Question 260: What is the First Commandment?

Answer:

The First Commandment is: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” This command teaches us to worship and serve the one true God alone, loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We are to reject all idolatry, trust in nothing else, and give God our highest loyalty and deepest love. (Exodus 20:2–3, Deuteronomy 6:4–5, Matthew 4:10, 1 Corinthians 8:6, 1 John 5:21)

Full Scripture References

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.” – Exodus 20:2–3 (BSB)

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” – Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (BSB)

But Jesus said to him, “Away from Me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” – Matthew 4:10 (BSB)

Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist. – 1 Corinthians 8:6 (BSB)

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. – 1 John 5:21 (BSB)

Expanded Explanation of Catechism Question

The First Commandment lays the foundation for all others: there is only one God, and He alone is to be worshiped, trusted, obeyed, and loved. As the preface to the commandment makes clear, this God is not a distant deity but the Redeemer—“who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” Our obedience flows from grace. Bishop Julian Dobbs (ACNA, Diocese of the Living Word) states, “This first word from God calls us to recognize His exclusivity and sufficiency. Nothing and no one else is to occupy His place in our lives.” (Address to Synod, 2022)

This commandment forbids idolatry—not only the worship of false gods, but the elevation of anything above God in our hearts. Fr. Keith Allen (AMiA, St. Brendan’s Anglican Church, AL) explains, “An idol can be anything—success, comfort, family, politics—when it becomes ultimate. The First Commandment cuts to the root of divided allegiance.” (Teaching on the Decalogue, 2019)

Anglican worship constantly affirms this command. The Nicene Creed begins with the words, “We believe in one God…” and every liturgical confession of sin involves returning from idolatry to the true and living God. Canon George Grant (ACNA, Parish Presbyterian Church, TN) writes, “To break the First Commandment is to distort reality. To keep it is to begin to live in truth.” (Recovering Anglican Piety, 2018)

Gerald Bray (ACNA-affiliated, Beeson Divinity School) teaches, “This command is not primarily about religion—it’s about love. To have no other gods means to love God supremely, to rest in Him fully, and to serve Him alone.” (God Has Spoken, 2014) Adoration, obedience, and faith all spring from this commandment, for it teaches us to put God first in all things.

Fr. Jon Shuler (AMiA, New Anglican Mission) reminds us that this command is also deeply personal: “God does not say, ‘There is no other god.’ He says, ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.’ He speaks not to the crowd but to the heart.” (Covenantal Discipleship, 2015)

Early Church Fathers on Catechism Question

“This is the first and greatest command: that God alone be adored. From this springs all true worship and holiness.” – Augustine of Hippo, On the Sermon on the Mount, c. 393 AD

“He who fears and loves God above all will not fall into error. All sin begins with forgetting the First Commandment.” – Cyprian of Carthage, Treatise on Idolatry, c. 250 AD

“There are not many gods, but one. To set up another beside Him is to destroy the truth and blaspheme the Creator.” – Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, c. 180 AD

“Let no man put his hope in idols, for they are dead. Let us worship the living God, who made heaven and earth, and in Him alone place our trust.” – Justin Martyr, First Apology, c. 155 AD