Q.51. What does the second commandment forbid?

A. The second commandment forbids our worshiping God with images or in any other way not established in His word.

We must only worship God in the ways He has given in scriptures. We are not free to do whatever seems right in our own eyes, but we are constrained by the commands in God’s word.

I find the Heidelberg Catechism to be useful on this point.

Q.97. May we then not make any image at all?

A. God can not and may not be visibly portrayed in any way.

Although creatures may be portrayed, yet God forbids making or having such images if one’s intention is to worship them or to serve God through them.

Q.98. But may not images be permitted in the churches as teaching aids for the unlearned?

A. No, we shouldn’t try to be wiser than God. He wants his people instructed by the living preaching of his Word–not by idols that cannot even talk.