Name of God in Vain

In Ex 20:7, we often limit the third commandment to blasphemy.  For example, imprecating someone with God’s name.  While this is certainly forbidden by the third commandment, there are more ways to take the name of God in vain.

Vain to use God’s name to get your way, 2 Sam 15:8.  Absalom was planning to take over the government of Israel by ousting David. He invoked the Lord’s name to convince David to let him go to fulfill a vow.  In fact, he was conspiring against David, v.12.

Don’t you dare take the name of God in vain to put a spiritual twist on a plot you have to get your own way.  This is a vain attempt to convince men of something that God knows is not so.  He will not hold you guiltless.

Vain to use God’s name to spiritualize a lie, Gen 27:20.   When Jacob deceived Isaac by convincing him that he was Esau, he lied about how he got the “venison” so quickly.  Of course, it wasn’t venison in the first place.  He lied and said, “the Lord thy God brought it to me”. This made his lie more convincing.

Don’t ever lie about a matter by leading people to believe that God did something for you that he didn’t do.  This is vain and God will not bless your lie.  He will not hold you guiltless.

Vain to use God’s name to convince someone to do something God didn’t tell them to do, 1 Ki 22:6.  The prophets said that the Lord would deliver Ramothgilead into the hand of the king.  Not so.  The king was fixing to die.

Don’t ever use the name of God in vain to back up your idea of what you believe someone else should do.  You might be wrong.  These prophets were.  The Lord will not hold you guiltless.

Vain to claim God is your Father just because that’s what you call him, Jn 8:41.  The Pharisees claimed that God was their Father.  He was not.  The devil was their father, Jn 8:44.

It’s absolutely vain to think that God is your Father just because that’s what you call him.  He is only your Father after you trust Jesus to save you, Jn 14:6.  He will not hold you guiltless.

Vain to believe you’re saved by calling Jesus Lord and doing works in his name, Matt 7:21-23.  These people believed that calling Jesus Lord and doing these wonderful works would get them into the kingdom of heaven.  They were wrong.

They weren’t doing the will of God.  The will of God is Jn 6:28-29.  Believe on Jesus.  Charismatics believe signs and that Jesus is Lord.  But many who experience signs and say Jesus is Lord are not saved by faith in Jesus Christ.

It’s absolutely vain to believe that God has saved you because you see signs or call Jesus Lord.  He will not hold you guiltless.