Exodus 20:7 "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."
This simple statement is something that most of us have heard all our lives. There is a particular “swear word” that usually comes to mind immediately when we hear this. There are others that often go unnoticed, even by professing Christians. One very prevalent one in our society today (especially on social media) is OMG. Call me an old fogey if you want to, but this is as much taking His name in vain as any other swear word.
Another form that is cringeworthy to me is to hear the name of Jesus used as an expletive in a tense situation. To use the name of Jesus Christ in any fashion other than to give Him honor and glory is still taking the name of God in vain. Remember that Jesus said, “I and my Father are one (John 10:30).” Misusing the name of God in any of His persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – 1 John 5:7-9) is taking God’s name in vain.
If we look at the root definitions of the words in this verse, I think we will find an even deeper meaning than we just talked about. Using Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary, we could read this commandment to say, “You will not lift (take) the authority (name) of the LORD your God in a useless (vain) way.” It is true that the examples we have talked about meet this criterion. But there is a lot of “preaching” in the world today that claims to lift up the authority of God to make useless promises.
Regardless of how much we might like to think otherwise, God does not need our help or our permission to do His will (Psalm 50:7-15, Isaiah 46:10). When the scripture tells us that Jesus did not do many mighty works in the city of Nazareth because of their unbelief (Matthew 13:53-18), it was not their unbelief that prevented Him. He refrained from doing those things because of His own determinate counsel (Daniel 4:35).
Beloved, we cannot take the name of our God in vain and think that we are sanctified (guiltless, clean) to serve Him. We need to take heed to His word and be diligent to apply His word to our lives. Failing to do so does not affect His power to save, but it certainly impacts our joy in His salvation. May we be diligent to use His name to give Him all honor and glory!