The Christian, like Israel at Sinai, faces the exclusive claim of the first commandment. God said to Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex 20:2-3; RV renders the last words “beside Me”). This command, like all the Decalogue, was couched in negative form because it came as a summons to stop living in the old way and make a fresh start.
