The First Commandment, in plain words
Short sentences. Same text, the fuller page is here.
Martin Luther wrote a short book in 1529 to explain the basics of the faith. This page takes its first commandment slowly, in plain words. The whole Catechism is here.
The First Commandment
You must not have other gods.
A “god” here does not mean a statue or an old story. It means whatever you trust the most to keep you safe or make your life work. For different people this can be money, or a job, or a relationship, or their own effort.
This commandment says: do not put anything else in the place that belongs to God. Not because those things are bad. Because they cannot do what only God can do.
What does this mean?
We must fear, love, and trust God more than anything else.
“Fear” here does not mean being scared of God. It means taking God seriously, above everything else that asks for your trust.
“Love” and “trust” mean what they normally mean. Loving God. Trusting God more than you trust money, or your job, or your own effort, to keep you safe.
What this page is not saying
This is not a test you pass or fail today. It is not saying you are a bad person on the days your trust is somewhere else. It is a description of what full trust in God looks like, something to grow toward, not a score to check yourself against tonight.
If you want to read more about how Lutherans hold together what we fall short of and what God has already done, the words “law and gospel” and “simul iustus et peccator” in the glossary are the place to start.
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