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Q 64: What is the third commandment of the Law of God?
A 64: The third commandment is, “You shall not take the Name of the LORD your God in vain.” (Ex. 20.7; Deut. 5.11)
We note that God intends us to “take” His Name upon us, to be so closely identified with Him that we are seen to be His people, indeed. In Psalm 48 the people of God, in the form of the City of Zion, are so closely identified with God as to be called by His Name. The same is true in the New Testament, where the Church is regarded as the Bride and Body of Christ, and His followers are called “Christians.”
But taking the Name of God bears responsibility. Each person who bears God’s Name is called to refract the light of His glory into the darkness of the surrounding world, bringing truth, grace, and newness to all things (1 Cor. 10.31). Failure to do this is to bear the Name of the Lord to no real effect – in vain. God commands vigilance in taking His Name according to the purposes and for the ends for which He bestows it.
Let us take God’s Name and be identified as His people by our confession as well as by every aspect of our lives.
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