“You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me."

“You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:3-6 ESV)

While the Law of Moses was rendered unnecessary by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the commandments of God given to Moses on Sinai are still ours to obey. Today’s verse may be one of the most broken commandments of the ten: idolatry. Idolatry permeates today's culture. Even popular religions are idolatrous in nature.

In Colossians 3:5, Paul told us to: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” One look at today’s news and you see the depth of sexual immorality, impurity, and every other idolatrous act committed in society today. A city in Minneapolis is passing a law to make it legal to run adult bathhouses for sex. It is like the prostitutes in the streets of Jerusalem, or in the temples of false religions, are being reinstated. Sex, lust, and impurity are viewed everywhere, in television, advertising, and the list goes on.

But this is not the only presence of idolatry in the world. There are those who pray to images, crucifixes, and Saints, none of which are or could be intermediaries for us to God. God specifically said to Moses, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above,” which includes crucifixes and images of Saints and the Virgin Mary, by definition.

The Virgin Mary is worshiped in some religions, and this act is considered idolatrous. Mary was pure of heart and obedient to God, for which she is blessed. She is not the mother of God, as God is eternal, having no beginning and no end, with no mother or father. Mary took no part, and no part of Mary was contained within the conception of Christ, who was placed in the womb by the Holy Spirit. Mary carried the child as any other surrogate mother would, except that this child was divine, and she, as a devoted servant of God, chose to serve Him. Jesus could not possess human DNA, or sin would have been passed to Him from Adam. Contrary to some false religions, which believe Christ was sinful, Christ was sinless, the perfect sacrificial lamb of God, unblemished in any way or form. If He were not, He could not have borne the sins of the world.

The list of idolatrous actions is long; reading verses like those in Exodus 20, as well as the works of Paul, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and so on, helps us understand exactly what idolatry is and shows us what to avoid in our lives so that we can walk the narrow path with confidence.

In Galatians 5:19-21, Paul wrote, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” A message to be heeded.

Is this you? Are these things a part of your everyday life? If anything, the last line of these verses should be troublesome to you: “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Paul was warning those in Galatia, just as I am warning you now. Free yourself from this society, the false religions that contain actions that are idolatrous, and the hands of the enemy. Turn to Christ and ask for salvation by faith alone in the living Son of God. He shed His blood and bore your sins on the cross so that you could be made righteous before God. Turn from your sin, changing your mind in repentance. Begin your walk with Christ today.

Want more information? Contact us here at In Messiah, and we can set you off on the right path, the narrow one. Leave the wide path of destruction behind.

Grace and Peace.