Taking the Lord's Name in Vain
- Thread starter RayneBeau
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I don't think so. I believe it is more practical (?) than that – after all, we are finite in knowledge and understanding, so we are going to think untrue things – we're fallible. That said, we should be trying to think true and correct things about God, as He has revealed to us in His Word.
I also think that taking God's Name in vain includes those who claim to be believers in Yahweh, yet ignore/work around what He has said. This goes all the way back to the Garden. "Has God really said?" followed by a justification for disobeying God.
--Rich
(Good questions! ?)
very good point!
No it is about our love for God and what our intentions are - are they to do as God wants us to do. We should attempt to keep our minds open to the leadings and teachings of the HS.
But RiJori made excellent points.
2 Peter 1 shows we are to increase in things:
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
No person is perfect in knowledge or actions etc. But we are to grow.
Got questions has a interesting article on this topic. They see taking the Lord's name in vain as:
Because of the greatness of the name of God, any use of God’s name that brings dishonor on Him or on His character is taking His name in vain.
RayneBeau
Well-known member
Great replies! So thought provoking!
Here is another similar-type of questioning - If you doubt God, or feel that you could disbelieve God, or when you question why God did a certain thing, are you taking His name in vain then? - because you believe that whatever it is, it is not true of His character or His name.
Here is another similar-type of questioning - If you doubt God, or feel that you could disbelieve God, or when you question why God did a certain thing, are you taking His name in vain then? - because you believe that whatever it is, it is not true of His character or His name.
Well the Jewish people believe you can be your true self with God. Reading the psalms and you can see the honesty in those prayers. But they always come back to knowing God is in control. They knew God could be angry, sad, disappointed with them as well as feeling joy etc.
examples :
fearful psalm 56, oppressed psalm 51, angry psalm 58, resentful psalm 94 etc
The honesty from David in Psalm 32
Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the Lord’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!
God understands our humanity and that we are far from perfect. He reads our hearts and how we want to please Him and Him alone.
The problem is if you don't go to God but go through Mary or some other dead person.
Taking the Lord's name in vain is misusing His name and bring Him into disrepute. The psalmist and Jesus went directly to God. Jesus showed us He did not want to go through the suffering and was honest but did the Father's will.
The problem is if you don't go to God but go through Mary or some other dead person.
Taking the Lord's name in vain is misusing His name and bring Him into disrepute. The psalmist and Jesus went directly to God. Jesus showed us He did not want to go through the suffering and was honest but did the Father's will.
RayneBeau
Well-known member
BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for posting that balshan . . . .
One of the basic ideas behind "the name" is in its usage denoting authority. One who comes "in the name" of a monarch, President, or God comes by their authority.
Back in the days of black and white silent movies, the coppers would yell at the robbers fleeing them to, "stop in the name of the law!" This idiom means that they should stop according to the authority that has been invested in them by the law.
So to answer your question, yes it is a sin because those who are not acting according to God's will or authority are sinning.
The theme of Christ's authority is pervasive throughout the gospel narratives and elsewhere. Those who come in the name of the Lord come according to the Lord's authority which has been vested in them.
Those who think that simply using God or Jesus' name gives them authority are engaging in magical or occult thinking.
RayneBeau
Well-known member
Sadly, many people accuse God of being cruel, savage, vindictive, harsh, unloving, indiscriminately banishing people to hell, etc. When people think wrong thoughts about God, they don't understand who He really is; and you, therefore, haven't hallowed His name. And you know that anyone can do this not only by thinking wrong thoughts about God, but by being ignorant of the right thoughts. If a person is ignorant of what God is like, they are going to doubt and question Him; they are not going to trust Him; they're not going to be obedient; and they're going to cause others to be repelled from God. Roman Catholicism's relationship with God is based in ritualism and obedience to a man-made authority.
It may appear that way, but:
Mat 27:46 KJV And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Jesus is quoting David:
Psa 22:1-5 KJV My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
And Moses questioned God's choice of him (Moses):
Exo 3:11 KJV And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
We need to remember first, that our questions and doubts do not catch God by surprise; He can deal with them. And second, God will use our doubts and questions to help others who also are going through a similar trial.
--Rich
God is aware of our understanding about Him. He is a forgiving God and as a person grows in knowledge, it is Him who is teaching them. I think we have to be careful about bringing God into disrepute. The RCC making the claims about themselves that they do and then people see them as authoritative on matters of God, then they act like they did throughout the scandals brings God's name into disrepute. Especially, as God would never treat people the way they treated the victims. It was disgusting.
But read the psalms God is not surprised that sometimes we feel He has left us, or we are angry with him etc. He is an awesome God and understands our weaknesses. I mean parents are naturally angry when they lost a child, it must be one of the hardest things to live through.
Another excellent response.
no, He isn't and He knows why we feel that way. He doesn't leave those who are His. We forget sometimes, get busy in this life in the world and cut back on Him as priority.
RayneBeau
Well-known member
An early church father said, "The man who brings into his concept of God ideas that have no place there, takes the name of the Lord God in vain." Seems like that statement would point the finger of guilt directly at the Roman Catholic Church - that 'finger' that the RCC so freely and often uses to point accusingly at others.
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And of course you would be wrong. The Catholic Church was placed into existence and continues to operate by the direct authority of God Incarnate, Jesus Christ. "He who hears you, hears me", Jesus said and the "binding and loosing" authority also remains in effect. Nice try.
Nondenom40
Well-known member
"He who hears you...." was not said to 'the church'. It didn't exist yet. And try as you might, your claim of 'binding and losing' doesn't apply to the rcc since its not the church born on Pentecost. Nor does that verse give you or anyone else a blank check by God to make up whatever garbage you want and call it from God.
Your church is in existence for one reason only, to deceive and mislead others to follow it and to test the faithful to see if we love God. God allowed false teachers in Deuteronomy to exist for that very reason.
This evil will be purged one day. We won't do it, God will when He returns. Catholics need to repent and receive Jesus before that great and terrible day.
RayneBeau
Well-known member
Of course, only a person who is effectively drenched in Roman Catholic indoctrination would respond with their recital about the Roman Catholic Church's teachings, and not our Lord's.
RayneBeau
Well-known member
So, it sounds like the Jewish people always knew and believed that they were blessed.