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要求我们效忠的是主耶和华，我们的创造主和救主。

神把以色列人从埃及领出来，拯救了他们。他们在那里已经做了几百年的奴隶。神信守祂对亚伯拉罕、以撒和雅各的盟约应许，（参创 12:1-3，15:13-21；出 3）称这个民族为祂的子民，并继续祂的工作，使他们成为使万国因他们得福的一个民族。许多年后，藉着亚伯拉罕的后裔耶稣，神把救恩带给了整个世界——今天，神把所有相信基督的人都算为祂的子民，祂在普天下的儿女。因此，我们若相信基督，就属于神，并单单属于祂。

正如彼得前书二章所说，我们是一个圣洁的国度，被分别出来成为“属神的子民”。太初，是神的爱创造了我们，并将我们与神联系在一起。由于我们与神的关系是建立在爱的基础上，所以神的律法不是一种负担，而是显明这种爱的方式。

宗教改革时期的教义对我们归属神，归属创造主和救主这一事实倍加喜乐和安慰。

“问：你无论是生是死，唯一的安慰是什么？”

“答：我无论是生是死，身体灵魂皆非己有，而是属于我信实的救主耶稣基督。”

The Lord who claims our allegiance is God, our Creator and Savior.

God delivered Israel when he brought them out of Egypt. They had been slaves there for hundreds of years. Faithful to his covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:13-21; Exodus 3), God called this people his own and continued his work of making them into a nation through which all other nations would be blessed. Then, many years later, through Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, God brought salvation to the world—and today God includes all who believe in Christ as his people, his worldwide family. So if we believe in Christ, we belong to God, and we are his alone.

As 1 Peter 2 puts it, we are a holy nation set apart to be “God’s special possession.” From the beginning, it was love that created us and has bound us to God. And since our relationship with God is based on love, God’s law is not a burden but a means of showing that love.

A Reformation-era catechism rejoices and takes comfort in the fact that we belong to God, our Creator and Savior:

“Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

“A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”