DRE, Ibadan Archdiocese

Faith Series, Episode 137

THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD

WHAT ARE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?

[CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH PART THREE, LIFE IN CHRIST] – PART II

 

Exodus 20:2-5 give the full text of the first commandment:

“I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you lived as slaves. You shall have no other gods to rival me. You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them”.

This commandment clearly calls us to accept and worship God and to manifest God’s glory by acting as persons with dignity, created in the divine image and likeness.

The first commandment obliges us to exercise the virtues of faith, hope and love. We demonstrate faith when we believe in God and his revelation, when we worship God, and when we witness to our own faith we display hope when we trust God’s word, mercy and the promise of eternal salvation and take great care not to offend God so as not to incur divine punishment. We exhibit love when we love God wholeheartedly and all of creation out of love for him. Jesus taught the meaning of love when he instructed, “If you love me you will keep my commandments”– John 14:15

Q3. What are sins against the first commandment?

Sins against faith include voluntarily doubting all or part of any truth God has revealed through the Catholic Church; this would include the sins of heresy, apostasy and schism. Heresy is the denial of a truth of faith. Apostasy is especially serious because it is a total denial of Christ and a repudiation of Christian faith. Schism is the refusal to recognize and accept the authority of the Pope and a refusal to be in union with those Christians who do submit to Papal jurisdiction. The main sins against hope are presumption and despair. Presumption holds that a person can obtain salvation on one’s own efforts or by God’s granting salvation without any efforts at personal conversion or cooperating with divine grace. When people despair, they need to attain salvation. Despair is an injustice to a merciful, good God who is always faithful to his promises. Sins against God’s love include religious indifference, by which one neglects or refuses God’s love; ingratitude; lukewarmness; spiritual laziness that refuses the joy that comes from God’s goodness and outright hatred of God, a most serious offense. Hatred of God finds its roots in selfish pride, it contradicts God’s love.