Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners

by Dane C. Ortlund

It was Martin Luther who opened my eyes to this. More than once throughout his writings he points out that the first of the Ten Commandments is the prohibition of idolatry: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3). Luther explains that the first commandment is in essence a call to justification by faith; that is, justification by God. Negatively, we are to avoid idolatry. Positively, we are to trust in God. An idol, after all, is not simply a matter of what we worship but, more deeply, what we trust (Ps. 115:4–8). Consequently, there is no breaking of commandments 2–10 without at the same time breaking commandment 1. To commit adultery is to break commandments 1 and 7, because it is to make sex an idol in which we trust to fulfill and complete us. We are not leaving our existence, our justification, in God’s hands. To steal is to violate commandments 1 and 8, because we are not resting in God’s provision of finances. We are not exercising faith in him alone. And so on.14