What is Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain?
The third commandment of the ten commandments clearly states that it is a sin to use the Lord’s name in vain. Here is the text:
“You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”
Exodus 20:7 (LSB)
It’s not uncommon for people to read that verse and immediately focus on the “name of God” and rush to deduce that it means that we must never combine God’s name with a curse/cuss word. You hear people frequently do it. They will combine it with “damn”. They will shout out God and Jesus as an expletive. Furthermore, they may even do it as a response to hearing or seeing something shocking by saying, “Oh my God!” People text OMG as an acronym.
Yes, all of these are violations of the third commandment. There is no doubt about that. If you are using the name of God in any way other than praise or adoration, then, of course, you are misusing his name.
However, the commandment goes much deeper than just using God’s name as an expletive.
It’s important to note that when the Bible speaks of God’s name, it is primarily speaking of his character. So, to take the Lord’s name in vain is actually to misuse or misrepresent who he is. This opens up a huge can of worms that quickly eat into our misconceptions about this commandment.
It’s striking that this is a commandment that comes with a threat. God is so concerned and jealous over his name and character, that to misuse it comes with punishment from God.
Violating the third commandment primarily happens anytime God is misrepresented in word or deed. For example, the third commandment is quickly broken by anyone who says that God is love and therefore will not send people to hell. That is a blatant misrepresentation of God’s character. It destroys his justice and hatred towards sin and sinners. False teachers and liberal theologians are constantly violating this commandment, and God will not tolerate it.
Another way the third commandment is broken is when someone says, “God told me to tell you…”, when it’s evident it is not from God. They are misrepresenting God’s character yet again. This is all too common, especially for those who think they are super-spiritual and feel the need to come to you in all seriousness with a message they think they received from God directed towards you. The vast majority of the time, the message they received does not line up with Scripture, so it’s not from God. For all we know, the message they got was from a bad dream due to the Mexican food they ate the day before. Bottom line: to make such claims is often a gross violation of the commandment and a direct misrepresentation of God and his character.
We also break this commandment when we try to tone down the gospel message so it is more palatable to the ears of unbelievers. Preachers and evangelists, in particular, should be on guard against such misrepresentation.
This is in no way exhaustive in describing how we can break this commandment. Even our actions and responses to things that come into our lives can easily misrepresent God’s character. Believers can easily break this commandment as can unbelievers. It’s clearly not just when you hear or speak God’s name coupled with a curse word. In fact, have you ever thought how flippantly you might even say, “God bless you,” to someone and not even mean it? How is that much different from, “God damn you!”? Something to think about!
We break God’s law all the time, and it should greatly humble us.
The humbling thing about reading the ten commandments (and the Sermon on the Mount) is that each time you read and study them, you fall deeper and deeper into what feels like a bottomless cavern of the depth of the law’s requirements and the shallow ability of anyone to keep them. I, personally, cringe at just beginning to think of how many times in my life I have broken the third commandment, much less the other nine!
For believers, Jesus is the balm that soothes the disease of sin. Jesus is the one who obeyed the law perfectly in place of his people. It is because of Jesus that when God looks on a believer, he doesn’t see their sin, he sees the perfect righteousness of his Son – the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
For unbelievers, the law is like a fiery furnace that does nothing but condemn. It is a mirror to show your sin. It is impossible for that mirror to cleanse you. The law can only show you your guilt. You may be one who thinks you can work your way to heaven by keeping the law. You are on a road to perdition. The law can only condemn you. Look away from yourself and look to the only One who not only kept the law perfectly, but bore the wrath of God for the breaking of the law.
Look to Jesus … and live.