Visit the "Study Hall" group message board for the final part of the 2nd Commandment.

Next week the 3rd command.

I hope every one is Blessed this Passover.

Uncle Steve

See "Study Hall" message board.

What is Sin?

Nearly everyone has a different idea about what constitutes sin. Do you know? If sin brings the death penalty (..."slickWindow('Romans','6','23')" title="View scripture">Rom. 6:23), then the Bible must tell us what it is so that we can avoid such a terrible punishment. Do not settle for half-answers or the opinions of men. Do not concern yourself with what "religious people" and this world's ministers say, but with what the Bible says.

God's Word reveals truth (..."slickWindow('John','17','17')" title="View scripture">John 17:17). Here is His definition-the true definition-of sin: "Whosoever commits SIN transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law" (..."slickWindow('1 John','3','4')" title="View scripture">I John 3:4). GOD decides what sin is. And He states that it is transgressing-breaking-His laws. Since sin is the transgression of the law, and the opposite would be obedience to the law, then exactly what law must we obey?

The answer is the Ten Commandments! Let's prove it with some review. John also wrote, "All unrighteousness is sin" (..."slickWindow('1 John','5','17')" title="View scripture">I John 5:17). Remember, "all [God's] commandments are righteousness" (..."slickWindow('Psalms','119','172')" title="View scripture">Psa. 119:172). So then, unrighteousness is sin-breaking God's Commandments.

The apostle James added, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend [sin] in one point, he is guilty of all. For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if you commit no adultery, yet if you kill, you are become a transgressor of the law [a lawbreaker]" (..."slickWindow('Psalms','2','10-11')" title="View scripture">2:10-11).

James was directly referring to the Ten Commandments.

Havn't been real active lately, but check out the forum post for part III of Exodus 20: 4,5,&6. Hope everyone is doing great in the LORD. Keep up the work for the kingdom.

GOD bless

Uncle Steve

Chapter 3 | ↑ top

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

Is God really first in your personal life? Results of a poll of 1500 college students showed that they had two sets of values toward which they professed allegiance: on the first level, towards self, family and friends; on the second level, to mankind (in general) and GOD.

It is notable that God was least regarded by these "educated" young people! Yet in this same poll, 90 percent of those questioned indicated a belief in God. This prevailing spiritual lethargy and passive disrespect toward God -- and toward the great magnitude of His office and power -- is indicative of a growing trend even among churchgoers and professing Christians. People like to talk about religion and God, but they do not stand in awe of His position and His name.

And this spiritual cancer has within it the seeds of the destruction of our Western civilization!
 

 

The Third Commandment Stated

In discussing the first and second commandments, we found that we must guard against making a god out of ANYTHING -- and putting it in place of the true God. And we learned that God commands us to worship Him DIRECTLY -- to walk with Him, to talk with Him, to really know and worship Him in spirit and truth -- and to avoid using any image, picture or physical object as an "aid" to worship or to "remind" us of the great Creator.

The third commandment deals with God's name, His office, His position as the great sovereign Ruler of the universe: "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" (Exodus 20:7).

In the Bible, personal names have a meaning. The original Hebrew name of ABRAM was changed to ABRAHAM -- for Abraham means "a father of many nations." And Abraham was destined to become just that -- "a father of many nations" (Gen. 17:5).

So it is with GOD'S NAME.
 

 

God's Name Reveals the Kind of God You Worship

Every name or title of God reveals some attribute of the divine character. In studying God's Word, we learn new facts about God's nature and character with each new name by which He reveals Himself. In other words, God names Himself what He is!

If men use the NAME of God in a way which denies the true MEANING and CHARACTER of God, they are breaking the third commandment. God declares through Isaiah: "Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which saw by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness" (Isa 48:1). People to whom this prophecy applies use the name of God, but fail to obey the revelation of God contained in His name.

And shocking though it may be, many religious people repeat over and over the name of God in sermons or prayers. They are taking God's name IN VAIN -- to no good use or purpose!

The original command says: "The Lord will not hold him GUILTLESS that taketh his name in vain." The Hebrew word here rendered "guiltless" may also be translated "clean": "The Lord will not hold him to be CLEAN that taketh his name in vain." The test of spiritual cleanliness is the attitude of a man to the name of God! A man is clean or unclean according as he uses the name of God in truth -- or for vanity. Do you realize what this means? It certainly indicates that a man is better off who -- because of sincere religious doubts -- has dropped the name of God from his vocabulary than is a professing Christian who talks about God continually, but denies Him in his daily life!

In the Lord's prayer, we are instructed to "hallow" God's name. And the third commandment with which we are dealing has directly to do with showing the proper respect for the name of God. One of the ten great points of God's eternal spiritual law is devoted to this very thing!

First of all, however, let us make it clear to those who may have been misinformed on the subject that reverencing God's name does not mean trying to speak Hebrew or Greek or learning to pronounce God's name in the original biblical languages! There are certain sects which make a great matter out of this. Some claim that "Jehovah" is the Father's name. Others claim that it is "Yahweh," others "Yahveh," and others use still different variations. The truth of the matter is that since all admit that the Hebrew vowels have not been preserved, no one knows exactly how this Hebrew name of God should be pronounced! (For proof that "God" is the Father's name, request our free reprint article titled "The Unknown God.")

Describing the significance of one's name, Moulton-Milligan's "Vocabulary of the Greek Testament" states: "By a usage similar to that of the Heb .... ["onoma", "name"] comes in the N.T. to denote the 'character', 'name', 'authority' of the person indicated" (p. 451). Also, and even more important, God Himself inspired Daniel and Ezra to use the Aramaic word for God in nine chapters of the Bible which they wrote in this language, and the New Testament writers all were inspired to use the GREEK words for the Deity.

The real importance of the matter, of course, lies not in the phonetic sound which is used to describe God, but in the meaning which His names convey! Thus, this respected authority on biblical linguistics clearly shows that one's name signifies one's office, authority and especially one's character. The names of God show us what God is like -- they reveal His character!

Do you really know what God is like? Do you respect His various offices and His name as you should?

Turn to your Bible and check up!
 

 

God's Nature and Character Revealed

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). In this very first verse of the Bible, God reveals Himself by the Hebrew name ELOHIM. There is one God -- but more than one member in the Godhead, or God family! This same word ELOHIM is used in Genesis 1:26: "And GOD [ELOHIM] said, Let us make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness." Here it is clearly seen -- in context with the passage itself -- that more than one person shares the name of God -- ELOHIM. In the New Testament, this is made clear by the revelation that God the Father created all things by and through Jesus Christ -- who was with God and was God from the beginning (John 1:1-14; Eph. 3:9). In these passages, therefore, it is revealed that God is more than one person -- God the Father and the "Word" or SPOKESMAN, who later became Jesus Christ when born in human flesh. This Father-Son relationship shows that God is a FAMILY. And the way the word ELOHIM is used in these early passages in Genesis and elsewhere certainly indicates that God is the creating kingdom or family! Interestingly, ELOHIM is plural in form but is used either in the singular or plural, depending on the context.

God, by virtue of being Creator, is also the Ruler over His creation. We find that immediately after creating the first man and woman, God gave them both a blessing and a command: "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it" (Gen. 1:28). Yes, the true God is Ruler -- and you should obey Him because He made you and gives you every breath of air you breathe!

In dealing with Abraham, God sometimes calls Himself EL SHADDAI, which means "ALMIGHTY God." So God is the source of ALL power! His name should be revered, because it stands for the one who is the source of all power, all might, and all authority.

The name most commonly translated "LORD" in the Old Testament is translated from the Hebrew letters YHWH, sometimes rendered YAHWEH or YAHVEH. The original Hebrew word means the "Eternal" or "Self-Existent One." The word is both used and defined in Genesis 21:33: "And Abraham planted a grove [tree -- ESHEL in the Hebrew] in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD [YHWH], the EVERLASTING God." This Hebrew word, often translated "Jehovah" in some of the revised versions, shows God's character as the EVERLIVING God and is used to show His everlasting office in a covenant relationship to those whom He has created.

God has always existed and will always exist to carry out His blessings, His promises, and His covenant with His people! Our God is the ETERNAL -- the Self-Existent One.

Throughout His Word, God's name is connected with His attributes -- His power, His eternal existence, His mercy, His faithfulness, His wisdom, His love. Notice how the prophet David connects God's name with His creative power: "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens .... When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (Psalm 8:1-4.)

Here God is pictured as setting His glory above the heavens. Then David proceeds to show that God has created the heavens, the earth and man. No wonder God's name and office are to be respected!

In our everyday speech, many of us are damning the very name of our Creator and our God! We are using our breath to curse and damn the name of the very one who gives us our life and the very breath with which we curse His name! An expression used with terrible frequency is asking God to "damn" someone. Poor men and wealthy men alike give ready tongue to this vile oath -- and often think they are proving their "manhood" or getting away with something by doing it! Yet it would be hard to find any normal human being anywhere who would like to see this phrase carried out with respect to his fellow man in all of its terrible meaning. Using this expression is trifling with the name of our God -- asking Him to do something which He has never intended to do.

God never "damned" a man in the way men seem to think! This idea is an awful heresy! God's work is the work of salvation, and God will deprive no man of eternal life, except that man by his own volition and will rejects God's way.

God says: "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word" (Isa. 66:2). The very same thing may be said about the deep respect and godly fear we should have for God's name -- which directly represents God's character, His Word, and His purposes.
 

 

Should You Swear?

Men today are accustomed not only to profane swearing and invoking God's name to back up their oaths, but also many legal ceremonies in some lands invoke the name of God in a form of swearing or an oath.

Jesus Christ said: "But I say unto you, Swear NOT AT ALL; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King" (Matt. 5:34-35).

God's name is so sacred and holy that we are commanded not to invoke it to back up our words or our oath! Fortunately, the American nation was founded by men who read their Bibles and made great allowance for religious liberty and freedom. Therefore, even though many public officials will, on occasion, ask you to raise your hand and "swear," they all realize that provision has been made so that you can employ the word "affirm" instead of swearing.

And actually, as we should all know, the simple affirmation or formal word of a God-fearing Christian is far more to be relied upon than ten thousand oaths given by a liar on the witness stand! The travesty of some few businessmen, politicians and even college professors taking God's name in vain on the witness stand in this manner bears ample proof of this statement!
 

 

Religious Titles to Avoid

Speaking of using certain expressions as a religious title, Christ said: "And call no man your FATHER upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven" (Matt. 23:9). Although there is a flagrant and obvious abuse of this command in some large religious organizations, this statement of God's Word is clear to anyone who wishes to obey it.

Our only spiritual Father is God! Any application of this word as a religious title to a man is simply direct blasphemy against the Creator who has made all men -- even the weak, corruptible human beings who impudently take to themselves and falsely assume that which is a divine title.

Of course, we SHOULD call our human parent "father," as God Himself does in the fifth commandment.

Another common misuse of the divine name is the application of the term "Reverend" to any human being -- be he a minister or otherwise. For God applies this title to Himself alone: "He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant forever: HOLY and REVEREND is his [God's] name" (Psalm 111:9). "Reverend" applies to someone to be revered -- someone worthy of worship! No mortal man is worthy of such a title! Even so great a servant of God as the apostle Paul himself was inspired to write: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing" (Rom. 7:18). ANY man who thinks he is worthy of worship -- or deserves the title "Reverend" -- is someday going to have to repent of breaking the third commandment!
 

 

The Most Common Sin of All

In teaching His disciples, and us as Christians, how to pray, Jesus Christ set forth the right manner to approach Almighty God and the attitude of reverence in which we should hold His office and His name. In the opening phrases of what is commonly called "The Lord's Prayer," our authorized translations of the Bible are most probably falsely punctuated. After the invocation, "Our Father which art in heaven" -- the approach of man to God -- there are three requests linked together, and then a clause following which conditions all three -- and not the last one only. The correct rendering would be as follows: "Our Father which art in heaven, thy name be hallowed, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth." The phrase "as in heaven, so on earth" has reference not merely to "thy will be done," but to "thy kingdom come" and to "hallowed be thy name."

These thoughts contained in what is called the Lord's Prayer -- the hallowing of God's name, the coming of His kingdom, and the doing of His will -- are simply different phases of the same thing. For a man hallows God's name by submission to His kingdom and government, and by doing His will and obeying His laws.

Simply holding the phonetic sound of God's name in reverence is only a small part of fulfillment of the third commandment.

Jesus asked: "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46.) Prayer without obedience is a subtle form of blasphemy!

The supposedly religious people who talk about religion and God but refuse to obey His Word and His law are guilty of greater sin than the man who admittedly goes the way of the flesh and at least refuses to pretend otherwise. The hypocrisy of religious denominations and religious people is infinitely worse than the profanity of the street. Praise offered to God which is counteracted by rebellion against His ways and His laws is certainly blasphemy -- and it is taking the name of God in vain!

A man or minister who preaches and prays with eloquence and a devotional attitude, but then proceeds to breaks the least of God's commandments (Matt. 5:19) -- that man blasphemes when he prays! But even if he deceives the world, he never deceives God!

Speaking of the "religionists" of His day who refuse complete obedience to the will and law of God, Jesus declared: "This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is FAR FROM ME. Howbeit IN VAIN do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Mark 7:6-7). In like manner, many today profess God with their lips, but their worship is vain!

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that DOETH THE WILL of my Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21).

May God grant you the willingness to obey His will and law! May you learn to worship Him in spirit and in truth. May you learn to honor and reverence His great name -- for it represents His creative power, His wisdom, His faithfulness, His love and kindness and patience and infinite mercy. It represents the character and office and dignity of the great God who sits at the controls of the universe!

The Apostle spoke of an altar he had seen, with the inscription "To The Unknown God"

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