The ethics of Jesus are the ethics of the Ten Commandments. He taught his people to live according to this rule and did it himself. He is the very personification of obedience to God; Nowhere else are the Ten Commandments personified and manifested as fully as in the life of Jesus.
Just as God’s law compels us not to take his name in vain, Jesus teaches us to pray: “Will your name be sanctified?(Matthew 6:9). Prayer expresses our desire to keep the third commandment. It also expresses our need for God, grace for this purpose. Prayer is a recognition that God Himself provides us with what He demands of us.
- In the scriptures.
- The name of God is a way for him to reveal himself.
- At first.
- In Genesis 4.
- 26.
- Is there a reference to people who invoke the name of the Lord?.
- But because he spoke and revealed himself; However.
- God made his name known.
- Was Moses revealed himself as the great? (Exodus 3:14) and said that he awakened Pharaoh because his name.
- The revelation of his righteousness and power.
- Was proclaimed throughout the country (Exodus 9:16).
- Then the temple was built.
- In the name of the Lord?(1 Kings 3.
- 2; 8.
- 17) and this name became the object of Israel’s worship while praising the name of God through chants (Psalm 69.
- 30; 122.
- 4).
The name of God is so important that he is solemnly protected in the Ten Commandments by the prohibition of taking his name in vain (Exodus 20. 7). Violation of this law is a capital crime: “Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord will be (Leviticus 24. 16). Leviticus cites a variety of examples of what this abuse of the divine name includes: offering children to Molec (18. 21), falsely swearing (19. 12), priests cutting off the tip of the beard (21. 5-6) This wide variety of violations of the commandment shows that taking the Lord’s name in vain involves not only saying it incorrectly, but also experiencing it inappropriately.
Was it the name of the Lord with which the people of Israel were to dress with the blessing of aron (Numbers 6. 24-27)?The name was not merely a title or an epithet, but included the character and sublimity of God revealed. for the salvation and sanctification of his people. By the name of God, they are saved and by the name of God, they are separated.
These themes are evident in the life and work of Jesus, who came to earth, for us and for our salvation, in the name of the Father (John 5. 43; 10. 25), lived to glorify the name of God (12. 28; 17. 4) and reveal it (17. 6). In the name of God, he had preserved his people and in the same name would be kept forever (17. 11-12). The name of God, placed upon his people by baptism (Matthew 28:19), would be the name by which the Holy Ghost would come to comfort them and hear their prayers (John 14:26; 16,23), is the name of God who assures eternal life to all who believe (20:31).
Then John Calvin is right when he comments on the third commandment that “we evaluate his works, we design only what is worthy of honor before him” (Institution 2. 8. 22). [1] This sense of honor in the name of God is what characterizes a life of holiness and authentic worship. Both in our service and in our worship, we must think of God’s things with worship and reverence, knowing that the fact that God has revealed to us by name is, in itself, an immense act of grace.
In his study of the Ten Commandments, the famous Puritan Thomas Watson cites twelve ways in which we take the name of God in vain. These include: using the name of God irreverently; profess your name, but do not live up to our profession; love it from the outside, but not with the heart; abuse your Word; Breaking our promises; and speak without worrying about divine honor. It is an impressive analysis, which is not intended to control the details of our behavior, but to show us how the third commandment permeates all life.
By naming himself, God not only reveals who He is, but does so in such a way that we can come to know Him personally. To live according to the third commandment is to recognize and confess that God deserves the greatest honor; who separated us by putting his name on us; that we would be completely lost without the fact that, by name, he keeps and protects us; and call us to live in the example of Jesus, glorifying God on earth. We are the bearers of the name of God; that our behavior proves it.
[1] N. T. : Joel Calvino. La institution of the Christian religion. Volume I, Book II. Trad. Carlos Eduardo de Oliveira. Sao Paulo: UNESP, 2008, p. 368.
By: Iain Campbell. © 2015 Ligonier. Original Ministries: You will not take the lord’s name in vain.
This article is part of the June 2015 issue of Tabletalk magazine
Translation: Vin-cius Silva Pimentel. Review: Vin-cius Musselman Pimentel. © 2014 Faithful Ministérium. All rights reserved. Website: MinistryFiel. com. br. Original: We will not take the name of the Lord in vain.