given the power to overcome but we must choose to walk in the Spirit given to us by God or walk in the flesh according to the ways of the world that is dying in their sins.
Presumptuous sins put us into the warning of being guilty of the great transgression. I believe that transgression is idolatry for we have exalted our lusts above the God who has redeemed us out of the world. The Bible tells us that to stubbornly resist the Spirit of God is idolatry and the Bible tells us that fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness is idolatry.
We are guilty of idolatry when we exalt materialism, false religions, money and lusts of the flesh above our Lord. So when we see the commandment that we should not have any other gods before Him, we can see that anytime we depose God from reigning over our lives we are guilty of idolatry. Our goal should be to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. We do this by living in the Spirit and walking in obedience to His word and allowing the Spirit of God to direct our hearts. This is accomplished through the word and our submission to His word.
Some commit idolatry by creating a graven image to worship; some worship materialism, wealth and possessions; some fall into idolatry by living for pleasure; some fall into idolatry by submitting themselves to sin and living in the flesh. Pride is the idolatry of self-worship. All of these things are brought under subjection by faith in God’s word expressed in our obedience to the Lord. These two simple passages provide the light to lead us away from idolatry:
Deuteronomy 6:5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
If we live by these principles, we will walk in truth and obedience. While the Bible says that willful sinning produces a fearful expectation of judgment, the Bible also says that perfect love casts out all fear. Perfect love comes only from God. Look at Romans 5:5
Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
When we receive Christ, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit and the love of God is poured out in our hearts. We now have the ability to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength because of the love He has placed within us. If we walk in the Spirit, we will experience that love and have the power to give that love back to God. If we walk in the perfect love of God, we will express that love back to God and will not love sin. If we walk in the flesh and walk in sin, we are now building up the things that were destroyed and make ourselves transgressors (Galatians 2:18); however, if we walk in the Spirit and the love of God given to us by the Holy Spirit, we will be overcomers and that perfect love casts out all fear as we walk in hope and look expectantly for the day when we will stand before our God. Or as 1 John 2:28-29 states:
28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
The Bible compares the lusts that tempt us to idolatry many times in the scriptures as we are commanded to flee these things. Take these passages to heart:
2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
Flee lusts for they are the idols people place before God, but pursue the things of the Spirit and you will then call upon the Lord from a pure heart! Don’t only flee temptation, but also pursue righteousness. Faith calls us into obedience and it is our faith given to us by God that overcomes the world and gives us the victory over this life (1 John 5:4).
