Exodus 20:7 ESV
“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 had someone bring this verse to my attention recently, on
one of my very sick days, so I did not look into then, and then I forgot about
it, but it was brought back to my attention today. So now I am looking into it
prayerfully and asking the Lord for insight into what this really means, and
how it applies to our lives, if it does, under the New Covenant.
So, I went to biblehub.com and to the interlinear and I
found that the word translated “take” here means “to lift, carry, take.” Other
words for “take” are “accept, bear, receive” and a whole long list of other
words. It sounds like it means “to take possession of” or to make a verbal
profession of. And to take up this name of God and the name of Jesus in vain is
to do so in a manner which is empty, shallow, pointless, ineffective, useless,
worthless and futile.
So, let’s look at the New Testament:
We read in Matthew 15:9, “In vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” And then we read in 1
Corinthians 15:1-2, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached
to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being
saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in
vain.” And we read in 2 Corinthians 6:1, “Working together with him, then, we
appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.”
We read in 1 Corinthians 5:11 that we are not “to associate
with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality
or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat
with such a one.” And then we read in Titus 1:16, “They profess to know God,
but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for
any good work.” And then we read in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me,
‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will
of my Father who is in heaven.”
And we read in 1 John 1:6, “If we say we have fellowship
with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” And
in 1 John 2:4-5, “Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments
is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him
truly the love of God is perfected.” And in 1 John 3:10, “By this it is evident
who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever
does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love
his brother.”
So, to take the name of Jesus is to profess him as Savior
and Lord of our lives, and if we do this in vain it is to be of no affect. It
does not make a difference in our lives, so we are no different in character
and words and actions from those who make no profession of faith in Jesus. And
sadly that is where many professing Christians are, bearing his name, but in
vain, because it is lip service only and it has no obvious reality in their day
to day lives. So their profession of faith is useless, worthless, and
ineffective.
And largely this is the situation here in America because
the “gospel” message which is permeating the gatherings of the church (or what
is falsely being called “church”) is a diluted and altered gospel message
intended to attract and to appeal to human flesh and to appease them in their
sins. For it tells them that they can make a one-time profession of faith in
Jesus Christ and now all their sins are forgiven, and heaven is guaranteed them
when they die, regardless of how they lives their lives on this earth.
And many are teaching against repentance and obedience,
calling that teaching “works salvation,” which it clearly is not, and if you
read the Scriptures in their context, you will see that. For all throughout the
New Testament we are taught that we must obey God, and not obey sin, and that
we must walk in holiness and righteousness, and not in sin, or we will not
inherit eternal life with God. So we must take this to heart.
Follow
Him
An
Original Work / February 21, 2013
Based
off Luke 9:22-25
Jesus, Son of God,
Died for us on a cross.
Anyone who would come to Him
Must deny himself and follow.
He must take up his cross daily;
Die to sin and self each day.
Father, God above,
Loved us so: gave His Son.
If you want to save your old life;
Keep on sinning, follow your ways,
You will lose your life forever;
Hope of heaven gone away.
Spirit of our God
Gives us life in God’s Son.
Nonetheless, if you die to self;
Forsake your sin; follow Jesus,
You will live with God in heaven,
And forever praise His name!
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