Overview

If the first commandment governs whom we worship, the second governs how. This section gives the commandment (Q107), the duties it requires — the receiving and keeping pure of all God-appointed worship (Q108), the sins it forbids — images and all human inventions in worship (Q109), and the reasons annexed (Q110). It is the biblical ground of the regulative principle of worship.

The Questions & Answers

Q107. Which is the second commandment? A. The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Q108 — the duties required (summarized): The second commandment requires the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath instituted in his word — particularly prayer and thanksgiving in Christ’s name; the reading, preaching, and hearing of the word; the administration and receiving of the sacraments; church government and discipline; the ministry and its maintenance; religious fasting; swearing by God’s name and vowing to Him; as also the disapproving, detesting, and opposing of all false worship, and the removing of it and all monuments of idolatry.

Q108 (key clause). …the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath instituted in his word.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.” (Deut. 12:32, ESV)

“…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:20, ESV)

Further proofs: Deut. 32:46–47; Acts 2:42; Phil. 4:6; 1 Cor. 11:23–30.

Q109 — the sins forbidden (summarized): The second commandment forbids all devising, counseling, commanding, using, and approving any religious worship not instituted by God; the making of any representation of God, of any or all the persons of the Trinity, inwardly in our mind or outwardly in any image; all worshiping of it or God by it; the making of any representation of feigned deities and all worship of them; all superstitious devices, corrupting the worship of God, adding to it or taking from it, whether invented by ourselves or received by tradition from others; simony, sacrilege, and all neglect, contempt, hindering, and opposing the worship and ordinances God has appointed.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“…beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure.” (Deut. 4:15–19, ESV)

“In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matt. 15:9, ESV)

Further proofs: Exod. 32:5, 8; Col. 2:18–23; 1 Sam. 15:21–23; Rom. 1:21–25.

Q110. What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment…? A. The reasons annexed to the second commandment… are, besides God’s sovereignty over us, and propriety in us, his fervent zeal for his own worship, and his revengeful indignation against all false worship, as being a spiritual whoredom; accounting the breakers of this commandment such as hate him, and threatening to punish them unto divers generations; and esteeming the observers of it such as love him and keep his commandments, and promising mercy to them unto many generations.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“…for I the LORD your God am a jealous God.” (Exod. 20:5–6, ESV)

Further proofs: 1 Cor. 10:20–22; Jer. 7:18–20; Ps. 45:11; Rev. 15:4.

Exposition: The second commandment establishes the regulative principle: God is to be worshiped only in the ways He has “instituted in his word” (Q108), and every form of worship “not instituted by God” is forbidden (Q109) — including images of God Himself (even the golden calf, meant to honor Yahweh, was condemned, Exod. 32). Note that Q109 forbids representing God even “inwardly in our mind,” guarding the imagination as well as the hands. Q110’s reasons are weighty: God’s sovereignty, His ownership of us, and especially His “fervent zeal for his own worship” — false worship is “spiritual whoredom,” an unfaithfulness in the most intimate relationship. The commandment itself attaches both a threat (to those who hate Him) and abundant mercy (“to thousands” who love Him).

Connections

• WSC Q49–52 — the second commandment, its duties, sins, and reasons.
• WCF 21 (Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day) — the regulative principle and the elements of worship.
• Loci: The second commandment; the regulative principle of worship; the sufficiency of Scripture applied to worship.

Pastoral & Practical Significance

The second commandment is a mercy, not a constraint: God Himself tells us how to approach Him, so we never have to guess whether our worship pleases Him. The regulative principle frees worship from two opposite dangers — from idolatry (shrinking God to a manageable image) and from anxious innovation (endlessly inventing new techniques to manufacture spiritual experience). It directs us instead to what God has appointed: His Word read and preached, prayer, praise, and the sacraments. Q109’s warning against representing God even “inwardly in our mind” reaches the imagination: we are prone to fashion a god to our own liking, more comfortable than the holy God of Scripture, and that too is forbidden. Yet the commandment’s promise is sweet — to “thousands” who love Him and keep His Word, God shows mercy across generations. Worship Him as He has revealed Himself — in spirit and truth, through the one Mediator — and you will find Him not diminished by an image of your making but truly known by His Word.

For Memory & Reflection

• Memorize Q107 and the key clause of Q108; anchor verses: John 4:24 and Matthew 15:9.
• Do I approach worship asking “What has God appointed?” or “What do I prefer?”
• Q109 forbids picturing God even “inwardly in our mind.” Have I fashioned a more comfortable god in my imagination than the One Scripture reveals?