I’m about half-way through my reading of Vos’ Commentary to the Westminster Large Catechism.
We are entering the study of God’s Commandments.
This seems pretty simple when Jesus answers a question about it.
Matthew 22:36-38
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
It if one goes back to the Old Testament we read that there are actually four parts to that commandment.
But let’s just look 👀 how the Westminster divines saw what lies under just the first part…..pay attention to the extensive list of duties and sins. And this was written almost 400 years ago. How many more might we add today!
No wonder Jesus said…
Matthew 5:18-20
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 19:24-26
24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? 26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Spoiler alerts…it’s all dependent on God, not us.
Amazing Grace that saved a Wretch like me, comes to mind.
WLC…
Q. 102. What is the sum of the four commandments which contain our duty to God?
A. The sum of the four commandments containing our duty to God, is, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind.
Q. 103. Which is the first commandment?
A. The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Q. 104. What are the duties required in the first commandment?
A. The duties required in the first commandment are, the knowing and acknowledging of God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly, by thinking, meditating, remembering, highly esteeming, honoring, adoring, choosing, loving, desiring, fearing of him; believing him; trusting, hoping, delighting, rejoicing in him; being zealous for him; calling upon him, giving all praise and thanks, and yielding all obedience and submission to him with the whole man; being careful in all things to please him, and sorrowful when in anything he is offended; and walking humbly with him.
Q. 105. What are the sins forbidden in the first commandment?
A. The sins forbidden in the first commandment, are, atheism, in denying or not having a God; idolatry, in having or worshiping more gods than one, or any with or instead of the true God; the not having and avouching him for God, and our God; the omission or neglect of anything due to him, required in this commandment; ignorance, forgetfulness, misapprehensions, false opinions, unworthy and wicked thoughts of him; bold and curious searching into his secrets; all profaneness, hatred of God; self-love, self-seeking, and all other inordinate and immoderate setting of our mind, will, or affections upon other things, and taking them off from him in whole or in part; vain credulity, unbelief, heresy, misbelief, distrust, despair, incorrigibleness, and insensibleness under judgments, hardness of heart, pride, presumption, carnal security, tempting of God; using unlawful means, and trusting in lawful means; carnal delights and joys; corrupt, blind, and indiscreet zeal; lukewarmness, and deadness in the things of God; estranging ourselves, and apostatizing from God; praying, or giving any religious worship, to saints, angels, or any other creatures; all compacts and consulting with the devil, and hearkening to his suggestions; making men the lords of our faith and conscience; slighting and despising God and his commands; resisting and grieving of his Spirit, discontent and impatience at his dispensations, charging him foolishly for the evils he inflicts on us; and ascribing the praise of any good we either are, have, or can do, to fortune, idols, ourselves, or any other creature.
Q. 106. What are we specially taught by these words, before me, in the first commandment?
A. These words, before me, or before my face, in the first commandment, teach us, that God, who seeth all things, taketh special notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other God: that so it may be an argument to dissuade from it, and to aggravate it as a most impudent provocation: as also to persuade us to do as in his sight, whatever we do in his service.
Vos’ Commentary goes through each of those words.
I may be beating a dead🥁, since in today culture or visible church we don’t talk about sins, at least those not on the approved politically correct list.
Anyway, I think we might want to think about these things serious, and I’m not here to sell band uniforms and instruments
Rainbow Trout 
I wanted to add the details of the Scripture References to the 1st Commandment, these include the phrase they refer to in the WLC Answer.
Scripture References 1st Commandment
Q104 – Duties
• Luke 10:27. Christ’s summary of the moral law, showing that love to God is the sum of the first four commandments.
• Exod. 20:3; Deut. 5:7. The first commandment.
• 1 Chron. 28:9; Deut. 26:17; Isa. 43:10; Jer. 14:22. Knowing and acknowledging God to be the only true God, and our God.
• Rs. 95:6-7; Matt. 4:10; Ps. 29:2. Worshiping and glorifying God as the only true God, and our God.
• Mal. 3:16; Eccl. 12:1. We must think about God, and remember him
• Ps. 71:19. We must have a high idea of God.
• Mal. 1:6. The duty of honoring God.
• Isa. 45:23. The obligation to adore God.
• Josh. 24:15, 22. The duty of choosing God as our God.
• Deut. 6:5; Ps. 73:25; Isa. 8:13. We must love, desire, and fear God.
• Exod. 14:31. The duty of believing God.
• Isa. 26:4; Pss. 130:7; 37:4; 32:11. We must trust, hope, delight, and : in God.
• Rom. 12:11 compared with Num. 25:11. The duty of being zealous for Cal
• Phil. 4:6. We are to call upon God with thanksgiving.
• Jer. 7:23. The obligation of total obedience to God.
• James 4:7. The duty of submission to God.
• 1 John 3:22. We are to be careful to please God.
• Jer. 31:18; Ps. 119:136. We are to be sad when we have offended God.
• Mic. 6:8. The duty of walking humbly with God.
Q105 – Sins
• Ps. 14:1. The sin of atheism.
• Eph. 2:12. Those who are without God have no hope.
• Jer. 2:27-28 compared with 1 Thess. 1:9. The sin of idolatry contrasted with serving the true God.
• Ps. 81:11. The sin of rejecting God as the object of our supreme devotion.
• Isa. 43:22-24. The sin of neglecting God and the worship he requires.
• Jer. 4:22; Hos. 4:1, 6. The sin of ignorance concerning God and his will
• Acts 17:23, 29. The sin of misapprehending the nature of God and his will.
• Isa. 40:18. The sin of false opinions concerning God.
• Ps. 50:21. The sin of unworthy and wicked thoughts about God.
• Deut. 29:29. Bold and curious searching into God’s secrets.
• Titus 1:16; Heb. 12:16. The sin of profaneness.
• Rom. 1:30. The sin of hating God.
• 2 Tim. 3:2. The sin of inordinate self-love.
• Phil. 2:21. The sin of immoderate self-seeking.
• 1 John 2:15-16. The sin of setting our hearts on created things rather than on God.
• 1 Sam. 2:29; Col. 3:2, 5. Love of the world and earthly things more than God.
• 1 John 4:1. The sin of vain credulity.
• Heb. 3:12. The sin of unbelief.
• Gal. 5:20; Titus 3:10. The sin of heresy.
• Acts 26:9. The sin of misbelief, or sincere belief of what is false.
• Ps. 78:22. The sin of distrust.
• Gen. 4:13. The sin of despair.
• Jer. 5:3. The sin of being incorrigible.
• Isa. 42:25. Insensibleness under divine judgments.
• Rom. 2:5. The sin of hardness of heart.
• Jer. 13:15; Prov. 16:5, 17; 1 Tim. 6:4. The sin of pride.
• Ps. 19:13; 2 Peter 2:10. The sin of presumption.
• Zeph. 1:12; Rev. 18:8; Isa. 28:15. Carnal security a sin.
• Matt. 4:7. Tempting God a sin.
• Rom. 3:8. The sin of using unlawful means.
• Jer. 17:5. The sin of trusting in lawful means.
• 2 Tim. 3:4. Loving pleasure more than we love God is wicked.
• Gal. 4:17; John 16:2; Rom. 10:2; Luke 9:51, 55. Misguided zeal is sinful.
• Rev. 3:16. The sin of lukewarmness.
• Rev. 3:1. Deadness in the things of God.
• Ezek. 14:5; Isa. 1:4-5. Estranging ourselves from God.
• Rom. 10:13-14; Hos. 4:12; Acts 10:25-26; Rev. 19:10; Matt. 4:10; Col.
2:18; Rom. 1:25. Religious worship is to be paid to God only and not to any created being.
• Lev. 20:6; 1 Sam. 28:7, 11, compared with 1 Chron. 10:13-14. God has forbidden all attempts to communicate with the dead, or to consult with the devil or evil spirits.
• Acts 5:3. It is wrong to pay heed to the suggestions of Satan.
• 2 Cor. 1:24; Matt. 23:9. We are not to make men the lords of our faith and conscience.
• Deut. 32:15; 2 Sam. 12:9; Prov. 13:13. The sin of despising God and his commands.
• Acts 7:51; Eph. 4:30. The sins of resisting and grieving the Holy Spirit.
• Ps. 73:2-3, 13-15, 22; Job 1:22. The sins of discontent under God’s dispensations and charging God foolishly.
• 1 Sam. 6:7-9. It is wrong to attribute any event of our lives to chance.
• Dan. 5:23. It is wicked to ascribe our success or prosperity to idols or fake gods.
• Deut. 8:17; Dan. 4:30. We may not take credit to ourselves for anything good that we are, have or can do.
• Hab. 1:16. We may not regard any creature as the source of any blessing or success that we may enjoy.
Q106 – “Before me text…”
• Ezek. 8:5-6; Ps. 44:20-21. God sees, and is greatly displeased with, the sin of having any other God.
• 1 Chron. 28:9. Since God sees and knows all things, we should remember this, and realize that we are to live and work “in his sight.”
• 1 Kings 18:15. A servant of God who lived and worked as in God’s sight.
• Heb. 4:13. All things are seen and known by God.
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Grab a copy of Vos’ Commentary and read about each phrase.
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