How Do People Use The Name of God In Vain? (Q&A)

All right.

The Third Commandment and What It Means to Take God’s Name in Vain

Look at verse seven. Here's the third commandment. You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. I think a lot of people, when they hear using the Lord's name in vain, they think you just take the name of God and attach it to a curse word.

And that's what it means to take the name of God in vain. Obviously that is taking the name of the Lord in vain. I don't think anyone's going to argue with that, but it's not just that. Can you think of any other ways that you can take the name of God in vain?

Any examples?

Okay.

OMG.

Yes.

You text, uh, OMG. Certainly if you spell it out, um, that's using God's name in vain because you're talking about God, but you're not doing it in a reverential way. And I think a lot of people who do that, they, it never even occurs to them.

There's a lot of people who use God's name in vain and you can kind of tell that they're not intending to do it to them. It's just something you say. So people need to be taught this. So just a general rule, if you're going to use the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, God, you should be talking about Jesus or God.

And if you're talking about him, you talk about him in a reverential way. Otherwise his name should not be on your lips if you're not talking about him in that way. But what are some other ways you can use the name of God in vain?

False Prophecy and Speaking in God’s Name

Well, someone could utter a false prophecy. Uh, God spoke to me and he said, and you just come out with what you're saying. God didn't say that.

You said it.

And you're claiming God said it. When you take an oath or a vow and you swear, I swear to God, well, what did Jesus say? What does the new Testament teach? Our yes should be yes and our no, no. I mean, your word should be good enough.

You don't need to swear by this and swear by that. If you're honest, people should know that if you say something, you're going to follow.

Through.

You mean it.

Oaths, Vows, and Keeping Your Word

But if you do make a vow and swear to God and then you don't do it, that's using the name of God in vain.