William PerkinsA Golden ChainWorks VI, pp. 76-85 Thou shalt neither worship false gods, nor the true God with false worship. Many things are here forbidden. (1) The representation of God by an image. The representation of God by an image. For it is a lie. “What profiteth the image? For the maker thereof hath made… Read More Ten Sins Forbidden by the 2nd Commandment
It can be known from nature that we must worship God how he pleases rather than how we please (Acts 17:24-29), but we cannot know how God desires to be worshiped unless he reveals it to us through special revelation. Being the root of the second commandment, the Regulative Principle of Worship (RPW) itself is discernable from the light of nature as flowing from “that which may be known of God” (Rom. 1:19), while the parts and acts of God’s instituted worship is of divine positive law.… Read More The Second Commandment and the Light of Nature
Michael Bushell, Songs of Zion, chapter 4, section 3, pp. 163-165. The second commandment is by far the most important scriptural passage dealing with worship. It teaches us that God alone determines what kind of worship is acceptable to Him and that He rejects all forms of idolatry irrespective of source or good intention on… Read More The Regulative Principle of Worship in the Second Commandment
Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, vol. 2. Whether not only the worship but also the formation and use of religious images in sacred places is prohibited by the second commandment. We affirm against the Lutherans. I. In the preceding question we treated of the worship of images. It remains to inquire further concerning their… Read More Images of Christ Are Unlawful, Even If Not Used For Worship
The first commandment teaches who the true God is and that He alone is to be worshiped. The second commandment teaches that God alone prescribes how He wants to be worshiped. To worship God however we would like is the very definition of idolatry. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of… Read More Three Reasons Images of God are Idolatrous
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