Idolatry Defined

“Martin Luther’s larger catechism discussion of the fist commandment (‘You shall have no other gods before Me’ [Ex 20:3] included ‘whatever your heart clings to and relies upon, that is your God; trust and faith of the hart alone make both God and the idol.’ I might add here, ‘whatever claims the loyalty that belongs to God alone.’ These are good basic definitions of idolatry.” (Beale, We Become What We Worship, p. 17.)