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Q101: What is the preface to the ten commandments?
A101: The preface to the ten commandments is contained in these words, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.[436] Wherein God manifesteth his sovereignty, as being JEHOVAH, the eternal, immutable, and almighty God;[437] having his being in and of himself,[438] and giving being to all his words[439] and works:[440] and that he is a God in covenant, as with Israel of old, so with all his people;[441] who, as he brought them out of their bondage in Egypt, so he delivereth us from our spiritual thraldom;[442] and that therefore we are bound to take him for our God alone, and to keep all his commandments.[443]
  1. (Exo 20:2) "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

  2. (Isa 44:6) "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.

  3. (Exo 3:14) God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

  4. (Exo 6:3) and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them.

  5. (Act 17:24, 28) "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;. . . for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'

  6. (Gen 17:7) "I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.

  7. (Luk 1:74-75) To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

  8. (1Pe 1:15, 17-18) but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; . . . If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.